Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters 7mm-08.... The Good, The Bad, The Ugly......

I have a 7-08. Don't have a .308. 7 must be better, at least till I get a .308

JG, as you know the 7-08 works well with a dizzying amount of powders.

I settled on:

150 NBT / 46.5 H4350 / 210M / Rem Brass / 2,700 fps

Love the 7-08.

Love...



Dave

UncleSoapy,

I've only owned four 7mm-08's, but every one has been very accurate and easy to load for--and shot well with factory ammo too. Haven't shot vast amounts of big game with it, but between the 7-08 and the 7x57 (which is exactly the same thing ballistically) have taken at least a dozen species of big game, including a number of whitetails. But have also taken game up to bull elk and moose in North America, and wildebeest and kudu in Africa. Oh, and pronghorn and springbok (the African equivalent of pronghorn) out to around 400 yards, where the same ballistics work fine too. They're both fine all-around cartridges.

Anyone us the factory Federal 140gr Fusion ammo on an elk?

Bought a few boxes of it off the classifieds here at a great price. Shot my Montana with it at 300yds a couple of weeks ago, and i was pretty dang impressed with how well it grouped!

Seems like the Fusion stuff is hard to make shoot badly!

Easily in the top 5 list of cartridges.

UncleSoapy,

For many years I've been enamoured with both the 308 and the 7mm-08 though I have never owned either. In my early years when I first started hunting I used a 7X57 sporterized mauser which is basically a 7mm-08. I skipped over the 308 at some point opting out for the 30/06 instead. I found recoil from the 30/06 to be a bit more than I cared for due to the fact that I like to practice with my hunting rifle a lot and 50-75 rounds a week I found my shoulder a bit bruised. Eventually I got my hands on a 270 and for 12 years now its been my cartridge of choice.

IMO cartridges such as the 7mm08, 7X57, 308, 270, etc are all cartridges I consider to " kick a little, but kills a lot" category. The 7mm08 offers slightly less recoil slightly better long range ballistics than the 308 IMO, whats not to like?

Recently I made a bit of a move and am toying with the idea of going from my 270 as a mainstay to a 6.5X55 swede. Last year was the first year I hunted the little swede and recoil is noticably less. Both rifles are the Tikka T3 so it was an apples to apples comparison. Results were more than satisfactory on deer, enouph so, next year it will get used for elk. I think the 7mm08 would fall under the same concept with perhaps a little more recoil and an ability to handle heavier bullets if thats your thing.

The 7mm08 just might be the best "kicks a little, kills a lot" cartridge availiable today. I know my 7X57 I used years ago was a killing son of a gun which is the very reason I began to steer toward the lighter recoiling cartridges to begin with.





Trystan

NO ! Not according to

Top 10 Ammo sales >> OR

Top 10 Reloading Die Sales.

The 7-08 is not even in the Top 10 of either.

Jerry

Good grief...

Have you ever considered it may be one of the best kept secrets of............

"those in the know"

Most folks dont know what they dont know ☺

Trystan

Been hunting with the 7mm08 for over 20 years..... There is no bad and ugly with it . Nothing but good in my opinion! I have taken ALOT of game with it over the years and it remains my favorite caliber .

Ugly, as a slightly less popular cartridge, factory ammo is usually more expensive then 308 or 06. Not a big deal.

Rrrrrrright......

My 7-08 would be one of the last rifles I'd sell.

For anything up thru Elk, I could be perfectly happy if all I had was 7mm-08.

my favorite chambering.

I load 150 gr Sierras and 42 gr of IMR 4320. Stupid easy accurate.

Your stupid never fails to impress.

I have put together three different 7-08s over the last couple of years. Easy to load for, mild recoil, enough knock-down for everything that I hunt. Nothing to dislike about that particular chambering.

Its the best thing on a 308 case. With ballistics like a 7x57 it's hard to fault. I wish were a huge fan but never saw any advantage for me anyway. YMMV.

Despite 8-10 of them ,starting when the cartridge came out, I never became enchanted. Friends and I used them here in New England for quite a few years,mostly with 140 gr bullets,but there was no advantage over a 7x57 for the same game,and I liked the longer neck and somewhat bigger case of the 7x57 better.

I think one old pal still has his, a lefty on a short 700 action. I had various Remington offerings, M70 FW's ,Compact Classics, Kimber 84L and Montana's(at least 4 of those. I kept trying!

It was always slower with comparable bullets than a 270 or a 280;certainly didn't kill any better..... the somewhat shorter, lighter rifles never allowed me to kill anything that i couldn't and didn't kill with a 270 or 280 just as easily.

With 270's and 280's in the stable it was superfluous, offering no advantage. It's ballistics are easily duplicated by several other cartridges so no gain there.

Recoil differences? I know it's subjective, but to me there is no recoil differences.Recoil from a 7/08 is trifling....so is a 280.

I sold my last one, a Kimber Montana, about 18 months ago....another failed attempt at liking the 'short action/7/08" concept. It never blew my skirt up.Nothing wrong with it but I'll take a 270,280,or 7x57 any time.

It's popular in New England but eyeballing ammo sales and rifles I'd say it's behind the 30/06,308,and 270 and it ain't even close.

Same here, it will be here tomorrow. Thinking of doing a Faux Ti.