Perfect round for Munty I'm lead to believe.
K
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7mm-08. Who uses one?
- Thread starter iain b
- Start date
Hi
I shoot 140grn BT's and Accubonds in front of H4350 and they cloverleaf. One thing I've found - which is mightily convenient - is that anything that is 140grn will have the same POI out to 200m with the same load and anything that's 120grn (different loading) will still have the same POI out to 150 as the 140grn loading. This means that I can shoot my 140 or 120 loads with the comfort of knowing that at any reasonable stalking range I don't have to re-zero. I've never had that in any other calibre before. Might just be lucky with my rifle.
Having been a 'calibre monkey' for many years I think I've finally found - to my mind anyway - my perfectly acceptable generally purpose compromise calibre. Ok. that probably sound like a whopping contradiction but I think you know what I mean.
FN
I shoot 140grn BT's and Accubonds in front of H4350 and they cloverleaf. One thing I've found - which is mightily convenient - is that anything that is 140grn will have the same POI out to 200m with the same load and anything that's 120grn (different loading) will still have the same POI out to 150 as the 140grn loading. This means that I can shoot my 140 or 120 loads with the comfort of knowing that at any reasonable stalking range I don't have to re-zero. I've never had that in any other calibre before. Might just be lucky with my rifle.
Having been a 'calibre monkey' for many years I think I've finally found - to my mind anyway - my perfectly acceptable generally purpose compromise calibre. Ok. that probably sound like a whopping contradiction but I think you know what I mean.
FN
Pine Marten
Well-Known Member
Well it certainly leaves them stone dead, but it does the same for everything else in my limited experience, although so does every other calibre if you can shoot straight. I used a .308 at the BSRC before I had my Steyr Mannlicher in 7-08, and although nominally almost the same calibre, I found it had unpleasant recoil that lead to flinching. That was probably because of the lightweight plastic stock. Anyway, I don't flinch or blink at all anymore with my 7-08, I'm confident that I can place rounds where I want them at 150m and that deer will drop, and that's probably the main thing. This year, I want to put in some practice at 200 and 300m just so that I know how it performs at those distances.
Otherwise, I'm surprised at the number of people on this thread who have custom or semi-custom rifles. You can buy them just fine off the rack you know!
Erik Hamburger
Well-Known Member
Hi, all. I've got a Remington 700 sps in 7-08. I like it, hits like a .308, shoots flatter & less recoilI've put it in a Boyds thumbhole stock. Just wondering how many on here use 7-08 & what powder and bullet weight you use?
I decided to go for a 7mm-08 in preference to a .308W for the same reasons.
However, speaking to a few people with more knowledge / experience, I was alerted to the fact amo is not widely stocked by RFD's, expensive, and when they stock it there is not much bullet choice. So on that basis I have now applied for a slot for a .308W.
So the advice is not to go for a 7mm-08 unless of course you plan to home-load.
Sinistral
Well-Known Member
Hi, all. I've got a Remington 700 sps in 7-08. I like it, hits like a .308, shoots flatter & less recoil
I concur with the (slightly) flatter verdict, but there isn't 'less recoil' if you're firing the same weight bullet.
While there's nothing wrong with the 7mm-08, there's no particular magic in it either. It does seem to get more exposure on SD than it has in the real world, so maybe its' entire fan base is here.
It's certainly a more interesting reloading proposition than the .308 due to the lack of coverage it gets, but as it's best with slower powders than the .308 uses & needs scarcer 7mm bullets it ends up more expensive to feed. Not a big difference, but it's still there.
Sorry I didn't see this post earlier, that would be because I was out with my Tikka 595 7-08 this morning. This doe didn't think much of the 140gn Nosler Balistic Tip over Reloader 17 (dropped on the spot).
I've recently been testing some 120 gn Nosler BT's, again over Reloader 17, I've knocked it back a little, but its still doing 3000 f/ps, that's aprox 1" high at 100, 1/2" high at 150, zero at 175, and aprox 1" low at 200. It's still giving in excess of 1700 ft/lb at 200(minimum deer requirement).
It also does well on federal Fusion, both the 140's and 120's.
Loving it.
I've recently been testing some 120 gn Nosler BT's, again over Reloader 17, I've knocked it back a little, but its still doing 3000 f/ps, that's aprox 1" high at 100, 1/2" high at 150, zero at 175, and aprox 1" low at 200. It's still giving in excess of 1700 ft/lb at 200(minimum deer requirement).
It also does well on federal Fusion, both the 140's and 120's.
Loving it.
