Hornady Whitetail 7mm Rem Mag 154gr SST – Great Long Range

Description

One thing to flag before anything else, because the trade data gets it wrong in places: this load is 154 grain, not 165. More than one distributor and retailer lists it incorrectly. The Hornady Whitetail 7mm Rem Mag 154gr SST sends a 154 grain polymer tipped SST out at 3025 feet per second for 3129 foot pounds, and the published energy figure confirms the lighter bullet rather than the heavier one.

• A light-for-caliber magnum load
• Full specifications
• Open country, and knowing your drop
• Honest notes before you buy
• Recoil, barrels and the belted case
• The bottom line

A light-for-caliber magnum load

The 7mm Remington Magnum usually runs 160 to 175 grain bullets, so 154 is at the lighter end. That buys velocity and a flatter trajectory, which is the whole reason anyone owns a 7mm magnum in the first place. The Hornady Whitetail 7mm Rem Mag 154gr SST is set up for open country where the shot might be long.

Seven millimeter bullets have unusually good sectional density for their weight, so the Hornady Whitetail 7mm Rem Mag 154gr SST does not give up the penetration you would expect from a light bullet. That is the quiet advantage of the caliber, and it is why a 154 grain 7mm behaves more like a 165 grain 30 caliber bullet in the field.

Full specifications

• Caliber: 7mm Remington Magnum
• Bullet weight: 154 grain
• Bullet: SST polymer tipped with InterLock ring
• Muzzle velocity: 3025 fps
• Muzzle energy: 3129 ft-lbs
• Case: reloadable boxer primed brass
• Quantity: 20 rounds per box
• Line: Hornady American Whitetail Tipped
• Hornady item 80601

The SST is a polymer tipped boat tail with an InterLock ring inside the jacket. The tip sharpens the nose profile for flight and acts as a wedge on impact to start expansion, while the ring keeps the core locked to the jacket. In the Hornady Whitetail 7mm Rem Mag 154gr SST that gives you quick, reliable expansion at long range impact velocities.

Open country, and knowing your drop

Mule deer across a basin, pronghorn on the plains, elk at the edge of a meadow. The Hornady Whitetail 7mm Rem Mag 154gr SST is built for the shots the 7mm magnum exists to take. Zero at 250 yards and you are within a few inches of point of aim at 300, which covers most of what western hunting presents.

Past that, build a drop chart with the ammunition you will actually hunt with. A 154 grain load and a 175 grain load out of the same rifle land in different places and follow different curves, so dope built with one does not transfer to the other. Shoot the Hornady Whitetail 7mm Rem Mag 154gr SST at distance before you rely on it.

Honest notes before you buy

The belted case headspaces on the belt rather than the shoulder, which matters if you reload. Watch repeatedly fired brass for the bright ring near the case head that warns of impending separation, and retire cases from the Hornady Whitetail 7mm Rem Mag 154gr SST sooner than you would 308 brass.

On elk, weigh the bullet choice honestly. The SST expands fast, which is ideal on deer and is more than a bull elk shoulder needs at close range. Inside 250 yards on elk a bonded bullet penetrates more reliably than the Hornady Whitetail 7mm Rem Mag 154gr SST. At longer range where impact velocity has dropped, the fast expanding design works in your favor.

Recoil, barrels and the belted case

The 7mm Remington Magnum kicks harder than a 30-06 and less than a 300 magnum, which most shooters manage fine from field positions with a decent pad. It is enough to build a flinch from a bench though, so shoot the Hornady Whitetail 7mm Rem Mag 154gr SST in short strings and from realistic positions rather than grinding through a box at a rest.

Throat erosion is the cost of the performance. A hard shooting 7mm magnum may show accuracy falling off after fifteen hundred to two thousand rounds. Hunting use will never approach that, and the value pricing on the Hornady Whitetail 7mm Rem Mag 154gr SST means practice does not have to be rationed the way premium ammunition forces.

The bottom line

For a 7mm Remington Magnum hunter chasing deer and antelope in open country, the Hornady Whitetail 7mm Rem Mag 154gr SST is a flat shooting load at a price that lets you practise properly. You can read more about the bullet design at swiftbullets.com, or browse the rest of our stock on the MAG5 Firearms ammunition page.

MAG5 Firearms keeps the Hornady Whitetail 7mm Rem Mag 154gr SST in stock and moving, and we are glad to talk through bullet choice before you order. If you are working up a load for a new rifle, a single box of the Hornady Whitetail 7mm Rem Mag 154gr SST is a sensible place to start.