Home Forums Reloading Big Game Rifles 7mm-08 for Deer Hunting Reloading ???

Same load, different rifles.










P

What brass?

Remington, once-fired FL resized.

I have better groups with Partitions. Killed a buck Tuesday at 541 yards.




P

I'd enjoy hearing more about this story!

I just found one that shoots .75 inches in my model 7. 41 grains of R15 and 139 grain hornady gmx. I like the tough bullets like Barnes, swift and gmx because when I hunt deer it is usually combined with the possibility of elk.

We were hunting alfalfa fields that butt up against sparsely timbered ridges. The deer would appear (if they showed at all) at first and last light. First the does and fawns, then maybe, just maybe a buck would show up. Tuesday was a maybe night.

The deer were uncharacteristically spooky. At one point we stopped to glass a small bunch around 450 yards away. As soon as we got out of the car they bolted into the trees. No easy shots this year.

Tuesday night we set up on the north field, since we had seen the most activity in that field. No bucks, but plenty of does. I was on the spotter set up behind a berm trying to put horns on a doe to no avail. We were losing light fast. While I was looking at the left edge of the field my dad told me he could see more deer entering the field on the right.

I swivelled the spotter that way and immediately found the deer in the tall grass on the other side of the fence. Two deer were acting strangely but I realized they were sparring. Okay, just jump the fence. I got a reading with my laser rangefinder, 560 yards. After they jumped the fence the bucks sparred closer, to 541 yards. Check the range card, dial the scope, find the bigger one again. I practice regularly to 600 yards but ringing steel and shooting blood are different endeavors.

I was on a solid rest by this time and began the routine. Breathe in, let it out, breathe in, halfway out, squeeeeeze...BOOM! Up on his hind legs like a horse, I knew he was hit hard. He didn't even run. The 140 Partition from my 7mm-08 broke his right scapula on the way in, double lung, and broke the shoulder knuckle (dang) on the way out. We figured 1926 fps at impact.

Not a bad buck, but the body on him was impressive. He's on the right. Tagged immediately after.



We went 5 for 5, all with my handloads. Four with a 7mm-08 (2 140 Partition, 1 140 Accubond, 1 140 Berger VLD).



It was a good year.





P

My 14 year old daughter shot her first deer last year with a 7-08. She is a petite little thing so I wanted a light load that wouldn't beat her. Using the 60% rule with H4895 I tested the 120 NBT with 27, 28, 29, 30, 35, and 40 grains and shot three shot groups through her M7 youth. Every group was sub-MOA and I picked the 29gr charge.

This year she is a bit bigger and can take some more recoil so I am going to try the 35 gr load with the 120 and also try something in the 33-35gr range with the Horn 139 BTSP. I wasn't extremely happy with the NBT performance after at 70yds on her doe and would like something that is going to hold together better and penetrate.

120BT's and Big Game are a killer combo in my 7/08 also. It shoots with Varget and RL15 well too, but the Big Game is remarkably accurate.

Good shot, Pharm. I love the 7-08. I've killed a few antelope at long range with it and it just works!

2muchgun,

Good morning to you sir. I can remember using the 120 ballistic tip back in the early 80s and like yourself was not a fan at close range. Apon the advice of a close friend however I tried the 120 in a 7mm-08 a few years back and found the modern version to be a different animal. In fact in my opinion it performs much more like a partition nowadays. I've taken 11 deer in the last 3 years anywhere from 30 yds to almost 300. I've found the 120 ballistic tip to work exceptionally well at a variety of distances. My previous load in this rifle was with the 120 Barnes. While the Barnes worked very well for me my experience was the longer shots were less than stellar if one is taking a heart lung shot.

Respectfully
Trystan

^ I shot 120gr BTs out of my 7x57 back in 2001 and was not impressed - too much expansion even for this diehard BTS fan.

Fast forward 15years and I revisited them now my old favourite 120gr Hornady sp has been dropped.

They work really well - shot some big fallow with them and expansion/penetration is excellent.