Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters 7mm-08.... The Good, The Bad, The Ugly......

I have zero use for a 200 or 220 grain bullet for 99% of my hunting purpose and I doubt most hunters ever need such a requirement.

If I did I likely would not be propelling that application in an 06 as there are a large number of other hulls that do that better. When I tried it years ago I used the 300 win mag. Results in over 40 years were exactly the same as a 270 pushing a 130 grain bullet though in fairness I wasn't hunting dangerous game as a comparison.



Trystan

Everyone know a 120gr BT out of a 7mm-08 is the campfire projectile of choice

The 7MM-08 and a 140gr bullet go together like pie and ice cream. It's a great deer cartridge but IMHO to try to load it up with 175gr bullets it's like entering my Impala in the Daytona 500, it just isn't practical. If I want a 175gr bullet for Elk or such then I'll go to a 280 or one of the 30 caliber rifles I have.

For me, the 7-08 is all about 140's, 150's & 160's, just like the 308 is all about 150's, 165's, and 180's.

3100 and change with half-minute accuracy ain't bad.





I must say I prefer 140 Partitions at 2870, however.








P

I haven't killed anything with them or run them thru a chrono, but the factory ELD-X -150 gr load shows promise

f

I'm working on a handload using this bullet. What's the cartridge OAL?

Anyone know which powder they use?




P

No idea on the powder, but just put the calipers on it. Measures 2.790.

Thanks!



P

+2
There is a limit to how much weight the 7-08 can push appropriately.

Jerry

Has anyone tried rl26 with 150 or 160 pills

It's way too slow for the 7-08.

Thanks thought maybe cause of the 243

Well I just read through all of the posts and figured I'd give my take(not that it is anything that hasn't been said already). Personally, I think its just another good cartridge. If I were to classify it, then I would have to make classes first, but in the end I would put it right in the middle of the road. Just an all around good cartridge. This is with my limited knowledge/experience mind you.

I just got one last month myself. I spent quite a bit of time deciding on what I was going to get. The 7mm-08, in the right package, fit all my desires. I used to be a "bring enough gun" kind of guy. And I still like big/heavy stuff. I shoot a 200 grain bullet for hunting in my M94 30-30. But something happened this past deer season that changed it all for me, or at least opened my eyes to possibilities.

I had long wanted a 22 hornet for just plinking/small game hunting. Dec 2016 a friend asked me if I wanted to buy a .223 from his Uncle. His Uncle is someone who I would consider closer to me than my own Uncle, just a real nice guy. Been hunting with him for the last 10 years and love hearing his stories, always looking forward to next years deer camp. So needless to say, even though I had never wanted a .223, I jumped on this just to have a good memory piece - and I figured it would be close enough to the 22 hornet I have always wanted.

I spent the next few months shooting hundreds of rounds through it. I even worked up a MOA cast bullet load for it. This gun was the first gun I had ever owned like this. I am not a bench rest shooter, just your average joe who picked up hand loading for a hobby(thought I would save money....lmao). So for a gun to just "magically" be so accurate was amazing. I decided, I know what this thing can do, I am going to take it with me to deer camp.

I was hesitant about it, never EVER considered shooting a deer with a .223. So I took a .308 along with me "just in case". First morning I could not bring myself to take the .223, so there I was in the stand with the .308. I was confident with that gun. Practiced out to 200 yards. My stand location didn't have a shot over 100 yards anyways. Low and behold a buck comes out, I try to rush the shot, and completely miss him. As he strolls away I could not bring myself to take another shot because all I could see to hit was his neck.

Then it dawned on me. I was popping squirrels and chipmunks at 200 yards like no ones business with my .223 all year, I could have dropped that buck if I had the .223. So along it went with me the rest of the week. Turns out I was right. Dropped two bucks on two different days with one shot to the neck(and follow up shots to the neck because I still was not convinced it was enough gun.....). I have always been a shoulder/lungs shooter. But with that gun something changed because I knew what it was capable of and I was 100% confident in my shot placement.

I say all of that to say this. I am going on another elk hunt this fall. Went on my first couple years ago. I like to hike, and I realized real quick that a light weight gun would be ideal. I had convinced myself that I would not take anything less than a .308, until I started looking at the 7mm-08 and then I realized it was the ticket for what I wanted. If I had not had my experience with the .223 and shooting deer then I might be on the side of the 7-08 being "too small". But knowing what I do now, I have zero doubt I will have any issues with it.

Turns out, its a shooter also. I have yet to develop my go to hand load(hopefully will get closer tonight), but with factory ammo I would be just as confident in it as I am my .223, and its quite a bit lighter and a lot shorter. I opted for a Ruger American Compact(stainless) which comes in at 7lbs scoped, 36" total length. It feels as good as my M94 in my hands, but I know I can reach out further with it.

That's the "good" of the 7mm-08. They offer it in the smaller packages because its looked on as a smaller caliber. They do have the .308 in the same package, but I just could not see what .024" and ~20 grains of bullet weight was going to get me. The "bad" is it has a bad rap and most people think of it as a girl/kid gun. The "ugly" is resale might not be top notch because of bad rap. But you wont ever see me selling this gun willingly......

Best answer yet, thank you

It's not just the size of the case that counts w.r.t. burning rate, it's the size of the case relative to the size of the bore.

I have a Weatherby Ultra Light in 7-08 and I wouldn't trade it or sell it for anything and I really don't like synthetic stocks.

+1

When I bought my first 7mm/08 a Sako Hunter AII, it was in early 1988 and it was a special import order. You couldn't buy ammunition for it here, strictly a handloading proposition and just about every hunter I came across had never heard of it. Since the late 90's it's soared in popularity.

Currently the 7mm/08 and .308 are the most popular deer cartridges here in NZ. Bear in mind that deer hunting has no season or licence requirements here. They're considered introduced pests by the government greenies, even though most of the seven species of deer have been here for over 100 years. You can hunt them anytime you want year round and we do. Because of this the average deer hunter here would spend a lot more time hunting and shooting deer than in other places around the world. If the 7mm/08 wasn't up to the task then you'd soon hear about it and the cartridge is becoming more and more popular. The proof of the pudding is in the eating, as the saying goes.

I've shot some very large Red deer stags with the 7mm/08 and it's decked them all without any fuss. The 139gr Hornady spire point is great for just about everything and for the really big boys the 150gr Nosler partition.

Yup, as well as the weight of the bullet.