Home Forums Hunting & Shooting General Big Game Opinions on 7-08 for Elk?

I just finished paying for a 7mm-08 on lay-a-way for a 16 year old lad. Come fall he will kill two elk, several deer and one or two antelope with it. Every fall since he was 12 years old he has kill two elk some good bulls with my 257 Roberts, now he has his own gun.

Thats pretty cool stuff there ABC!

Dober

Have only been involved with one elk shot with a 7mm08. One shot and he went about 30 feet.

So now I have a question.
If a 140 gr. 7mm08 bullet is ok for elk why do I catch so much grief from fellas for using 150 gr. out of a '06?

Duckin now.....

Here are two old threads that answer the 7-08/elk question.

http://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php/topics/3335530/1

http://www.huntingbc.ca/forum/showthread.php?27001-Another-Moose-down!!!&highlight=moose

Handloader #237 has a great article by Haviland on elk and the 7-08. PM me and I can email a copy.

All I know is, Ackley's will work to 609. Not 140's, but I'd of taken the shot with them, conditions were perfect.

Nicely done CR! What bullet did you use?

Also we should grab lunch/b-fast one of these days eh?

Dober

JM, 7-08 is a great round. The one I hunted elk with is a 22" Rem MR, 150-gn Partition.

In general I prefer a little more recoil in my elk rifles <grin>.

162 Amax Mark. And breakfast sometime sounds pretty good, let me know.

Sounds good, maybe next week? I'll pm you and we'll sort it out.

Dober

All I know is the little 08 is probably about my most favoritist, most go-to-iste rifle calibers I own. Their is nothing in Alaska I would be afraid to hunt with it though I intentionally choose better cartridges for some conditions and animals. That said, I have used it a couple of times on our bigger-than-elk moose, and it has worked about as well as anything else I've used - including 30-06, 340 Weatherby, and 45-70. But if I'm going out the door in winter, and I want something I know well and trust completely, it's my old 7mm-08. I know what it'll do to caribou, fox, wolves, and moose. It's a go-to rifle whether I'll be riding 20 miles or 400.

my wife and daughter use a Remington Seven Youth in 7-08 for all their hunting and have had it in hand with an elk tag in their pocket though they have yet to fill said tags...just mule deer have fallen to it so far....

no elk has to do with bad luck, they have yet to chamber a round with an elk in sight that was legal on their tag......swear elk are psychic and the bulls can tell when yah have a cow tag in your pocket....been close enough to a number of bulls that you could hit them with a rock if yah have a good arm, one you coulda killed with a rock which was cool as hell and my daughter did love every second of it.....only ever seem to have a cow tag for the area though and cant get close to a freaking cow....

if it makes yah feel better i aint scared to let the air out of an elk with my 260 Remington

I went with the 7mm-08 mountain rifle. Stuffed it into a McMillan Remington classic stock, bedded it and filled one ark so far It weighs 7 1/4 lbs. with Leupy 3x9 tactical scope.

I just picked up another one in factory form. SS 700 with plastic stock and cheap scope new for $475 (Remingtons combo gun). Sold the scope and rings on Ebay for $50, bought a Boydes laminate stock for $100, bedded it and love it. I loaded up some 140 grain ballistic tips and 139 Hornadys, which shoot 3/4" for 5 shots. They shoot to the same POI as well..good enough for now . I'm sure it will shoot better with some tweaking, but I am running a lot of rounds through it as is. I am running a Leupold 3x9 Mark 2 with dots and turrets. It is a fabulous combo for close and far.

The 7mm-08 is a round you can shoot all day long with no fatigue, yet is a hammer if you want to go long. Factory loads are wimpy as heck, but for handloaders, it is a dream. Lots of great bullets and powders. Flinch

Sounds like a really nice rig Flinch! Do they still make that Mark 2?

Dober

I've been debating about taking my Faux TI 7mm-08 this fall for a Cow Elk Tag I've drawn.

Both my 7mm-08's love the 140g BT, but I don't think I'd use one on an Elk. Never lost a deer to them, but have had some that seemed a bit fragile (my opinion).

Friend and forum member Greenhorn has used the 7-08 to take a good bull at around 450 yards (IIRC). It died with a 140 TSX.

Cartridges are more alike than different and I'm certain I could spend the rest of my hunting life using a 7-08 here in MT and never have a reason to complain about the cartridge. My shooting and hunting skills perhaps, but not the cartridge.

cal74-absolutely no reason not to use the 140 NBT on elk, it'll do well for you. I've used the 150 NBT a ton out of my 7 Mashburn Super and it's a pure plain killer.

Dober

(side note Cal, I used to travel to Brookings all the time, played ball a lot up at the old Barn)

Mark,
I don't think they make the Mark 2 any more, but Leupold changes and drops scope lines more than anyone.

I had a gun hack, pretending to be a rifle smith, in Texas build a custom .30-06 for me 7 years ago. I sent him the McMillan stock, Rock barrel, Sako action and 3x9 Leupy tactical scope. I wanted everything all put together and done up right and test fired for groups, which he said he would do. 4 years later, no rifle, no nothing and the scope I sent "disappeared".

The smith hit the road and I was left holding a bum receipt for services not completed and the company went out of business. Luckily, one of the old employees was hired by the new owners, knew about my rifle and offered to make things right. He put my rifle together (piss poor job), found a Leupy Mark 4 tactical kicking around in the shop and asked if I would be happy with it, since they "lost" my other scope. I just wanted SOMETHING in return for all the dozens of phone calls, lost scope, lost magazine follower and all the hassle. I agreed to take the scope in place of the one I sent in. That is how I got the scope, which turned out to be a Mark 2 scope. I didn't even know they existed. It is a good looking scope and does what I need it to do. I would definitely buy another, if they were available. Flinch

Cal, I have killed 7 or 8 bulls and a couple of truck loads of mule deer with 140 grain ballistic tips shot out of various 7mm mags. Only one bull took a step and that was because I muffed the shot I have total faith in the bullet, especially at 7mm-08 velocities. But, everyone requires different characteristics out of their bullets. Some INSIST on an exit hole, others insist on perfect mushroomed bullets inside somewhere, others want massive internal destruction (me). Flinch

I'll be carrying a Ruger MKII stainless 7mm-08 to Oregon this November. I worked up some loads using Barnes 140gr TTSX.

Deans

I will take the word of those experienced hunters here that say the 7-08 is a good elk rifle. But 140 grain bullets? Heck, I like 160 and 175 grainers for whitetails. Whats gonna happen when that 140 grain ballistic tip lands on the shoulder of a big animal? And 700 yards? I gotta see that.