Home Forums Reloading Big Game Rifles 7mm08 120g Loads For Deer

Looking for firsthand experience shooting 120g TTSX vs. 120g Nosler Balistic Tips. Velocity should be 3100+FPS. Ranges will typically be 225 to 360yds (longest shot in food plot). Adding a new rifle to the stable...not intended as a do everything load or rifle. I didn’t have great luck with the pre TSX Barnes (unpredictable expansion). I’ve also dealt with some too soft BT in other calibers. This was 20 years ago. Thoughts or other suggestions?

I have shot several whitetails with the 08 and 120 BTBT.. Did ok.. I would figure at the low speed of the 7mm-08 any decent bullet would be ok for deer.. Unless something like Barnes didn't expand..

The Ballistic Tips are fine. My wife has used them in her 18" Model Seven and killed antelope at over 300 yards and whitetails at powder burn ranges. Her load chronos at over 2900fps.

I run the 120 ttsx as a do all load in my kimber montana. Have killed deer, elk and coyotes with it and have been very happy with the results. My load is averaging 3150 fps. Run the same load in a Remington model 7 with the 18.5 in barrel for my daughter at 2950 fps. it works well as she refers to her rifle as a death ray.

CT

killed a couple of whitetails with the nbt worked fine.

Ed

For those using BT, are you regularly getting exit wounds? CT, with the TTSX, are you getting reliable expansion at 7mm08 velocity? I’d expect the BT to expand—-more concerned with the Barnes given troubles I had decades ago.

I run the 120 BT at just over 3000 fps. I get exits and spectacular blood trails when I place the bullet behind the shoulder. I’m a big fan of that bullet on whitetail.

Rel 19 and 120 gr BT

If the search function on this site worked you'd find literally hundreds (maybe thousands) of posts praising 7mm 120 NBT's.

They work.

We have used the 120 BT on everything from Coues whitetails and pronghorns to elk and it has always expanded and almost always exits--even on the one big elk we shot with it. The only time that I can remember that it didn't exit was on a very large-bodied mule deer that was a little over 400 yards (ranged at 402 after the shot). For years, I loaded it with 50.0 grains of H 414, but in the last batch I switched to Big Game which turned out to be a little more accurate in my daughter's rifle.

No experience with the Barnes bullets, but plenty with the 120 BT. I have shot several powders with it during the Obama ammo and component shortage, but my preferred load is 50.0/Big Game and a mag primer. It runs 3050 fps with really good accuracy. This is from a Savage 11 with their old slow twist barrel, 1 in 11.5.

Since you asked for other suggestions...

Go to shootersproshop.com and buy a bunch of 140 gr Accubonds and Partitions. Load them over 47.5 gr Big Game sparked by a Winchester Large Rifle Magnum primer. 2875 or so fps. Pick whichever shoots better.

My rifle prefers the Partition, my dad's prefers the Accubond. We've both killed deer in excess of 500 yards.






P

Cant really speak of expansion for the 120 ttsx. All I get is dead critters and exits. Blood trails are short, if at all cause most have dropped where they were standing. Have yet to catch a ttsx yet and I know i have gone through 3 feet of deer with one.

CT

We've run both of those 120 gr bullets almost exclusively in our 7-08s for several years in deer hunting conditions very similar to those you describe. They both have proven very reliable. Hope took a 7x8 Gila bull with a 120 gr TTSX back in 2015.

I've "graduated" to a 243 win, but she took a nice 10 pointer this year with a 120 gr NBT from her 7-08 shot at 100 yds with a MV of about 3120 fps. Both bullets are golden in the 7-08 IMO.

Killed a bunch with the 120 NBT.... Never failed to make me smile at how hard and fast it drops deer. Never stopped one either. Used it at velocities of 2850-3000 and ranged of 15 yard to 300+. Varget was always my go to. 44-45. RL-15 had awesome accuracy in the 43-44 gr range but not as fast. Only bullet I use in my 08.

As has already been said, yes, either of the two 120 gr. bullets will be fine in the 7mm-08. My whitetail buck this year was at 225 yds, entry just behind the near shoulder and exit was THROUGH the off shoulder. Plenty of penetration. 120 gr. Ballistic Tip at 3100 FPS. Nosler changed the BT Year’s ago after some failures when first introduced. Just be sure to buy the HUNTING bullet. They make both a hunting bullet and a varmint bullet.

