Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles 7mm-08, ELDX bullets

Very nice pharm. I bought a bunch of 150gr. Partitions, hoping they would shoot really well in my 7mm08. They are shooting right around 1.5 moa in my fwt for 5 shots. Not real spectacular, hence the reason I tried some 162 ELDX I am using for my 7WSM. The ELDX shoot very well in the old fwt. I'll probably try some 150's by the time I'm done. Your results speak for themselves..

Thanks for your input Pharm. I've always been a big Partition fan. This idea is really the first time I've seriously considered straying from the NPT, all in an effort to maximize what the little cartridge can do.

Since I've bought several SA Montanas, I've really grown to like the platform and gentle recoil of the SA offerings. I just need to get the gray matter wrapped around hunting 5-600 lb animals with 'dinky' cartridges. Brad has been trying to convert me for years. <G>

I'm serious about 500 yards because I'm not all that great at guessing the wind. I've shot farther at inanimate things but really, really don't want to wound an animal. I haven't wounded an animal in years but recall the sick feeling. I've passed on more than a few nice bucks/bulls as a result. Maybe with some more trigger time at 500+ yards, I'll change my mind but right now I know my ethical limits. My biggest issue is finding a local place to shoot past 500 yards. I haven't found it yet...............

Fwiw, I used to shoot the 162 AMax in a 7-08 at 2725 or so with RL17. That was with a 22" barrel, it was accurate, pressure seemed fine, and Quickload agreed that it should have been fine. Quickload thinks that 2800 would only be 60K psi with RL26, but also thinks that load densities would be in the 110%+ range. With the 180 ELD and RL26, Quickload thinks 2700 fps is possible at 63K psi, but again, pretty high load densities.

More fwiw- I've run a 123 AMax into milk jugs full of water out of my 6.5 Grendel at 445 yards, where they should have been going just barely over 1700 fps. It still expanded a decent amount, but I probably wouldn't want to go much lower on impact velocity.

And more fwiw, I tend to think that if Jordan(among others) says something, it's worth listening to. I've always been a fan of the 7-08, but the Creed probably outdoes it in a tight magazine box. And with the 147 ELD, 129, ABLR, and 129 interbond, your bullet options would be pretty phenomenal for both BC AND tough construction, if you ever decided to work your way up the "tough" scale.

Brother, this resonates with me.

The first year I hunted elk with a 7mm-08, I didn’t do it on purpose. My dad’s rifle, a Browning stainless stalker in .30-06, had a trigger malfunction. I had hunted deer with my -08, so it was sighted in. I had planned to use my .30-06 for elk, so it was good to go with 180 grain Partitions.

I let my dad use my -06 and I carried the -08. I can’t say I didn’t have some misgivings. I’d never killed an elk without at least a .30-06, but on the second day of the season I killed a 2 1/2 year old 4x4. Hardly a monster, but any bull in the Oregon Cascades is a trophy.



One shot with that little Partition and he went down right now. Double lung, too, not a CNS hit. It made a believer out of me.





P

7/08 AI would be an excellent choice.

We killed a lot of elk with the old timmey 154g Horandy sp, and it shoots holes straight through large boars shoulders.

ELD types in that short mag maybe an accuracy killer, as they like what they like in the accuracy node.

In as far as killing elk, a pard and I shot 8 with a 7x57 loaded with 140g Sierra sp...we did not know back then that elk were supposed to be that hard to kill, nor that we had to shoot them at 500 yards. Just place your shot, they are dead...or don't shoot.

Not an apples to apples comparison, but you may want to check out this thread on bullets tests. ELD content.

https://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbt.../12896610/gonew/1/6-5-bullet-test#UNREAD

I saw the first tests but missed the ELDX test. The ELDX test highlights my concern with bullets such as the ELDX when pushed too fast. I saw the same thing with the 140 Accubond pushed by my 7WSM. They didn't exit on broadside deer at 50-75 yards. Plus they made a mess.

Having said that, I think the beauty of SA cartridges with 0.473 case heads is that they can't be pushed that fast.

Damn straight. Any bull in Oregon is a trophy. Especially public land hunting in low success rate areas.

8-11% success. We don’t pass on bulls.





P

Pharm is that factory loaded partitions or hand loads? Do they group sub moa?

Randall

Randall,
Handloads.

As far as accuracy, define “sub MOA.”

Tikka T3 Lite Stainless





Different Tikka (Superlite) same load









P