22” 7mm Creedmoor.
Plenty of room in that mag for 180s at 2500-2600 fps. If only.
I'd really like a 7 Creedmoor too. My 7-08 is shooting great when it's not eating scopes but I still think the Creedmoor case is a better design. I'm happy that I got a 7-08 that shoots well though and I have a tac driving 6 Creedmoor. If I could get another one it would be a 6.5 Creedmoor or a 22 Creedmoor.
Most sammi spec 7-08 reamers I've seen don't have a great design around the neck shoulder junction when compared to the newer spec Creedmoor stuff. Maybe Barrett made some adjustments or came up with their own reamer specs but likely not. A lot of standard spec 7-08s shoot great. Givin the 3" mag box on the FC a 7-08 is fine on that action. I'm just a fan of the 30 degree shoulder, lead angles, and throating on most of the Creedmoor spec stuff.
But I'm doing well in a 18.5" 7-08 that's shooting 1/2 moa with 180s at 2500ish fps. My last batch had single digit extreme spread with one of my favorite powders h4350 in new stareline brass. I started I need to run an eldx through an elk and see how it outperforms the 150 eldx I used on an elk 2 years ago with less than good penetration. The lower speed longer bullet should help.
Bb
Agreed, Bb.
What scope is riding on your 7-08 these days? It seems like an anomaly of a rifle to eat so many rugged scopes. I’m still not sure what to make of the underlying cause. I keep thinking rings/bases, but I think you’ve mentioned addressing that in the past. My Kimber Montana 7-08 is at least as lightweight, and it’s been reliable with the same SS 3-9x for a lot of rounds shooting the 162 AM at ~2650.
I don't know what's going on but it's hard on scopes. I'm running a 1 piece 20 moa Leopold rail currently and ss low rings. The lapping pins say they are linked up. I love the SS 3-9 but I've lost a few of them and I'm still waiting replacements on some.
Last time I took my 6 creed FC to the range it had gone from 1/4 moa right where I want it to 2 moa jumping around. It wears a SS 3-9 so I'm thinking I may have just toasted #7. More testing will happen if I ever get a warm day.
I'd much rather scopes totally crash hard when they take a dump because I've wasted too much time and ammo on ones that just crap out to a dancing 2 moa. Whenever that happens now I immediately check the mounts and then change the scope.
The 7-08 is getting a fixed 6 ss next. If it toasts that I'll know I have a problem. I was waiting for black Friday but there were no fixed 6 in mil quad to be had. I could have went moa but I'll just rob a mil quad off another rifle when it warms up. A fixed 6 is ok but I prefer the glass and range on a 3-9 even though it gives up parallax and I really prefer adjustable parallax. I wonder how a 3-12 Bushey lrhs would do on the 7-08. I wish I had a dozen more lrhs 3-12s.
Bb
