Help with 7mm TCU

[Coogs]

Getting into the Contender thing, so far picked up a .357 Max in 10" and super 14, .22 hornet 10", .223 super 14 and a 10" 7mmTCU. I already load for all of them, except the TCU. I'm just a neophyte when it comes to steel, so be gentle with me. Anyone got some inside info on a good TCU load? Any recommendations on dies? Or are the all about the same? From what I read on the TCU it's not that difficult to form brass, but any tricks of the trade I should on doing so? I'll be in the market for a set of dies, so.................thanks, Coogs.

[Richard Pickering]

Many others have more experience with it than do I. Pressing on----use a tapered expander; most die sets have one. Select commercial cases when possible; The necks open easier----be sure to lightly lube inside the necks. Also, you wont have to fight the primer crimps. Remember that seldom do barrels share identical dimensions. If you have two barrels you'll be wise to segregate the cases. rp

[Shoot2Thrill]

I use once fired 223 RP cases. I first size to 6mm then 7mm. After they have been fire formed, I just neck size. Fire form loads have great accuracy. Like Richard said, if you are running 2 barrels, then make sure you keep the cases separate. I have not loaded for the 7 tcu in a year, but the tcu family has a wide range of possibilities. My most accurate load out of my 10 inch contender was 20 grains of imr 4227 and a 130 grain speer. Barrel got hot quick. My brother is shooting 8.5 grains of unique with a 120. It is like a 38 special going off, but takes all animals reliably at Tusco. From our experience and listening to others, the tcu is not too picky. Find one you like and run with it. I have fallen in love with the 221 fireball and 223 case. My current standing gun is a 300 whisper using chopped down 223 cases. My unlimited standing gun is 6.5tcu. What are your plans? Creedmore or standing?

[Coogs]

Don't really know yet, probably Creedmore, but open to standing, but I'm not as stable as I used to be. Got to get some practice under my belt for a bit. Nearest sanctioned match is over two hour drive for me. Local club has some steel that I can practice on, but nothing that is according to proper distance for 200. Looks like an awful lot of fun and hope to be able to get involved. May not be any good at it, gotta try to find out, but who cares, never met a bad gun person yet, and never had nothing but fun and good times, met good friends at anything gun related, shows, skeet shoots, trap, benchrest, etc. And hell, lives to short not to try something new, God Bless, Coogs.

[Richard Pickering]

These days, for many of us a two hour drive is normal to attend a match. In many areas the season is coming to a close. Some continue to shoot. Don't let non-standard distances dissuade you. Use what is available. You don't always need 200m. Use www.jbmballisics.com and select your bullet; estimate a velocity; set your distance to zero at 100m and check bullet at 50m, continue for zero at 150 and 200m. Locate your bullet path at 50m. Shoot on paper at 50m, marking the stops. Then shoot on targets at 50 and 100m to confirm. You'll likely need some adjustment. Come out and shoot. rp

[braud357]

In my experience with the 7 TCU, I have found that you can skip the fire-forming step. I have done my fire-forming at the match ! I once had a box of 100 R-P cases to fireform, and fired 2 half-scale 40x40's out of that box in a XP-100. With the price of reloading components these days, it makes even more sense to me now ! And, I have never had any problems with these cases !

[Noahspawpaw0801]

Suggest that you follow a good loading manual. I use Sierra bullets with starting loads of AA 2460. Both RCBS and Redding make good dies. Suggest you invest in good dies. I neck size only. If you shoot a Contender, be sure to apply a light coat of grease on the bolt. Suggest that you call Sierra bullets for loading data and coaching. Have fun shooting.

[Coogs]

Thanks for all the good advice. I do like the Redding dies and own several different sets. Been doing some research on loads, "shooting steel" lists a lot of them, but I'm sure bullet selection has expanded since the 80's. I'm going to work at it, thanks again, Coogs.