The deer man
Well-Known Member
In 7mm-08 I use:-
Reloder 17 with 140gr Sierra Gameking SPBT giving 2790 ft/sec
Reloder 15 with 120gr Hornady SP giving 2,920 ft/sec
I find these powders, to supposedly, give less pressure for the same velocity than others and are very accurate.
Reloder 17 with 140gr Sierra Gameking SPBT giving 2790 ft/sec
Reloder 15 with 120gr Hornady SP giving 2,920 ft/sec
I find these powders, to supposedly, give less pressure for the same velocity than others and are very accurate.
The deer man
Well-Known Member
I would also add that the Federal Fusion 140gr factory ammo worked very well. Just using up some factory ammo (I forgot I had!) in Federal 150gr Hot-Cor and find this to be very accurate and works very well on deer.
Comparing the 7mm-08 using 150gr bullets against a 308 with 150gr bullets on our range the 7mm-08 was most definitely smoother to shoot with less recoil. Maybe it was the difference in rifles but both were sporters of approximately the same weight (Rem 700 in 7mm-08 and a Thompson Icon in 308).
P.S. The 7mm bullet range is hardly scarce and difficult to come by!?
Comparing the 7mm-08 using 150gr bullets against a 308 with 150gr bullets on our range the 7mm-08 was most definitely smoother to shoot with less recoil. Maybe it was the difference in rifles but both were sporters of approximately the same weight (Rem 700 in 7mm-08 and a Thompson Icon in 308).
P.S. The 7mm bullet range is hardly scarce and difficult to come by!?
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Pine Marten
Well-Known Member
I have a box of the 150gr and found them to have the same point of impact at 100m as the 140gr Nosler BTs, also from Federal. I've not used them on deer yet, but I'm holding them in reserve. Frankly, all the Federal Premium range seem to be excellent.
The only chance I've had to use my Tikka 7-08 on game was on a decent whitetail and I used the Sierra GK 150's. Broadside at 80 yards through the lungs it punched a 2" exit wound. If I didn't have 1900 of the Sierra's left on my shelf I'd switch to a lighter bullet. For the larger mule deer, maybe a different story.~Muir
There's another similar response to this thread, and I've also noticed a similar characteristic with my Tikka 595 7-08 which I've not seen in other calibers before. To be honest I just assumed that it was a peculiarity with my rifle. It would be interesting to know if the other 7-08 users are finding similar characteristics with their rifles and if any ones finding the same thing with other calibers such as 308, 260 etc
dcg
I am on my second 7mm08, the first was a Tikka T3 the current one is a Sako 75. I also have a Sako 75 in 308 but I invariably pick up the 7'08 when I go to the cabinet. The 7'08 has been used on plains game up to Kudu in Africa, Sika in Ireland and all the UK species with the exception of Red's (and then only because I rarely see them and when I do it is the usual story of wrong sex, wrong season, no backstop and so on). With a muzzle brake on my rifle I can see the bullet strike the animal since there is virtually no muzzle flip. My standard load is N140 and 140gn Sierra Prohunter. I used to use 120gn but found meat damage a bit excessive so now stick to 140gn. My muzzle brakes are not doing my hearing a lot of good but they make my rifles very comfortable to shoot! (If you want one fitted see Steve Kershaw in Goole).
Phil
Phil
The deer man
Well-Known Member
Try a Hardy Gen IV instead, very light mod and has a built in muzzle brake to boot!
I rate this mod and am going to buy another.
The deer man
Well-Known Member
Afraid I can't answer for the 175 SGK's (but do have a similar option on some as well). However I have developed a 160 SGK load (for hunting) which I felt I could get a little more out of than the heavier 175 bullets which I felt had just got too heavy for calibre, I maybe wrong. See if he has some 160's under the dust!
If you do go for the 175's would be interested to hear how you get on.
ATB
I have used 175's years back in 7x57 in the guise of Hornady Round Nose at around 2200 fps. They were unexciting on whitetails; killed them dead, of course, but nothing spectacular. I think that these GK's will be a too much bullet for deer and going the other direction from where I'd like to go with this 7-08. Since I must buy all of them to get that price I'm not certain. That's $200 on bullets I won't much use. Of course, I'm the only person interested so i have some time to think about it. I'll look for 160's. I bought all the dusty "A-MAX MATCH" in 162 grains that they had....~Muir
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jungle_re
Well-Known Member
Lucky to get hem amaxs been after some for ages and can't find anywhere that has them either side of the pond have gone for the berger 168 as substitute. also have 140' 150 accubonds which will do the deer side and 160 partitions for pigs. Powders I've chosen to play with n140, imr 4895, re19 and varget. All chosen as they double/triple up in the other rifles I have. I've yet to receive my 7-08 so can't comment on how they will prove but I'll update once it turns up and I've had some load development and hunting time with it.
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