Oh man, don't even get me started! A couple of years ago I got back into rifles in a big way and at that time was looking for the perfect all around cartridge/rifle not knowing if I would be able to buy other rifles down the road. I remember when the 7-08 came out (factory) in 1980 (or close to that), I was a kid in WI and my dream rifle was the Rem 7 in 7mm-08. Well, now years later I returned to that sweet little thing.
Being the anal-retentive freak that I am, I compared many, many cartridges on efficiency, energy, trajectory, etc. The 7-08 came out on top every time (screw the boring .30 cals!). The bullet selection is unending, accuracy is tops and the mags can't do anything any better at the ranges 90% of people should shoot. I finally settled on the Kimber 84M and haven't regretted it one bit.
I, too, started out with the light, fast theory with Barnes 120 TTSX and tried many different 140's. My Kimber shoots the Nosler's quite well. The only bullet I've never been able to group under 2" was the Hornady 154 Interbonds.
I see most of the responses here favor the 140gr bullets. For deer, that is the usual, and plenty potent, medicine in the 7-08. However, I have gone to just shooting the 'big boys' in mine.
Hornady 162 A-Max at 2750-2780 fps (the ballistics on this bullet are insane), Nosler 160 Accubonds at 2700-2750 (.750" avg groups all day), and now I've even been loading up the 175 Hornady and Sierra bullets--yippee! (The Hornady's show promise but the Sierras not so much).
I live in Idaho so much of our hunting deer is open concurrently with elk necessitating a 'dual-purpose' load. I don't hesitate one second to take the mighty 7-08 on those hunts--and the Kimber is like carrying nothing at all.
Long post, I know, but the awesome 7-08 deserves every bit of praise.
The thing I hate about an argument is that it always interrupts a discussion -- G.K. Chesterton
