I have a certain fondness for the 7-08, as my username reveals. The first big game rifle I had made with a good custom barrel is a LH short 700 with a Pac-Nor dup of the factory sporter contour. It was the first big game rifle that would shoot .5-.75" groups day in and day out. When I was living in western Oregon, I thought it was a perfect cartridge for the ranges I was shooting there.

I regard it as a more modern version of both the 7x57 (fits a short action better) and a .308 (less recoil paired with better BC bullets.) And before the fans of those cartridges wig out, I do have guns chambered for both of those rounds.

Now that I hunt more in UT, WY, MT, and CO, I tend to grab rifles chambered for cartridges like the .257 Wby or the 7mm Rem mag because I think they give me a little more range. But in reality, there is probably only one animal I have shot in the last decade for which the 7-08 would not have done the job just as well.