Home Forums Reloading Big Game Rifles Youth 7-08 loads?

Hi all. My son turns 12 this fall and is now able to come deer hunting. I have a Rem Mtn Rifle in 7mm-08 that I was going to have him use. I was wondering if anyone had a good youth deer load for this rifle? 22" barrel with 1 in 9.5" twist. Any recommendations would be welcome. Thanks.

SS

I use a Nosler 120 grain Ballistic Tip over a full charge of Big Game (50 grains). I find the lighter bullet does not have significant recoil. If you want a reduced powder charge, I suggest the Nosler 120BT with H4895 reduced load data from the Hodgdon website. The data goes down as low as 60% of the max charge.

Depends on the powders you have on hand. I've always worked up reduced loads using SR4759, but since that has been discontinued, it's no longer a option unless you have some on hand.

You can alway use the max load of H4895 and multiply it by 0.6 and get a reduced starting load. A 140gr bullet at at about 2300 fps will work well at up to 200 yards.

The biggest problem I've noticed in the past when people start new shooters in that the rifle does not fit them. That by itself will exaggerate recoil. Unless you son is large for his age, you would be better off buying a youth rifle and replacing the stock when he outgrows it. My wife (4'-9') and daughter (5'-3") have Model Seven youth rifles and actually prefer full loads to reduced for practice.

I'm on the road right now and I can't recall all the powders that I have on my bench. I know that I have H380, IMR 4064, and IMR 4831. I think I have some 4895 as well. Can't recall if it's H or IMR.

My son is tall for his age (5'3") and he keeps growing like a weed. I have contemplated getting a different rifle for him, but more to have a longer barrel to reduce muzzle jump and blast. I don't think that a youth model rifle would last him very long.

SS

I have had good luck with 33-34 grains of H4895 behind a 120 Nosler BT. This load is traveling 2200-2350 fps.

My son was 8 yrs old last year shooting this load and it hammers the deer and hogs. I try to keep shots to under 150yds.

I will say that I have also shot Remingtons Reduced recoil ammo and it is pretty good but accuracy was not very good in my sons Rem 700. I feel like it has less recoil than the load mentioned above and it is loaded with a 140 grain CorLokt at about the same velocity. This has me wanting to try a few different powders, maybe 4198 or RL7 which I have heard are good for this application.

Regarding stock length. My son was 6yo when he started shooting with a 12.5" LOP and is now 9yo and is 4'8" tall and is shooting a 13" LOP very comfortably.

Hope this helps!

Bullet - Nosler 120gr Ballistic Tip
Brass - Winchester, Remington, or Federal
Primer - CCI 200 or Federal 210
Powder - IMR 4198 (32.5 gr), AA3100 (46gr), Reloder 7 (30gr), IMR4759 (25gr), H4895 (35.6gr)

4198 does work well, as do the Remington factory youth loads.

Forget H380 and 4831.

I'm looking at Nosler's 120 grain data. With IMR4064, IMR4895, and H4895 the minimum charges are 39, 39, and 38.5 grains respectively. Velocities are 2782, 2860, and 2830 respectively. They are indicated as the most accurate loads tested for those propellants, and they are all four grains under maximum.

Bought some 120 Ballistic Tips and H4895. We will give them a go and see how the shoot. Thanks.

SS

I've been playing with a 243 and reduced loads of H4895 for my wife. The combo is impressive. Shooting 70gr NBT's. I'll probably try the 95 gr next and may even have her fling one at a deer...I might surprise her with a full throttle load of IMR-4350 though, not sure yet.

You'll like that 7-08 with H4895!

IMR 3031/ Barnes 120g TTSX in my daughters Mirco Midas will do .5 MOA..

Remington loads IMR 4198 in their youth loads....

