Hi there

Some of you promoted the 7mm-08 in a recent thread about a BLR project.

Reading your comments, I made some research about 7mm-08 performance and found interesting data comparing 7mm-08 hand loaded with 270, 30-06 and 300 winnie factory load, illustrating impressive trajectory (equal to . 300 Winnie at 300 yards) and downrange energy (better thab old 'O6 and 270 at 400 yards) for the 7mm-08 using 140 to 160 grains bullets.

But those datas were coming from 22 inches barrel tests.

I recently found a second hand 7mm08 for sale but the barrel is a 18.5 inches one (and the BLR has a 20 inches barrel).

How do you think the 7-08 is able to fit so short barrel ? Any speed records from short barrels in 7-08 ?

I had a 20" Win model 70 Syn/Matte carbine, ltd. run in the 90s, it clocked around 2850 w/139s and max load of varget.

My 21" 700s, two of them, one SS other CM, shot 2900-2960 w/139-140s.

You won't get a speed record in a short bbl but you will kill plenty game. The 21" get loud, a 22-24 is better on the ears than an 18.5-20".

What is your style of hunting, game and range? Odds are the speeds alone are fine for killing, it's just knowing your gun, and if that gun is accurate enough to allow you to place your shot. I'd not compare, but appreciate the 7/08 for what it does on it's own.

I'm looking for something very versatile, for various jobs like:

- Fox & Feral cats from short range up to 200 yards.
- Roe deer in open field and woods from short range up to 200 yards
- Wild boar (average = 180 pounders, bigger would be aroune 320 pounders) in open field and woods from short range up to 100 yards. Needs to die quicky after the shot if hunted by night.
- Same games but running, driven hunted (requires more knock down power, probably better with heavier yet expanding and mass keeping bullets) at max. 60 yards.

Must be a Rem 788 if it is a factory rifle. I had one, and there's not a thing wrong with the ballistics, just a bit off in handling. Balance was a bit weird to me.

Ted

Sounds to me like that short barreled 7mm-08 should be perfect.

It's a Steyr Scout.

With what kind of load ?

I thought it would be nice to be able to push 140 grains TSX and 160 grains partition at proper expansion speeds.

I believe it would get the job done on stalked game but driven one is the big issue.

I owned a Remington 788 carbine in 7mm-08 a few years
ago, nice little rifle, recoil on the bench was unpleasant
but when in the woods I didnt notice it much. I know a
few guys that own Model Sevens in 7mm-08 and swear by
them when on deer drives. Once I think about it, almost
all the guys I know that own Model Sevens have the 7mm-08
caliber.

If you are concerned about velocity loss in that short barreled Steyr, how about a 140gr partition or 120gr TTSX?
Either one of those would knock the crap out of anything you are hunting, even the boars, I should think.

Just a thought.

Remington made the 788 and the M7 with a 18.5" barrel and for some reason they switched to a 20 and 22" barrel. I don't know if it was ballistics or muzzle blast or what. I had a M7 with the 18.5" barrel and as I recall, it would motor along right well with a 140gr bullet.

i have one of those M7s with the 18.5 barrel. i shoot 120 TSXs @ 2880 fps in it excusively.

it gives me the warm fuzzies.

i'd be a little concerned about meat damage on the feral cats though....

second hand steyrs are like second hand anvils.
i have the mountain in 7-08 and just loaded up some 140 barnes w/ varget.
nice to have that very long steyr magazine to play with OAL. i loaded the 140's to 2.825" and still have 1/4" left in the mag.

keep in mind steyrs have VERY fast barrels. i shoot a little 20" 308 that clocks factory federal GM at 2550 MV.

"With what kind of load ? I thought it would be nice to be able to push 140 grains TSX and 160 grains partition at proper expansion speeds. I believe it would get the job done on stalked game but driven one is the big issue."


