Home Forums Reloading Big Game Rifles 7mm-08 for Deer Hunting Reloading ???

Hi,
My Son-in-law just purchased a bolt rifle for deer hunting. It is chambered in 7-08 a caliber I have never loaded for. What would be your recommendation for brass, powder, primers, and bullet (both weight and brand). He will be hunting in upstate SC so mostly 200 yards or less and usually 150lbs or less. Any and all opinions are welcomed and appreciated.

Thanks in advance
Doug

Doug, lot of threads on this subject. The gold standard is 120gr Nosler BT over RL15. I use WW brass and Remington LR primers. Works great.

If you want a little more weight, the 140 Sierra ProHunter works great for me over 4350 at those distances. I use these in a SS Marlin XS7.

120 Ballistic Tip, any good brass and standard strength primer, and something like Varget, RL15, 4895 or 4064.


As already mentioned the 140 Sierra is a good one, and the 139 Interlock is sure fire too.

I load 140gr Rem Corelokts or Hornady 139gr flat base bullets over 48gr of H4350 in Remington cases.

Good recommendations here so far. Myself, RL 15 powder is hard to beat. I am however, currently working some loads with Big Game which are looking good. Easy through the powder measure and fast.

I would load one load for any situation.

Winchester brass
IMR 4064, or Varget, nigh interchangeable

140 Accubond

Nothing wrong with the 120 BT above, or Barnes 120.
After that, go to the 130-139/140. All kill deer fine.

Nothing greater needed, though no flies on a 150 BT or 154 SST though added recoil and drop, still flat enough especially at those distances.

Good hunting! About any fair loading will get the job done, with vital shots.

130 Speer BTSP with IMR 4064.

An easy caliber to load for.. I have used Horn.139's, 120 Vmax, and 100 grain Sierra hollow points on game.. Everything shoots well.. Have some 160 HPBT's, but haven't taken anything with them.. Use I4350 with the 160's. And what ever was handy with the rest..

My 7-08 is my go-to deer hunting rifle, and I use 140 Sierra Pro-Hunters over Varget and Win primers.

I am not a fan of ballistic tips at the short ranges specified.

R-15 or Varget and a 120 TSX or about 46gr. IMR 4350 and a 140 Partition.

Your son in law chose wisely. The 7-08 is as good as it gets for deer......

Please elaborate on your short range experience with 120BT's. I've killed 17 whitetails and several dozen hogs with it so far with no trouble, ranges 15-175 yds.

I would just buy 100 rounds of Hornady American Whitetail factory ammo, 139 grain SpirePoints at 2,840 fps is a great place to start. After you shoot up the factory ammo, you have good brass that is fire-formed to your chamber and you can reload with whatever bullet make/style moves you. Or, you might decide that the Hornady factory ammo does all that you need to get done in the deer fields.

Oh, wait a minute, that's what I did when I needed to feed the 6.5 Creedmoors, 129 grain SpirePoint, and 7mm-08s, 139 grain SpirePoint.

In 7-08 have killed deer with BTs, BSTs, Partitions, Grand Slams, Hot-Cors, TSXs, Power Points, and Hornady SP. Maybe more.

The BTs were the only of said bullets that made more of a mess of things than I prefer on closer range shots. They also did not put 2 holes in the deer. Which not every other bullet did either. I am not sure if I really "require" an exit, as most do not go far enough to matter. They did kill quickly and reliably. But so did the others.

I recall saying something about this to Mule Deer a while back, or maybe last year. I want to say he said that I may have been using the old school BTs and that the jacket had been made thicker and or tougher since then. Not sure. Seen same with many a 270 Win and 130 BTs also. Meat damage on shoulder shots and messy, comparatively speaking, to the other bullets. Those were also the early offerings.

I also used some 140 grain CT BSTs. They also worked well, but again, very messy in comparison to the Partitions and TSXs, etc. that I have used most often. Needless to say, I was turned off by these bullets from the get go, and have never warmed up to them since. They may be better now, I wouldn't know...........

Think the Hornady 139 SP was either the first or second 7-08 bullet I ever used. No need to ever change really, for deer.

I have a boat load of Win 150 PPs here now. When the last of my TSXs get used up, I may just go old scool again. I have decided that it really doesn't matter much what bullet I shoot deer with.

Trying different bullets on deer is fun, but the end result is always the same....

Sounds like a good place to start, especially considering the source.

Same load, different rifles, same results. Load data is printed on the target.

Standard stainless T3



Stainless T3 Superlite






P

Which Tikka holds better?

I used a good deal of 140 BTs and 139s long ago in a 700 Varmint. In an HS Stock. The BTs edged out SLIGHTLY in groups, but in the field the 139s were devastating, as was the BTs, though the 139 seemed to be a bit tougher. Killed with 120 SP and HP in a 7BR rifle, and used 130 Sierra SSP, in the 7/08, as well as 140 Sierra BTSP, which did fine, but shed alot of weight. Shot angle, distance, and your preferred placement matters.

The 130 AB really impressed me in the 6.5, and again would be my preferred if I had to start with one, and use it under all conditions near and far.

On BTs, the 120s in 7mm were beefed up in the jacket as many here know, for using on steel for pistol shooters i.e. XP-100 7mmBRs. They seem to act more like a 140 BT on game, but up close on bone they can be more explosive.

Meat damage might be heavier with softer bullets depending on shot placement, though the game may drop as quick. At closer shots, say within 200 yds, I would use the 120 BTs on lungs. If using a Barnes 120, I would aim for shoulders....

Just found a really accurate load in a 7-08AI using 46.5 gr 2000MR and 140 gr Nosler AB. This is a pretty accurate rifle, and has shot several 3 shot groups under an inch at 100. This one may be the most accurate yet for this rifle, and should be safe in most standard 7-08s. Average vel was 2890 fps in the 24" barrel. 6 shots over 2 different days were a little less than 2.5" of one another, all banging a gong we have set up at 250 yds. I really like the consistency, especially at that distance.

its danged near impossible to find a "bad" load for the 7mm08 on deer.

most projectiles work well in it's velocity range, and the recoil is so mild its very easy to shoot for most shooters.

Love mine, and use it for danged near everything. Coyotes, pigs, deer. I wouldn't hesitate to take it elk hunting, but haven't yet.

it's "boringly accurate" without much effort.

most guys on here preach the 120 BT. It must be great to have that many fans (especially on a forum so rich with critics).

all that said, I use 150 gr Sierra soft points over 42 gr of 4320.

I was just shooting it this past weekend at 200 yards, and producing ~2-2.5" groups. (no wind at all, a glorious day at the range)

Mine is a Savage 14 American Classic. YMMV.