Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Deer Hunting 7mm08 ammo

Whats everyone’s go to bullet for deer? I’ve always had great success with Hornady SST 140gr in my 270 so I was leaning toward the 139 SST for the 7mm08. 2nd choice would the the nosler 140 accubond but are they worth $30 more per box?

Are you talking factory ammo or handloading?

About anything in the 140 range works pretty nice for deer.

I've been using old 162 Amax's and generally okay with them. I punch shoulders and the deer tend to drop within a step from where I shot them. DOA.

That said - I have some TTSX and Accubonds in the 140 range I'll give a go here soon.

The 139 sst is a good deer bullet in the 7-08. To me the noslers wouldn't be worth the extra money for deer. My father in law has been using the 150 eldx and they have done really well also

I load 140 grain Ballistic Tips in my 7/08. 41.0 grains of 4064. Shoots tiny little bug holes and it’s light recoiling for the grandkids to shoot.

The 139gn interlocks are fantastic little bullets. I shoot them or partitions primarily. I load my own.

I have never tried 139gn SSTs in my 7mm-08 but the 154gn variety does a wonderful job in my 280.

I see no reason to spend the money on accubonds personally. I am not buying partitions lately either...

I should have clarified, im looking for factory ammo. Im currently leaning toward try to the 120gr TTSX and the 139 gr SST to see which shoots the best. I was leaning 140gr but have heard great things about the barnes TTSX as well.

My wife, exclusively runs the Barnes Vor-tx, 120gr TTSX in hers, for reduced recoil.

She is a stone cold whitetail killer & I used it on a bull moose, when I dropped my .308, loading up for a fly in hunt.

I've used 145 Grandslams for many years, with great results. I did get to use a few 140 AB's, which also worked well, but they were too hard to get ahold of.
This year I plan to try 139LRX's.

Reloading! It"s fun!

My opinion, 120 TTSX are hard to beat out of a 7mm-08.

I use the 120nbts. I have always heard they had a thicker jacket than the 140s and think someone here confirmed. I tried the 139 sst in two of my 708s and both hated them.

I agree with both statements for my 7-08

Never had an issue getting 139 SST's to shoot in any 7mm-08 that was capable of doing so. 4 out of 5 rifles......a Savage M10 lightweight didn't seem to want to shoot anything I fed it in limited testing and got sent down the road.

A M700, a M700 mountain rifle, a M788, and a Tikka. Interestingly the Tikka gave me some fits until I got it straightened out and then it shot the same load as the other rifles into neat little clusters. 41.5 of Varget and the 139 SST. Cannot speak to factory ammo.

120 ttsx for me

For whitetail, no. For bigger critters, yes.

I have previously used 140 grain bullets in my 7-08. Had been using some 145 grain Speers for the last few years. This year I purchased some 120 grain BT. Didn't see a buck to try them on so the jury is still out but they shoot well.

There is really no wrong answer here. Either bullet is great for whitetails (along with 2 dozen other options). Just know the differences in performance, as they are very different.

The TTSX will punch through every single time, unless you shoot them end to end. Barnes says they expand well down to 1,800 fps, but I say keep them above 2,200 fps. They don't necessarily leave huge blood trails, but they will leave something as you will almost always have two holes. I like to break shoulders with these.

The SST will expand rapidly and result in a lot of "drop in their tracks". My experience is that you will get an exit hole about 60% of the time on broadside shots. I prefer lung shots with these.


I've used the 120 TTSX extensively (60+ deer) and I've used the SST in other cartridges for 100+ deer, so I've seen both in action and have no hesitation with either.

Factory loads 139gr Hornady Interlock
Handloads 120gr Nosler Ballistic Tip.

Both worked well on N.C. whitetail

120gr ballistic tips, 140gr Sierra Game King.

The 120gr NBT factory ammo is excellent and fairly widely available. It's shot great for me in lots of different rifles and it penetrates well. Killed everything from whitetail to pigs to caribou with it.

120 BT are some bad bitches,

For the average deer, it simply does not matter much. However, if you want to eat up to the bullet hole mono's are your friend.

I have been loading some 145 grain Speer Soft Point Boat Tails. Bullet resembles a Sierra Fame King. The Tikka T3 loves them. Performance on N.C. whitetails has been excellent.

I think it would be really hard to beat Hornady"s American Whitetail ammo with the 139 gr. Interlock bullet for deer. Assuming, of course, that it shoots well in your rifle, and it shoots pretty well in many rifles. The Hornady 139 gr. SSTs should work well on deer at 7mm-08 velocities, too.

I don't think you really need an exotic bullet for deer unless you are taking "Texas heart shots," in which case a monometal bullet like the Hornady CX or Barnes to penetrate the length of the animal may be indicated.

Yep. Plain American Whitetail 139 Interlocks are great, as are Fusions. The 120ttsx is a winner if you want a mono. I had rifles shooting all three loads last season.

I was rather happy using Federal 140 gr Fusion, Federal 150 gr Blue Box, 140 gr Winchester Power Points, and Remington 140 gr Core-Lokts when I used factory ammo. I'm currently loading 139 gr Hornady Interlocks and they should work just as well in factory loads.