I think the 7/08 is at it's best with 139/140s if you are talking factory loads. On Boar, other than a 120 TSX, I would use 140s. Those should penetrate fine on any boar, my brother shot a boar w/Encore in 7/08 w/factory 140 corelokt, under 100 yd shot, it did run a little, but the boar was est. at over 500 lbs by a wildlife biologist, it was a VERY big hog. That said, I don't think any other bullet would have dropped it sooner. Perhaps a hit to the spine. Believe my brother hit his behind the shoulder in the lungs.

Steyr's make nice rifles, you should do well.

A 20-22" barrel would be about ideal for most 7mm-08 rifles, I think. For your style, I think 18.5" would be perfectly fine providing the rifle fits you and balances to your liking.

...................GV!..........Take a peek at this article written by Dick Metcalf about a 16.5" barreled Ruger Frontier chambered in a 7mm/08. This should answer your question about 7/08 performance from a shorter barrel.

"shootingtimes.com",,,,,,,,Click onto "Long Guns",,,,,,,then scroll down and click on pg 9 and then find his article titled "Short Answer About Scout Styled Rifles." Note what he writes after the sub-heading "Short Barrel-Long Reach.

7mm/08 140 gr factory ammo fired from a 24" barrel gets an advertised 2770 fps. From the 16.5" tubed Frontier, he chrony`d that same ammo at 2647 fps. There are also other velocity #s in the article.

Don`t worry! Compared to a 22" or 24" er, you won`t be losing much with either the 18.5" barrel or the 20" barrel. The 7/08 is a solid short barreled performer.

I've had some 7/08's with short barrels,18.5-20".They gave in the mid 2600's to low 2700's with 140's.

gv,

if the price is right - buy the rifle.

It is perfect for tasks you describe.

My personal favorite would be a 120 gr. TSX.

The article big squeeze mentioned summs up the velocity question - in short, the loss is academic.

In practice, such rifle would offer you amazing versatility.
The mounting options alone are great.

You can switch from a low light scope over the receiver to a forward mounted scout scope for drives (with practice it makes a great sight for this).

The flip up sights allow instant use for a impromptu follow up.

I say - go for it.

if you have an opportunity to buy a 7mm-08 steyr scout you should get it. the 308's kick a bit too much for me in such a light gun and the 243's and the 7mm-08's are rare. most having been imported to countries with "military caliber" prohibitions.
If you find that you dont like it let me know. i have a walnut stocked 20" barrel with a leupold 3.5-10 that i'd trade you.

I have a 20-inch BLR in 7mm-08 and an 20-inch Model 70 Compact in 7mm-08. I prefer more weight and less muzzle blast than barrels shorter than 20 inches have. Velocity loss in the 7mm-08 is not much, so going to a 21 or 22 inch barrel should be all about balance and feel for you, not 50 fps.

As stated, the 139-140 grain bullets are the norm. 150s and 154s will start to lose steam with the smaller case and shorter barrels. 160-gr is really in the domain of the .280 Rem, .284 Win and 7x64mm.

For flat shooting to 300 yards, go to the 120-gr BT or TSX.

It is hard to find a Steyr that won't shoot well, and like the Tikka T3, they aren't picky about various loads.

I'm not sure I understand this one Lee24. I have a 20" Barrelled carbine on a Mark V Weatherby in 7mm-08. Great little round and also read Metcalf article on velocity loss. It was an eye opener. Now I can understand why you lose more velocity out of say a '06 length or long mag case as you have powder that has not burned down the shorter tube. But on a case such as the '08 case you have efficency in burn rate which gives you little velocity loss prior to exiting the barrel.

Your comment states that as you get into the heavier bullets, you lose more steam. Wether the bullets is 120 grs or 154 grs isn't velocity lose going to be the same percentage?

