What say you? I can hand load if I can find some components... Thanks.

yeah you're fine. there is guy on here. Pharmseller who LOVES his.. and shots elk with it.

It's our go to for youth elk hunts. And it's got a very good record

Loves it loves it! But I'm not the only one, check out BuzzH and his family:

http://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php/topics/8869295/7mm08_and_Elk#Post8869295

To be fair, I could have killed mine with just about anything, but I've shot smaller bulls with bigger cartridges that didn't drop as quickly.




68 yards, 140 Partition. Two steps forward, two steps back, fell down and died.


P

will kill like the hammer of Thor if you do your part.

You'll want to read this article:

http://www.americanrifleman.org/articles/Reloading-7mm-08Rem/

I believe John Haviland and his sons have accounted for a couple of dozen elk using the 7mm-08 with appropriate bullets.

I'm using mine on Wyoming elk this fall!

Any of you folks tried the Federal Fusion loads on elk? Thanks...

Wife has killed three with her 7-08 ai it works great two of the three were one shot kills

I have not taken mine on an elk trip yet, but would not hesitate to do so.

like the guys above have cited, I'd pick a proven bullet, and get good using it.

I use 150 Sierras in TX, but would shift to the Partition on elk.

its the 7mm version a 270 only wearing a skirt, but like the 270, it's a wolf in sheeps clothing.

BTW the 280 is a drag queen.

I sold my .338 after I killed an elk with a 7x57 (same as 7-08) and I am happy to be carry a more handy rifle.

Wouldn't think twice about using a 7/08.

The "margin of error" guys should be along shortly.

Enough, yeah. Ideal, no. There are shots I'd take with a .300 win mag and 200 grain partitions or a .338 with 250 grain partitions I would not consider with a 7mm-08. Still, if all I owned was a 7mm-08 I would absolutely buy an elk tag.

Tom

Does a bear chit in the woods......

7-08 enough for elk, sheesh

I only handload so have never investigated the fusion bullet.

I load 120 BTs going 3100ish... hard, small, fast bullets are dramatic on elk. I've loaded 140 TSXs going 2850 but it's never taken elk, but my 06 shooting 165 TSX went stem to stern through an elk at 2800 and the 140 should also. 120 TSX going 3100 should be dramatic also.

Kent

Gary O -

In a word, "Yes".

I agree with T O M, however and wouldn't call it ideal. A 7mm RM, loaded to slightly above 7mm-08 velocities, as mine was for many years, is a WAY better...

The Fusion bullets are supposed to be Speer's Deep Curls. I don't know about all calibers, but Speer told me in an email that they've pulled the 30 cal Deep Curl off the reloading market and are only selling them to ammunition manufacturers.

that is affirmative.

Speer has stopped selling the Fusion/Deep Curls to the reloading market because of pressure liabilities.

the bullets are fine (I've never fired one, but would have liked to.....), but the loading data for them was different from other similar weighted projectiles.

Gary, if it's for the high fence shoot from the other thread, it should be fine. Probably won't escape the fence, even with a marginal hit.

Do I "need" a controlled expansion bullet here? I am considering a cow hunt.

if they shot well in my rifle, I'd shoot Partitions. the "premium" cost is negligible on an elk hunt.

A 7-08 will work great if you can shoot. A local 13 year old girl killed a very large bull a few years back at 400 with one shot. If a kid can do it, you should be able to do so too.

I've hunted elk with a 139 Hornady Interlock and would again based on their performance on several large hogs. Accubond, TTSX and Partition bullets would work too. The biggest question is how well you shoot.

Do you need steel-belted radials when plain polyester cords sufficed for millions of people for many years? Do you need 4x4 capability when 2-wheel drive is good enough the vast majority of the time?

A bullet that fails to expand, as Barnes XLC's appear to have done for me, is one extreme. One unfortunate antelope took two to the chest yet refused to die. The tipped TTSX and older MRX seem to have solved that problem and have provided more straight down DRT results than not for those in my hunting parties.

The other extreme is bullets that sometimes come completely apart and may not penetrate well as a result.

In-between you have controlled expansion bullets. The Partition has been around forever and still works great. A-Frames and Trophy Bonded are a step up IMHO. It took me 20 years to recover a Grand Slam and when I did it had destroyed both shoulders on a 5x5 bull elk. Tipped monos like the Barnes TTSX expand reliably but hold together and penetrate very well - we've yet to recover one.

The cost difference between the various types is pretty low when compared to the total cost of an elk hunt, even for resident hunters like me. Practice with cheap ammo and hunt with the controlled expansion bullets. At worst they will cost you a little extra but they may make the difference between harvesting an elk or losing it.

I've only shot one with it but if I was going back tomorrow same rifle is going with me loaded with 140 accubonds

Have seen around 20 bulls fall to the 7-08, majority of the shots in the 500-700 yard range with 120 TTSX. Have not seen one shake it yet. My 260 AI and the 7-08 are my go to rifles for elk.

The 7MM-08 Rem is very closely related to the 7MM Mauser. And how many elk have been invited to dinner by the 7MM Mauser?

The 7MM-08 Rem is an excellent rifle for everything except maybe the largest bears. But then again, with 175 Partitions, it'll probably get the job done there, too.

I always harken back to my formative years of reading stories about our Northern brethren who were once part of the empire upon which the sun never set. After the Great War, surplus .303 British rifles were as common there as were Springfields south of them. Canadians killed EVERYTHING with the .303 British including polar bears. In full disclosure, polar bears were a lot easier to kill back them because they didn't have access to steroids. The reason I remember stories of the .303 British is because a very close friend of mine somehow got a hold of an old Enfield .303 British. I remember his rhetorical wondering how many Germans that that rifle killed. Anyway, when I shot it I wasn't that impressed. Being just a teenager, I wondered how our Northern Brethren managed to kill anything with it. As I grew somewhat wiser, it dawned on me that it was all about shot placement. Big game don't know difference of cartridges. But they do know when their hearts and lungs quit working.

Could've stopped right there.

If I had, you wouldn't have learned.

Could've saved yourself the trouble then. I stopped reading after the phrase I quoted......

Wife shot a decent 5x5 bull at 318 yds with a 7-08ai at just a little over regular 7-08 levels pushing a 140 gr TSX at 2940 fps. Right now her deer load is 120 gr TTSX at about 3200 fps and that will be her elk load next time we get to go.

Holy crap! the elk forum has be invaded by Lee24 and goo-fo... which is short for googled information.

Kent

What, don't you read stories and google stuff as the foundation of your knowledge? And then pontificate via regurgitation of the same?

I humbly apologize to the two elk killed with my 708 by my dad and brother last season... I obviously wasn't fully vetted in the history and implications of their eminent demise.

Kent

150 gr Nosler Partition is your friend

That's what I use in my 7x57, which is probably as close to a 7-08 velocity as any other similar cartridge.

Guessing Unit 32 or 34 New Mexico...

Elk in the creosote - Love it...grin...

Everybody knows you need a super nitro express belted magnum to kill an elk.

A 22 LR is enough. We beat this stuff to death.

A fully packed Prius is enough to get you across the the US but why use it if you have an suv that makes yer journey more comfortable.?

True on the SUV vs Prius, but I think where people get hung up is when someone says you have to use an SUV because a Prius is not up to the task.

If you want to drive a Prius cross-country, and it works, then no, you don't need an SUV for the trip.

Yes.

Not sure about the 7-08 but its little brother is pretty impressive:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hY0w1c-gf18&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Exactly Swift..

http://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php/topics/8163655/all/Works_on_bulls_too