[Hosspower]

When seating bullets set the die so the base of the bullets ends up at the base of the neck. I had read this recomondation and started seating this way. I didn't try other seating depths so I can't guarantee it is the best way but it does work good for me.

[b1buddy]

Well, doggone it Coogs! Would not have expected to see you on here. See you and read your posts on the Ruger Forums often. This is B1buddy - my login there. IHMSA Life member 11061
Haven't shot a match in some time, but not due to lack of desire. Retired and moved so that wife could be closer to her family and now the nearest big bore match is roughly 4.5 hour drive!!!! Anyway, long time IHMSA shooter, fan, match director, deputy Texas director, and on and on and on!

So, to the 7TCU question. Lots of good info already given to you and cannot object to any of it. My process and favorite loading is :

Currently have three sets of dies from three separate manufactures. Normally use the Redding dies.
As mentioned before, do your best to start with commercial brass. I ended up with a big batch of Federal, and it always seemed to last longer than any others. Example - in my old standing TC, I stopped counting the rounds after I put >6000 through the first barrel. During that time, I had approximately 300 rounds of brass that had over 26 reloads in them. But, like mentioned before, after the fire forming, neck size only, and keep the brass dedicated to an individual barrel.
When sizing the brass the first time - when I first started, I would lube good, and neck up and then deburr the necks. My normal loss was about 10% due to screwed up necks getting crinkled or crushed. I learned to do the inside and outside deburring BEFORE opening the necks up and my losses dropped to less than 1%. So, good idea here!!!!!

During all my time reloading the TC I shot either BLC2 or AA2460.( I shot TC in production and standing, and for awhile in an XP (but lost too many rams with it)). Another important point that I got from Elgin Gates reloading book was to set the seating depth to at least 40-60 thousandths off the lands. He was emphatic about doing that, and after a few quick tests, he was right. (PS note - If you are going to be in Tulsa this November, I will bring my Elgin reloading book for Silhouettes and you can borrow it for the weekend and read it, copy it, or whatever. Just let me know) Plus, we can visit about silhouettes too

I always stuck with 139 Hornady or 140 Sierra for the C,P, and T targets. Rams, were Hornady 154's in my standing TC and 162 Solid base Noslers for production. But, the solid base Noslers are pretty much unheard of any more. I have a few put away, but not nearly enough
Another note on bullets - Lots of testing in "the old days" with bullet construction etc. Pretty much confirmed that the flat base bullets are slightly more accurate on and average to the boat tail bullets, but naturally the boat tails are better at distance due to the higher BC. I would shoot flat base when available but really didn't make enough difference to me to warrant any rigid ruling. When shooting the shoot off targets are 200 meters, I would always shoot the C,P,T load. It didn't really seem to make much difference in the productions TC, but in the unlimited category it did. Usually, back then, the shoot off targets were somewhat smaller than the ones used for Production.

And, to give a little credibility to all this, I was International class in all Big Bore categories, State Champ a few times, and set two National records at the State NRA match (which have now been blown completely to heck and back )

Okay. I am tired of typing. Probably for sure forgot something that would be helpful, so feel free to ask me anything and I will try to help.

PS - I know you do the 357 Max. I still have my old Dan Wesson 357 VH8S and shot a few 40x40's with it. Never did try the Max in a TC on silhouettes but do have a barrel for it. I really, really liked the 170 grain silhouette bullets in the DW. I did try the Ruger Max for a short time, but got overwhelmed with the hype that was in The Silhouette about the DW's and switched. Probably would be a good one for revolver category. And, there are 357 Max loads in Elgin's book also. Plus, there is a book in my stash that is "shooting Steel", I think is its title. For the most part, it is a compilation of many of the articles from the organizations monthly news letter/magazine. Even has one of my letters to Elgin copied in it and I didn't even know he had done that until recently (or old man memory just forgot). Neat!!

Okay, Coogs! That's my story and I am sticking to it!!!

Buddy Bailey
IHMSA Life 11061