I hunt thick woods up in Maine and actually trying out a load in the carbine with a Hornady 154 gr round nose. Should be the Cat's butt on large whitetails in close cover. I've used Hornady RN bullets in a variety of calibers and believe it or not they are pretty darn accurate and over pretty quick expansion. This will also be compared with some 120 and 140 loads I'm working up to see what shoots best but if the shot is going to max out at say 150-200yds this bullet in either RN or SP could be a very good choice out of the carbine version of a 7mm-08

I love all the Hornady 154-gr bullets in the 7mm-08, but don't expect hot FPS out of a carbine. Factory loads in a 24-inch barrel are advertised at about 2,740 FPS, so be happy with 2,650 out of a carbine. What I like is having a RN, flat base, boat tail Interlock, and the SST all in one weight. They all shoot to about the same spot up to about 175 yards, and the SST floats on out there a bit further.

I have found great accuracy with RN bullets in the .257, 7mm-08, .308, .30-06, .303 and .375. I shoot 150-gr RN in my .308 Savage 99 saddle gun, and in a 20-inch full stock Mauser .308.

I worked up 154-gr loads using 46.0 gr of IMR-4350, because I was originally trying to duplicate the Remington factory 140-gr loads. Working up to 42.0 grains of RL-15, Varget or IMR-4895 would be my next experiment. The 4895 should give you a bit more velocity than the 4350, but I have not tried it yet. I am happy with this load. When I buy another 7mm-08 with a 22 inch barrel, I might try to finish working up those other loads. It's always good to have several proven ones, in case you can't find the powder you used before.

But for deer and bear inside 200 yards, the vanilla Rem factory 140-gr SPT Corelokts and Federals shoot great for me. I bought a box of Federal Fusion that I saw cheap ($17.00) but have not had a chance to try it.

Since you are from Maine, here is an article I found several years ago about the 7mm-08 BLR in Maine, by someone who should know.

http://www.sportingjournal.com/main79.shtml

..............................In side by side chrony comparisons with my own 16.5" barreled 300 WSM Ruger Frontier along with two 24" 300 WSMs and given the same variety of identical loadings in powder, charge weights, bullet brands and a variety of bullet weights, the percentage of velocity loss "remains" about the same.

In other words, the percentage of velocity loss from the shorter tube does not increase simply because a heavier bullet is used as opposed to a lighter bullet. In all bullet weights used from the 150 gr up to and including the 200 grainers, my overall velocity losses averaged from 4.2% to 4.5% vs the 24" barrels.

I will also point out that the M77 MK2 Ruger Frontiers have a heavier tube along with the additional weight of the scout scope base mounted on the barrel forward of the receiver, of which the new M77 Ruger Hawkeye compacts don`t have. The new Ruger Hawkeye compacts use a lighter barrel with no scout base, hence a pound lighter. And as a result the new version will have less muzzle stability.

So imo, there is no muzzle stability or balance issues due to a too light a muzzle when it comes to the Ruger compacts in the earlier Frontier versions only. In fact, it balances just as well and is as stable from the muzzle as most of the 24" barreled rifles I`ve fired from various freehand positions (using a conventionally mounted scope), including shooting while resting on a standing bipod used for hunting. And when a scout scope is used (I do both; a conventional and a scout scope), the muzzle stability gets even a little better with little effect on rifle balance.

Depending on which rifle version and just because a barrel is shorter down to a 16.5" length, doesn`t automatically mean the muzzle is less stable or that the rifle won`t balance well.

I don't expect hot fps with the 154 and choose it knowing this. I was just trying to point out, which Bigsqueeze backed up is that velocity loss percentage remains the same wether using a 120 gr bullet or 160 gr bullet.

Thanks for the link. Good article though I would argue that the bolt is much slower especially when adreline come in to play. I love lever guns also but over the years have found that a well practiced bolt gun is quick on fwp shots.

............Yep! The lever is a faster action and should give you the same velocity performance in a shorter barrel as does the bolt.

Have fun!

Hi guys, thanks all for your comments.

It's about to push me to some decision.