Home Forums Hunting & Shooting General Big Game Across CONUS load?

The 145gn Barnes LRX is a sleeper that will kill most anything that breathes.
Please do not avoid it or it will get discontinued.

My Super Grade 7x57 will cluster bullets under a half inch at 2860fps.
In the little '08 case, you could get quite a nice surprise with it.

The Nosler BTip 150 grain should be in the discussion for best all-around 7-08 bullet.

A 140 Accubonds or Partition would be perfect. A tipped 140 bear claw too, if you can find them.

I love the TTSX, granted I’ve only used it on deer but have been more than happy with the results. For the 7-08 I’d be tempted to go with 120s over 140s because of the length of monolithic bullets. Plus, I’ve found the TTSX’s shoot better for me when pushed fast, and they require slightly higher velocities to expand correctly. I like the Accubonds but my 308 shoots 150 TTSX better. I also use Federal TBT in my 270 and wouldn’t hesitate to shoot anything short of Grizzly or Bison with them as well.

I'm very comfortable with the 140 partition..likely be just as comfortable with an AB...though I start them from a 7 Rem mag.

My 7-08 shoots 140 NBTs into itty bitty clusters and kills deer dead

I would shoot the 120 gr ttsx at nearly 3200 fps with big game or cfe 223 powder. I get great accuracy and I like the extra speed with the ttsx. Also, I have seen reports that the 140 doesn’t have as great of expansion due to the design as the 120. I have killed a lot of deer with the 120 and wouldn’t hesitate to use it on elk inside of 400 yards.

If I was going to go with cup and core I like the 140, or even better, the 150 gr partitions.

Small sample size as I’ve only loaded for my buddys one 7-08 in a blr, take down with a low power leupold in a scout rifle mount. Not exactly a set up for shooting groups at the range , but has proven its self as a quick to shoulder and get on target brush gun. He has taken several deer and one cow moose with this set up. The load we settled on was H4350 and 145 gr Speer btsp. Cci primers. The 145 gr bullet seemed to be a great match for this cartridge. I’d have to look at my loading notes to check MV , it should have been in that 2700fps neighborhood.

Well, you obviously dont know how to hunt right!








(i agree with your sentiment 100%)

I’m glad we aren’t faced with this type of decision, but if I was picking just one bullet for the 7mm-08, and would use that one bullet on everything from coast to coast and border to border, that one bullet would be the 140 gr. Nosler Partition, assuming it shoots well in my rifle. It does. That said, I am very fond of the 120 gr. Ballistic Tip, the 120 gr. TTSX, and the 139 gr. Hornady Interlock in my 7mm-08. But if just one...............the 140 gr. Partition. It’ll kill all that lives here.

140 grain Nosler E-Tips have worked swimmingly for me on Whitetail, Blacktail, hogs and Caribou. The TTSX's performance will be similar. Get a box of each, figure out which groups best and then stock up on that. It'll kill anything up to Moose perfectly well without leaving lots of carcinogenic metal fragments in your family's food.

I think I would try to pair the 120 TTSX with the 120 Nosler BT and use the BT for work up, practice, and deer and TTSX if anything bigger is on the agenda. I am doing this now in the 7RM and the 120 BT can stand up to all the velocity I can get so far. They shoot close enough to be interchangeable, I can hold an inch to 1&1/2 inch with a mixed magazine of these two. Either by themselves shoot in the .5-1 MOA range.

I'd look at the Barnes 139 grain LRX, a little better BC than the TTSX and supposedly opens up at less FPS.

Have never shot a 7mm-08 be for anything but am a fan of the 7x57. Great load for anythng in the 7x57 was the 160gr Speer Hot Core, same bullet I used in the 7mm mag. Call it a bit tuff for deer but fine for anything bigger. Don't choose a light bullet for deer and expect the same result's on larger game!

Like DonFischer I also have used the 7X57 and not the 7-08, but I load ammo for friends who use the 7-08 and my chronograph tells me the 2 are virtually identical in the field.

And also like don above, when I had my 7X57 if I were to load a one load for all of the 48 states it would be a 160 grain bullet.

In my 7MM Mauser I used the 160 gr Nosler Partitions and I would not choose it for bison.................but that about the only animal I would not use it on with total confidence. Up to a moose I would not feel a bit under-gunned. It worked fine on elk. And I am sure it will kill bison too, (I once killed a bison with 1 shot from a 5" barreled 44 mag handgun, so I believe it can be done with any rifle using a bullet that doesn't break up badly, and would give penetration of at least 20 inches ------------if you can shoot well)

but for bison I like a larger bullet for my rifle shooting.
Just personal preference.

Another excellent choice and should be able to pair this with a 140 BT to do the same thing I am doing with the 120s but with better BC's and greater velocity window.

The gist of this entire thread is there are few bad choices.

My wife and I have used the 140 grn Accubond in the 7-08 with great results since 2008

Can you imagine if a couple of the mountain men in the 1820s would have had even the poorest of one of these choces? They did way more than all of us with flintlocks....... Kind of puts things in perspective.

No kidding....

+100

I wouldn't overlook the 150gr Nosler Ballistic Tip.

Me neither. Best 7-08 bullet out there, for anything, at most any velocity.