I shot end to end on one like that a few years back. I was shooting a 7mm/08 with 154 grain Hornady RN bullets. Did about 75 yards worth of tracking on that one. Highly unusual for that rifle. It was the last year I used that bullet out of that rifle.
CT,
There may not be any better bullet for your 7-08 than the one you abandoned. There is nothing wrong with the 154gr Hornady that a little better placement won't cure.
I don't doubt it was the fault of the trigger squeezer in that instance. I did quite a bit of experimenting with that rifle. It seemed to shoot everything I tried ridiculously well, except for those 154 grain RN's. There were so many other good bullets that it shot so well, I just didn't revisit those.