I have loaded 30 grains of 4198 or RL 7 for kids for many years in 308 and 06 based cartridges....

depending on bullet weight and cartridge you are looking at velocities in the 2400 to 2600 fps range...

with spitzer bullets this is easily a 200 yd capable load...

it isn't as loud as H 4895 reduced loads and it also has proven to be more accurate, or shooters just seem to shoot them better.... take your pick....

a 7/08 with a 139 grain Hornady SP is a good starting point if you don't want to use the Ballistic Tips...

I loaded up three different powders with the 120 Ballistic Tips and shot them off yesterday. First thing I noticed was that the OAL was slightly too long to feed smoothly through the mag. Had the die set for Partitions and assumed that would result in the same OAL, so that will need to be tuned for next time.

First batch was 38.5 grains of H4895. Second was 39 grains of IMR 4320. Third was 45 grains of IMR 4350. All were the min loads listed in the Nosler book. The first and third batches were the best as far as groupings. IMR 4350 might have had a slight edge. Was going to load up a larger batch this week.

As a side note, I've never been overly happy with the groupings that this rifle shoots. Rem 700 Mtn Rifle LSS with a Leupold VX-1 in Talley Lightweights. I seem to get a couple shots within MOA and a third in the group is off by a couple - few inches. It doesn't seem to matter what load I use (bullet weight, powder, velocity, primer, etc). I haven't done any work to the rifle other than having the trigger lightened up by a local smith (who has since passed away). Any suggestions on steps to take with it?

ETA: The nut behind the trigger is probably partly to blame for some of the accuracy issues, but my M77 '06 will do much better than this, as does my 6.5x55 and my .220 Swift.

SS

I'd bed it and float it.

I'd worry about where the first bullet goes from range session to range session.

But, that's just me.

GE

Had a recommendation to play with the cartridge length. I was loading to SAAMI specs of 2.8" OAL. Loaded up four sets of decreasing OAL with some pretty interesting results.

2.77" OAL = 2.8" three shot group at 100 yards.
2.76" OAL = 1.8" three shot group at 100 yards.
2.75" OAL = 1.3" three shot group at 100 yards.
2.74" OAL = 0.75" three shot group at 100 yards.

Load was 38.2 grains of IMR 4350 with a 154gr Hornady Interlock SP. (Guy recommended H4350 and 154gr Speers which worked the best in his. This was the closest I had on hand). I know it's a slow load, but I wanted to see the effect of the OAL. I might try going a little shorter yet and see what it does to groups, then work up the powder charge. Quite frankly, I was surprised at the difference the OAL made to the accuracy. Until now I always thought the best accuracy was from the longest OAL that worked in your chamber/mag.

SS

Sam - interesting results - thanks for posting. When all is said and done, I have a hard time making any powder give better accuracy in the .25 - .30 range than IMR4350. Hope that you and your son have a great hunting season.

Reduced Loads from the Hodgdon's website below for H4895 and Trail Boss powders.

http://www.wwpowder.com/PDF/Youth%20Loads.pdf

https://www.hodgdon.com/PDF/H4895%20Reduced%20Rifle%20Loads.pdf

http://www.hodgdon.com/PDF/Trail-Boss-Reduced-Loads%20R_P.pdf

Below Trail Boss reduced load help make the metal butt plate on my Enfield rifles much softer. And these type light loads will not make your kids gun shy and are very good for practice. I started my son out with my Winchester 30-30 Trapper Model with a 16 inch barrel. With these type reduced loads and lighter bullets recoil isn't a issue with younger kids.

Below British .303 "lite loads", using pistol bullets.







And after firing 100 to 200 rounds you can go home and take your shoulder arthritis lubrication medication.



And remember its that silly Newton third law thingamabob that makes your kids flinch. And again the key word is "Light Bullets" and your Remington mountain rifle weighs 6 1/2 pounds.

Newton's third law: For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.

And for some reason my light No.5 Jungle Carbine when shooting 150 grain bullets has the hardest butt plate.



I know this isn't a Enfield forum, "BUT" I also know what my sons face look like the first time he fired the Jungle carbine. "AND" what his bruised shoulder looked like.

re15 40 grains 120nbt