Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Deer Hunting Which 7mm-08 bullet for shoulder shot on deer.

I'm interested in your opinions on your experience with various bullets for whitetails. I really want to know how these bullets perform on shoulder shots. I've shot a lot of deer, but mostly in slug zones, so I don't have a lot of experience with centerfire rifle kills. I've got a new Tikka T3X 7mm08 and I'm testing loads now, so your experience would be helpful. The bullets I've got in my loading room are:
Hornady Interlock 140
Nosler BT 120
Nosler AB 140
Nosler Partition 140 (blems)
Barnes TTSX 120
Barnes TTSX 140
Sierra Pro Huner 140

Any of the ones you listed will break shoulders

I’ve killed deer with every bullet you listed from a 7-08 except the 140 Barnes. I don’t think it’s needed for deer size game. With that said, I’m very fond of the 120 NBT, the 140 Accubond and 140 Partition. If choosing just one for everything it would be the 140 Partition. If choosing just one bullet for deer only it would be the 120 NBT. It’ll work just fine on deer shoulders.

I agree with SAS. I have taken several head of deer and hogs with the 120BT. Not one time did I think it might not have worked as expected. Bullets for the application and field proven are more important to me than itty bitty groups as I age. With that said, this bullet covers both bases in my guns.

If deer only and the shots aren’t too far I’m going for light speed with the 120 ttsxs

Of those on your list my nod would go to the Partition. I have loaded some Accubonds for my 7-08, but have never shot a critter with them. Everything I have ever shot with a Partition of any caliber or weight has given up the ghost post haste, and since I hunt really thick stuff I try to break them down on the spot. I always try to involve a shoulder, and that's where the Partition shines for me.

Now, with all that said, there's not a bullet on your list that wouldn't do the job.

At 7mm-08 velocities I would have no issues at all with a 140 Sierra or a Hornady Interlock 139.

Even a 140 Ballistic Tip which will probably expand a bit faster than a 120 BT.

Deer shoulders aren't all that tough. I get an 85 or 100 grain Sierra from a 6mm through at least 1 shoulder pretty easily normally both blades and usually 50 yards or closer.

The area I'm going to be hunting in next year is in northern Minnesota and it is some thick nasty swamp. I want to be sure I drop them where I shoot them to avoid tracking as much as possible. I did kill two does a couple years ago using a 130 grain Barnes in a 270 and it dropped both in their tracks. The biggest doe was shot quarter to me and I put the bullet on the shoulder. The bullet broke her shoulder, turned up to the spine and ran the length of the backstrap then turned downward and shattered her back leg. I caught that bullet amongst the shattered femur. Not much chance she was going to move after that. It tore up a lot of meat. FYI... After all that destruction, the bullet looks just like the photos you see in their ads and it didn't lose any weight. I've since sold off the 270, and I'm going with the 7mm-08.

I know the TSX is effective on shoulder shots, but I've heard mixed reviews when it's put into the lungs. Some say not much of a blood trail to follow. I'm leaning towards the 120 grain NBT.

Have used

140 Partition
140AB
120BT
120TSX

No issues with any of those for busting a deer’s shoulder. I doubt any of the others would be a problem either. Pick the one you like or shoots the best in your rifle.

I use the Hornaday 139 grain interlock with very good success while my Daughter uses the Hornaday GMX with equal success

The 139 Interlock flat base is a sure fire deer killer, shoulders are no problem at 7mm-08 speeds.

I've killed a lot of deer & hogs with the 140 Partition. It performs extremely well on whitetail and Mulies on shoulder shots. That's always my go to shot on deer if possible, because I hate to lose a deer, or spend hours in the dark tracking one.
The Barnes 120 gr TSX would be my second choice.

The 150 grain Ballistic Tip is an excellent deer bullet. And you can get Blems from SPS real cheap sometimes.

An issue you may have is what bullet your bullet will shoot to the accuracy that you desire. The 120g tipped tripple shock will take deer from all angles, very, very accurate bullet jumped .050.

The 120g NOsler is a tough son of a gun, not like most would think. We shot them at 3500 through 7 mags, but did not get complete penetration, just dead deer.

H4895 is a real winner in the 7/08 with the 120's.

Concerning bullets, shot placement trumps all....stuff is not hard to kill. We have shot a lot of bucks chasing does, this is a challenge because the buck is all jacked up. I love a bullet that will penetrate and dump a lot of energy on the deer, and a 150g Sierra does this in spades in a 7/08 with R#17 with Tough brass(lapua).

173 Sellier and Bellot SPCE

I have hunted northern MN swamps my entire life. My 2 biggest deer were taken at less than 10 yards in said swamps. But the bullet in the front shoulders and you won’t have to track. If you do, it won’t be far.

Truthfully, 139gr Hornady SP will do just fine. Or even federal blue box 140’s.

The Hornady 139 will for sure. 140 gr Accbond too. In a 7x57 with 50 gr H4350 I saw one bust a shoulder bone quartering to and end up in the opposite ham with something like 32" penetration. Recovered bullet had a piece knocked off the mushroom otherwise an add pic.

Between my father and I, we have killed around 70 deer with the 7mm08. All of which have been with a 140 nosler ballistic tip. We both usually shoot for the high front shoulder and 9/10 they are DRT. My father has killed 2 elk with his 7mm08; however, he used 150 nosler partitions.

+1 on the 120 NBT, the 140 Accubond and 140 Partition - I am getting ready to develop loads for a couple of different 7mm-08's and will be working with these three bullets. I don't have any experience with the Barnes bullets, but I know these three different Nosler bullets will work just fine. No worries on using the cheaper bags of seconds from the pro shop, either.

My go-to load for my 7-08 is the 140 NAB over RE19. Never recovered one and more than a few have gone through deer shoulders and an elk felt the wrath of this load as well. It just works for me.

Oddly enough, the 140 NAB is also one of my favorites out of my 8 twist 260s, and my Tikka 270win. Excellent bullet that just works for me in every instance I've used it.

With all that said, most non-varmint hunting bullets available for a 7mm-08 from 120 up should punch a whitetail through the shoulders successfully.