Well I just read through all of the posts and figured I'd give my take(not that it is anything that hasn't been said already). Personally, I think its just another good cartridge. If I were to classify it, then I would have to make classes first, but in the end I would put it right in the middle of the road. Just an all around good cartridge. This is with my limited knowledge/experience mind you.

I just got one last month myself. I spent quite a bit of time deciding on what I was going to get. The 7mm-08, in the right package, fit all my desires. I used to be a "bring enough gun" kind of guy. And I still like big/heavy stuff. I shoot a 200 grain bullet for hunting in my M94 30-30. But something happened this past deer season that changed it all for me, or at least opened my eyes to possibilities.

I had long wanted a 22 hornet for just plinking/small game hunting. Dec 2016 a friend asked me if I wanted to buy a .223 from his Uncle. His Uncle is someone who I would consider closer to me than my own Uncle, just a real nice guy. Been hunting with him for the last 10 years and love hearing his stories, always looking forward to next years deer camp. So needless to say, even though I had never wanted a .223, I jumped on this just to have a good memory piece - and I figured it would be close enough to the 22 hornet I have always wanted.

I spent the next few months shooting hundreds of rounds through it. I even worked up a MOA cast bullet load for it. This gun was the first gun I had ever owned like this. I am not a bench rest shooter, just your average joe who picked up hand loading for a hobby(thought I would save money....lmao). So for a gun to just "magically" be so accurate was amazing. I decided, I know what this thing can do, I am going to take it with me to deer camp.

I was hesitant about it, never EVER considered shooting a deer with a .223. So I took a .308 along with me "just in case". First morning I could not bring myself to take the .223, so there I was in the stand with the .308. I was confident with that gun. Practiced out to 200 yards. My stand location didn't have a shot over 100 yards anyways. Low and behold a buck comes out, I try to rush the shot, and completely miss him. As he strolls away I could not bring myself to take another shot because all I could see to hit was his neck.

Then it dawned on me. I was popping squirrels and chipmunks at 200 yards like no ones business with my .223 all year, I could have dropped that buck if I had the .223. So along it went with me the rest of the week. Turns out I was right. Dropped two bucks on two different days with one shot to the neck(and follow up shots to the neck because I still was not convinced it was enough gun.....). I have always been a shoulder/lungs shooter. But with that gun something changed because I knew what it was capable of and I was 100% confident in my shot placement.

I say all of that to say this. I am going on another elk hunt this fall. Went on my first couple years ago. I like to hike, and I realized real quick that a light weight gun would be ideal. I had convinced myself that I would not take anything less than a .308, until I started looking at the 7mm-08 and then I realized it was the ticket for what I wanted. If I had not had my experience with the .223 and shooting deer then I might be on the side of the 7-08 being "too small". But knowing what I do now, I have zero doubt I will have any issues with it.

Turns out, its a shooter also. I have yet to develop my go to hand load(hopefully will get closer tonight), but with factory ammo I would be just as confident in it as I am my .223, and its quite a bit lighter and a lot shorter. I opted for a Ruger American Compact(stainless) which comes in at 7lbs scoped, 36" total length. It feels as good as my M94 in my hands, but I know I can reach out further with it.

That's the "good" of the 7mm-08. They offer it in the smaller packages because its looked on as a smaller caliber. They do have the .308 in the same package, but I just could not see what .024" and ~20 grains of bullet weight was going to get me. The "bad" is it has a bad rap and most people think of it as a girl/kid gun. The "ugly" is resale might not be top notch because of bad rap. But you wont ever see me selling this gun willingly......