Somewhere I have some Federal or Remington (maybe both) premium loads using 140 gr Nosler Partitions. They killed deer and black bears well though I wouldn't buy them, nor other "premium" bullets for deer today due to price. There are far less expensive options that work just well. I picked the above ammo up at a store that was closing and was able to buy them for far less than the cost to reload. These and the Remington, Federal, and Interlock hand loads all shoot close enough to the same place to be interchangeable.

I load 90+% of my rifle ammo, .223 making up almost all of the exceptions. If dependent on factory, the only reason I’d pay for premium would be to get monos, maybe bonded, and both for reduced meat damage. C&C can be pretty messy unless you can pick your shots, and since about half of my deer get processed commercially, that matters. Those folks aren't as fussy as I am about what goes in the burger.

It seems to me that cup/cores of medium weight and medium velocity from rounds like the 6.5CM/7mm08/308 don't shoot up too terribly much meat, as impact velocities generally aren't a huge stress on the bullets. This is not something I can always say for larger-cased rounds when shooting similar bullets.

Per your original post the 139 SST will be fine.

The stuff in the green box has worked for decades for killing them deerz.

My Kimber Montana and Classic both shoot the Barnes VOR-TX 120 TTSX and Hornady American Whitetail 139 Interlock ammo very well.
I reload and get a little more juice out of each, but I'd have no hesitation about using the factory stuff on a hunt if I had nothing loaded.
I'd use the 120TTSX or 139 Interlock on anything up to Canada moose.

120 ballistic tips or 140 Accubond.

Not that they are necessary for deer, but I use 139 gr. Hornady CX projectiles in my 7mm-08 in factory Superformance ammo. They shoot accurately in my rifle. Between my son and me, we have taken 10 deer with this combination with excellent results. I have only recovered one bullet, and that was on a frontal shot. With that shot on a decent 8 pt. whitetail, the bullet hit at the junction of the throat and the brisket. It traveled 3/4 the length of the deer and ended up in a perfect mushroom. I would not hesitate for one second to use this combination in elk at reasonable ranges.

I ordered several different loads to try and see what the gun like. 120gr TTSX, SST 139, and a few other.

I been using 140 nosler bt’s for the 7 years I been using my 7mm08. I never have been compelled to change. I’m in the east with shots from 50-200 yards with most at 150. If I ever got in a pinch I wouldn't be afraid of about any descent hunting bullet that shot well out of my rifle.

Take a look at the Federal fusion 140.

For 7mm it's 150 Interlock, 150 Accubond or Ballistic Tip.

I have always personally had good results with the Winchester 140gr ballistic silver tip (same as nosler bullet)
and the Hornady 139gr sst and Fusion 139gr are not far behind.

You're in the sweet spot of deer cartridges in that the 7mm08 is plenty for any deer but not hard on bullets. This is an open door. Try a box of Hornady Whitetail, Fed Blue box and Remington Corelocts. Let your rifle decide.

for factory ammo I have used the 150gr Sierra Gamechanger in Sako ammo, 140 gr NBT in Norma ammo, 150 gr Federal Blue box and all have been good. In handloads I have used 120gr NBTs and 150gr ELD-Xs. Some of my 7mm08s have preferred lighter bullets, some heavier, but all have been accurate and got the job done.

The federal fusion 120 grains worked real well so far in my browning a-bolt II micro hunter. No need for any more or less.

+1 on the Hornady 139 grain Interlocks.

For factory ammo my choice for a solid copper would be Barnes loaded with 120 TTSX.
For cup and core, Hornady American Whitetail with 139 Interlocks. I'm not a fan of the SSTs.

I reload and these two bullets have given me excellent accuracy, terminal ballistics and loads of dead critters for decades.

I've liked what I've seen with Interlocks from my .308, but the nose flattens in the magazine in my lighter 7mm-08, so I've gone to the plastic tipped bullets. Lots of the reloaders here seem really concerned with achieving the ultra accurate, highest velocity handload. The deer hunting here in the Midwest where I hunt is 100 yards and in and I care more about terminal performance than I do with an moa group. Deer aren't that hard to kill, but they are harder to find when they run off due to a too hard bullet with minimal expansion and blood trail or a less than perfect shot placement. To my way of thinking, if I stop a bullet inside the animal, that bullet failed. I want that animal DRT or leaving a big leaky blood trail to help find them. I've tried lots of different factory ammunition and reading here even a 120 grain Barnes TTSX was on my short list to try. That was until this morning when I read Mule Deer's post in the TTSX performance Big Game thread where John wrote that he hasn't seen any difference in the TSX and the TTSX. My own experience with the 140 grain TSX in my 7mm-08 has been terrible for expansion in deer. So far the 140 grain Nosler BT has shown me what I want to get a deer on the ground quickly. I would be curious how a 120 grain BT would compare to a 140 grain BT?

If you don't want to stop a 7mm-08 bullet in a deer (typically) but want a decent exit and decent expansion at the same time, I'd really lean toward the 120TTSX. I've shot them at 2800-ish MV for a youth load in a 20" bolt action and they always expanded nicely on deer and hogs with a pretty decent blood trail on runners. I really didn't see much difference when bumping up the load closer to 3000fps. My other choice would be a Partition. Again, this is if exits are paramount.

Another big fan of the 120gr TTSX here.