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.