The TTSX Barnes bullet expands much better than their old TSX and has also proven to be very accurate in my 7mm-08’s. Probably what I would choose for Elk. My suggestion would be to use whichever shoots the best in your rifle.

The 120 NBTs kill stuff so good it's unreal. Definitely the best combination of recoil (i.e. lack of) accuracy, and killing power of any bullet in any rifle I own. Bullet seems to punch way above its weight class. Never had anything go more than 15 yards after getting hit by one, including 400 lb caribou (who I hit twice bc he went 10 yards so slowly I had time to put another one into him). They do not always exit on huge animals but...you don't need a blood trail because the animal is always lying there dead. I am happy to find a blood trail but way happier just to find a dead animal right where I thought he'd be. Exit wounds on 150-200lb deer are big, sometimes fist sized, so you get lots of blood spray there.

This is at low muzzle velocities, like 2825 fps, very short barrel.

I think the 120 NBT is somehow the perfect storm of: light bullet so it loses momentum instantly and delivers a lot of shock, combined with a very heavy jacket so it starts fragmenting right away but then keeps fragmenting over a long path. Wound tracks look like a contact shotgun wound, compared to some SST wounds I've seen that looked more like a grenade. Also they are retard accurate in all the guns I've shot them in, 1/2 MOA at worst.

What powder do you run in this caliber?

Varget!

I have never seen top velocity with varget. I have however seen really good accuracy. Has this been your experience.

45 Varget did 3090 fps in my daughters Marlin. This is her shots at 200 yards

120NBT and Max load of Varget. Sub .5moa shooter in my Borden. That little pill is one mean SOB on whitetails. I run mine 010 off the lands. MV 3100

So in other words you are asking him if he has experienced good accuracy and velocity with the powder he recommended?

This was the first bullet I tried in my 7mm SAUM and it accounted for 2 whitetails and 3 hogs last year. Pass thrus on both deer & 2 of the hogs. All DRT! The bullet is going 3300+ in my rifle. Packing the same combo in a few weeks for more hogs. No need to change this bullet is very accurate and kills awesome.

That's my load in a 22" barrel, it gets 3050 and outstanding accuracy. For the OP, I wouldn't worry about any arbitrary velocity goal, shoot what's most accurate. I got around 3100 with Big Game, but not as good accuracy.

Neat set up. I like it.

DF

Like others have said. Varget and the 120 BT's are your friends. It will work just fine at the distances you specified. I get 3050fps with my factory rem 700.

The plastic tips have fixed expansion problems with the Barnes. They’ve become my go to bullets, but only the TTSX, I won’t use the hollow point version. The 7mm 120 grainer is pretty remarkable, I like the all aspect quality that the ballistic top doesn’t offer. I’ll take shot with it from angles I wouldn’t take with a ballistic tip because I can count on it penetrating.

Informative thread. My daughter has been working all Summer,and has saved a nice little sum of money. She has decided to buy her own rifle. Till now she has been using her mother's old m700 270. Ultimately,it's her decision what she gets,but I'm pointing her toward the 7/08. Thinking of loading the 120 grain pills. I know the combination has a good reputation here on the fire. Must be worthy.

For the record I have 2 other 7-08's and all love the 120's and Varget. The Model 7 is what I posted about earlier but the other 2 shoot almost the exact same load to way under MOA also. Only bullets I use for the 08's.

I have been loading 120gr Barnes ttsx for 5 years for my wife's browning x-bolt 7mm-08, 15 whitetail deer have been taken, all of the bullets exited and the deer drop like a ton of bricks. Average weight on the deer 120lbs-200lbs, does, to bucks at distances out to 300yds.
I use the load data provided by Barnes on the web site. My current load is with Varget powder and Chrono velocity of 3,005fps.
This is below max, but produces soft recoil and sub min groups.

Sitting in a deer stand as I text.

Rifle is a custom Bobby Hart sporter with Hunter’s Edge. I didn’t have time to work up loads. Got a couple of boxes, Nosler factory 120 NBT.

