How do you like the 7mm-08? and Why will we send our kids out with a .270 or something similar for elk, and yet we feel we need a "more bigger-better rifle for ourselves"?
Good luck,
5Points
5 Points. I built (or my gunsmith did) that 7mm-08 from an old Win 70 Westerner that was chambered for 243 Win. I bought the rifle used at a pawnshop, played around with the 243 a little bit, then turned it into a 7mm-08 with a Schillen barrel cut to 22". I love that gun. Is it perfect? No. Ideally, it would have a short action bolt, but this one is the regular length. But....the recoil is light, accuracy has been very good and I just like it alot. I have a buddy that hunts with a Model 7 in 7mm-08. He is from Iowa and was really surprised to hear that I had a rifle in the same caliber.
Anyway, I watched him anchor a spike bull elk last fall with one shot from his 7mm-08 and 140 TSX handloads. He is a large man. Probably 6'2" or so and strong. He has never said he wished he had a bigger gun.
So....I love my little 7mm-08 for target shooting, teaching my wife to shoot, practicing myself (same rifle essentially as my big 7) and I know my kids will like it too. I have killed three deer with it and look forward to doing it again. Ideally, I built it so that my wife would have a potent rifle for hunting without the punishment of recoil. She just hasn't wanted to go kill anything so I have pretty well adopted it. She does enjoy shooting it though.
I want something with a larger frontal diameter so that I have a better chance of getting a blood trail from a large bull if needed. I shot a cow last year that had NO blood trail, although the bullet performed perfectly and did its job well, I don't know if I would have found her if there wasn't fresh snow on the ground. That experience has me thinking that I want a larger caliber for more possibility of blood trail if needed.
Firehawk
