Home Forums Hunting & Shooting General Big Game 7mm-08

What are y'all's thoughts on the 7mm-08 as a 400yd Deer and under 300yd Elk round given good shot placement? Am I asking too much? Thinking of using either 120 or 140 grain Barnes TTSX, what are y'all's thoughts?

It will do just fine...my wife took her last Saskatchewan buck at just a hair under 400 yards with her 7-08 and not an issue. Complete pass thru and he fell over dead. That was with a 140gr Partition.

I wouldn't hesitate to take an elk at 300 yards with it given the chance.

If the rifle is accurate and you can shoot it accurately, it will work just fine. My 14-year-old grandson shot a very large cow elk at 307 yards last November. He was using his mother's 7mm-08 with 120-grain Nosler Ballistic Tips. One shot--bullet entered and exited, taking out the upper lobes of both lungs. Cow ran about 20 yards and died. My daughter has taken several deer, both desert mule deer and Coues whitetails, with that rifle and bullet combination--all one-shot kills.

Buddy shot his first elk with a 7mm-08 last year at a little over 300 yards, 1 shot with a 140 Accubond sailed right through the elk. I think it hit a rib and took out the liver if I recall correctly? The elk was down immediately.

The 7mm/08 is an evil killing Mo Sheen. The application you ask about is well within the capabilities of the cartridge.

I'm not sold on the copper bullets at longer ranges, but with a different bullet I'd not hesitate at those ranges. The only reason I'd not shoot past 400 yards is because of the lack of skill on my part, not the rifle or load.

On the TTSX's. Everything I've seen and read says you need 2000 fps at impact to get expansion and 2200 fps is better. There is no doubt they kill stuff and do it well if they expand. But if they don't expand you get a FMJ. With those bullets I'd limit my range to where they dropped below 2000 fps. If I wanted to shoot longer I'd use a different bullet.

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What he says. Work up a good load with a 140gr Partition and go kill chit of all sizes and distances. My wife and daughter do so from powder burn ranges out to 400 yards; from pronghorns to elk. The front of a Partition is soft enough that it will expand at velocities quite a bit lower than TTSX.

Wife tipped her elk over last year at 398 yards 140 grain accubonds

I use the 7MM-08 as an Elk rifle --- but with a 140 grain Nosler Partition. I wouldn't consider a monolithic bullet a good choice.

Dissecting the bull that daughter killed with a 140AB out the 7-08 made me wonder why I needed more abuse than that....

Until they make monolithic bullets expand at more reasonable velocities I'll steer clear of them.

The 7-08 is pretty close to a one and done caliber as it gets for less than grizzly. Never hunted grizz but something about that big with teeth and bad attitude screams big azz gun I know that it knocks the crap out of whitetail and black bear.

For those that have experience, how would you compare the performance of the 260 with the 7-08?

Barnes data shows a 140 grain TTSX at a max of 2884fps from a 24" barrel. So figure 2800fps from a 22", ballpark. At 300 it's down to 2157 fps. That's 2487 foot pounds at 300. The minimum energy I've read for elk is 2000 foot pounds ( I have never hunted elk) but I think that considers all angles. That would put this round in at 335 yards or so.

Logically on a dead broadside shot it would seem to be less. Catch a large chunk of non-vital tissue and then I think that would be reasonable. I have not killed an elk but have seen one cut up. That shoulder would eat up a good bit of energy before the bullet got to vitals.

On deer and hogs they're both surefire killers with a variety of bullets.

It's just fine.
I would tend towards a good tough bullet, but you have all the power you need. I have never used a 7-08 myself, but I have killed with 270s and with a 7X57. They work great and I have never had any reason to complain at all. the 7-08 and the 7x57 are so close that they could be considered twins ballisticly. I am very sure if you use bullets of similar construction you will get identical performance.

I am taking 2 friends out this season for elk and both are bringing their 7-08s
Both are using the 154 grain Hornady spire points. I hope to have reports as to how well those bullets work but that won't be until late October.

In my 7X57 I used 150, 160 and 175 grain Nosler Partition bullets. In my 270s I have used Nosler Partitions in 150 and 160 grain, and also Remington Cor-lokt in 150 grains. All worked to perfection. In my many years of elk hunting I have shot many elk with 270s and a small number with the 7MM Mauser. No criticisms, no complaints.

Funny thing........ I have killed elk with many guns more powerful than either the 7X57 or the 270 win or 270 Short mag. And the only ones I killed that didn't drop as fast as I like (and what I am used to) were killed with 300 magnums and 338 magnums. Wrong bullets (that didn't hold together. My fault, but I was young then, and didn't listen to the old men that told me not to use bullets that break up) but that proved to me it's far more important what bullet you shoot then what gun or shell you shoot.

The 7-08 is just fine.

It kills stuff just fine. And it's fun to shoot.

It's excellent!
Surprised no one has posted it's not as good as the "The Creed" yet.
Ignore them, 7-08 is efficient, great bullet choices, accurate in accurate rifles, easy on the shoulder, kills deer dead as dead can be.

Just wait till the 7mm Creedmoor comes out

7-08 kills better than its size indicates......

I would load Accubonds.