Sub MOA. They’ll work until I have time to see what it’ll do.

DF

Box says 3K MV.

DF

That apple didn’t fall far from the tree.

DF

Rl 15 or Rl17 120 Bt or 120ttsx. has worked for me.

Re 15 and 120 BT gets it done

Either RL15 or Big Game works in my 7mm-08’s. Both are accurate; Big Game seems to givea little more velocity.

I shoot the 120bt with 44gr of varget. I had to go 040 off the lands for reliable feeding in my model 7. Been shooting bt for 15 years and love them. If you like a behind the shoulder shot though, I'd look at a different bullet, bt in my 708 and 270 are just too fast for a lung shot in my experience, get small exits and hardly any blood trail if any, kills them every time but can make recovery a pain unless you can watch them fall. I shoot 200 yards at most at our Ga sized whitetail. I place my shots in the boiler room though with the bt and they don't go anywhere.

What do you mean?

math I'm interested too in what that exactly means. should have great expansion when hitting lung tissue and blood filled organs. I wonder if the 120bt will punch both shoulders out if the only option and exit?

I'm thinking the "bullet moving so fast it doesn't have time to expand" myth was cropping up.

prolly so. doesn't make sense to me really. if any thing the faster the bullet is moving should initiate expansion all the more with a bt/accubond/sst plastic tip type bullet.

Yep.

A simple thought experiment should dispel the myth. Consider a soft bullet that blows up too easily at 308 Winchester velocity. Cure the problem by loading it in a 30-378 Weatherby? No, I don't think so.

Shoulder shot no problem, complete pass through

I don't know about it being a myth. In my experience, especially on shots within 100 yards with my 270 and 130gr bt....it really needs to hit something substantial, behind the shoulder shots have never left squat for a blood trail and exit holes the size of the entry holes. If I'm not mistaken, nosler suggests to not load any ballistic tips over 3000fps. Maybe they do better past 100 or so yards on soft tissue. I always shoot for shoulder with a bt. I almost left a nice 8pt out in the woods that I shot while he was chasing a doe, due to him running, i shot him little further back than i normally would, bullet went in exactly where you would want a well placed arrow to go, took me 45 minutes to find him after he went out of sight, great shot...just no blood and small exit. I was coming to the conclusion that I missed. Son shot a doe behind the shoulder with his 708 and a 120bt this season, same thing. No blood. I lucked up and found her the next morning in some brush about 125 yards away. Is almost as if you are going to shoot them with a bt with a lung shot, you better hope you watch them fall before they get out of sight. It will kill a whitetail all day long, its just become a recovery issue. Just my experience, if you are a lung shooter I believe a soft point is a better choice, especially at closer rangers. BT is a great bullet as long as you do your part. Its my go-to hunting bullet over hear in Ga. I also think they are more forgiving that other bullets on marginal shots, which can happen due to whatever factors.

Yikes.

They must be shootin' solids if they "ain't" getting expansion.

Out of my Tikka 7mm-08, 22" barrel. All four groups are using 120 gr. NBT, cci 200, and RL15. COAL=2.800"Distance is 100 yds.

Group 1 is 44.0 gr. RL 15
Group 2 is 44.3 gr. RL 15
Group A is 44.6 gr. RL15
Group B is 44.9 gr RL 15

What's your velocity?


P

Pharmseller,

I honestly don't know. Nosler has the max load for 120 gr. nbt @ 44 gr. RL15 running at 3118 fps out of a 26" wiseman.

I have never seen a Barnes of any flavor not expand in a deer.I have killed a bunch with them and somewhere just past 100 have been killed with Barnes that I loaded. I have examined all but a few. All of them showed solid evidence of expansion. The vast majority, perhaps 90 per cent were one shot kills and the few that required a second shot were plain and simple bad first shots. The Xs and XLCs I killed deer with did exactly what I expected and were all one shot kills.

I have seen caliber size in and caliber size out holes in the hide But they have always been associated with a normal internal wound channel for an expanding bullet, and sometimes really massive damage.

I have seen poor to non-existent blood trails. That doesn't surprise me at all. I frequently shoot to take out the heart or the great vessels just above the heart. It doesn't take much thinking to figure out that reducing blood pressure to zero instantly does nothing to improve the probability of blood coming out. I have not seen that poor blood trails are associated with the monos any more than cup and core bullets. One deer I shot with a mono was shot through both scapula low on the blade. The hole was big enough all the way through that I could have run a shovel handle through easily and that deer left blood for three jumps and then not another drop until it tipped over. One of the first deerI shot with a TSX I shot at a fairly steep quartering away angle. I put the bullet through just above the heart. The heart was not penetrated but it did rupture and exposed all for chambers and valves as nicely as the most skilled surgeon could have. That deer hit the ground, jumped up and ran 50-80 feet, fell and jumped up and ran right back to exactly where it was hit and went down for good. Not a drop of blood other than where it lay. If you turn off the pump the only possibility is a very low pressure leak, and that just isn't going to be as predictable as a pressurized leak. It's why bow hunters prefer double lung shots, once the chest pressurizes blood trails tend to be pretty gruesome.

48 grains Of Rel 19 and 120 gr Ballistic Tip

When is Nosler going to make us a 120 Accubond?

No need to. The 120 NBT is good enough.

Seems I remember JB writing about that. When the NBT is a tough bullet, they don't offer a NAB in that same weight..

The 120 NBT is a tough bullet and seems to be very popular in the 7mm-08.

Here's the gun I mentioned in an earlier post. It's a Bobby Hart built 7-08 with Rem Sporter contour in a glassed, pillared and free floated Hunter's Edge with Timney 501. It shoots sub inch with factory 120 NBT's and I've been using them for deer hunting. Maybe one of these days, as time allows, I'll start working on loads.

DF

280 Ackley Improved
120 Nosler Ballistic Tip
61.5 gr H4350SC
3350 fps

280 Ackley Improved
140 Accubond
63 gr VV N165
3200 fps

Heap big medicine

What’s my point? Couldn’t help myself.

DF

I used 47/Varget under 120s, 3050-3100 in 21" OEM 700s. Partial sized RP brass......as always, when I post a load, it was safe in MY firearm.

On that 280, my first rifle was a 7RM, I ran Speer 115s at 3375. You'd thought you were shooting a 220 Swift, but the recoil was not light after a dozen or so rounds.

I'd personally want to run at least a 140 and likely a 150 in a 280 class round, to make use of the BC. A light mono if accuracy might also be chosen if not shooting LR.

I get 3126 out of my T3 with 51.5 gr Big Game and Winchester Large Rifle Magnum primers. Groups just under 0.5". Close to max, start low.





P

I had really good results with 120 Bosler BT and 42 grains of RL15

Tag

Where are you buying those Boslers?





P

Awww... Give birddog a break, "B" key next to the "N" key.

I likes them Boslers, too...

DF

Just yanking his chain.



P

120 BT and 45 gr Varget at 3090 FPS. Target is at 200 yards with my 14-year daughter (at the time) shooting. This is about 8 shots through her Marlin XS-7 7mm-08.

Outstanding Fotis. That's the exact load my rifle likes best too. Looks like the young lady hunter is ready!

She is a pretty good shot sir. Been at it since 10 years old

Killed my biggest to date last season with a new Savage 16 LWH in 7-08 using 120 Ballistic tips and 44 grains RL15. Real nice tall and 19” wide 8 point with decent mass. Approximately 80yards broadside. Had exit wound but no blood trail. Didn’t need it. He loped about 40 yards, hacked up what was left of lung(s), and keeled over

Ha! Must be the old eyes I have. That’s what I get for using my iPad. 🤓

120 gr ttsx with 51g of big game is running just under 3200 fps in my 24” rem 700. I have killed quite a few deer with this and the 120 gr nosler bt, and prefer the ttsx over 3k fps and the nosler under. I did have one of the noslers come apart on a doe at 70 yards at 3100fps mv. It hit the near shoulder as she was 1/4ing to me, and I found 3pieces of bullet under the far hide. She only went a couple of feet before sliding down the mountain in the snow, so I won’t call it a failure but I know I will get an exit withat that same shot with a ttsx at that speed.

I've only punched paper with 120NBT over max load of Ramshot Big Game. .5 to .7 MOA. Would not hesitate to use it on game.