Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters 7mm-08 on Whitetail

As Mr Dirtfarmer has said (and a few others), a 120 BT running 3000fps through 7-08 is a match made in heaven on deer sized game (my son has dumped a truckload of aoudad sheep with it as well). It's a game killing machine, as is a 140 AB launched at 2800fps. It's all a guy would ever need up through elk sized game IMO.

I see you leaning more in that direction, away somewhat from your 160 NAB 7RM combo.

I find myself using fewer magnums, more conventional rounds, as well.

DF

Yeah, I never (Or nearly never) work up near the MAX on anything. I'll probably start 5% off MAX and just leave it there. The goal here is to jelly a deer's innards inside 100 yards from a treestand.

I looked, and I've got some civvy brass in 308 to throw at this project, so I'll probably start with that and save the mil-stuff for later.

I have used the 120g NBT on 2 deer from a .284 Win. MV was 3200. Killed both deer but the the first was hit at 35 yards and almost made it to a property we couldn't hunt (About 50 yards) before tangling in the fence and dying. The bullet came apart and the jacket was found under the hide of the offside. The next was a deer hit at 280 yards. Hit in the shoulder the bullet then deflected up through the neck and out the head on the off side. The deer was broadside too me and was looking at me. Bang/flop obviously. Very accurate in my gun. Slowing it down to 3000 fps may help it perform even better.

My buddy Bob was an outdoor writer for many years. One of his acquisitions was some sort of 17 caliber wildcat that someone gave him. He said the first batch of ammo he got from the guy was clocking at some ungodly velocity and was vaporizing before it hit the target. The fellow knocked it down a few grains and sent Bob another batch. Bob shot a groundhog with it and the animal expired. Bob went out to pick up the carcass, and on carrying it back, he started hearing a sloshing sound that would stop whever Bob stopped and turned around. He thought something was following him. He finally jiggled the carcass and found the sloshing was coming from the groundhog. Upon closer inspection, Bob found the 17 cal bullet had exploded inside the groundhog and left nothing but jelly.

Your story about the 284 WIN reminded me of that. I miss Bob.

To me the 7mm-08 is perfect for deer. I’ve never seen the need to venture beyond Hornady 139s. Everything I’ve shot with one has dropped in the spot.

shaman,

Dunno how dedicated you are to "cheap" easy whitetail load, but I have seen a bunch of big game killed with various bullets both from the 7mm-08 and 7x57 (which is essentially the same thing in a different shape). Just about any bullet in the 140-grain range works on deer, because the 7mm-08 doesn't push them fast enough to cause penetration problems. Also, I have used powders ranging in burn-rate from Varget and RL-15 at the fast end to H4350 and even RL-19 at the slow end, and all worked very well, though some worked better in specific rifles than others. These days I generally used Big Game, which has a burn-rate sort of in the middle of all those other powders.

I looked up bullets in the 140-grain range on the website where I use most for component shopping, and found a couple even less expensive than the 139 Hornady Spire Point, which I've used a LOT. One was the Prvi Partizan 140, but even less expensive was the 145 Speer Hot-Cor, which also works fine--at about five bucks a box of 100 less than the Hornady 139.

I might also comment that the 120 and 140 Ballistic Tips do work great on deer, but are not particularly cheap. Two 50-bullet boxes is almost twice the price of a 100-bullet box of 145 Speers.

My Grandson has taken many deer and hogs with his 7mm-08. It seems to be accurate and effective. The buck in the picture was another one shot kill at about 100 yards with factory Remington 140 grain bullets.

Thank you for all the ideas.

I was able to find 139 Hornady IL SP's at Midway and placed an order for them as well as some Lee dies. I'll probably start with Varget see where that gets me.

120 NBT + Ramshot Big Game = dead deer

In our Deer Clubs here in the South, we have converted a flock of hunters to use the 7/08 with one bullet:

130g Speer btsp
42g of IMR 4895
Rem 9 1/2
Rem brass
Touch the lands
3000 fps out of a 24" barrel, deer flop hard!
Rem 700's

MB you can do a lot worse than that I ran 139s as a staple.

No doubt the 120 has a reputation, I read they designed it by shortening the 140 from the tip back, so the front of the jacket is heavier and seen pics to back that up. I would run 140 class if shooting beyond 300 yds, for more retained energy.

DF I used 120 HP and SP in a 7BR rifle, did ok, but not spectacular, retained about about 65-70gr as I recall, no exit. I do not recommend those or V-max for varmints, but no doubt the 120 BT is stout and made for hunting and steel from XP-100s.

The 130 Speer is seldom talked about, but that is a gem. If I had to use only one bullet, it would be the 140 Accubond, but I DO like the 150 class whether Nos BT, or some others like the AB, Partition is always a solid choice, and the new Tipped Sierra's are showing good results.

Agree, hard to pick a wrong choice, but the ONLY bullets under 130 I would use, is the NBT and TTSX. Those 120s zip along well, with light recoil.

Again, as distance grows, I'd move up to more weight, 130 in open country I'd use to 400 yds, anything further, I'd rather use a 139-150, some get high enough speeds with 154-162 to have decent trajectories, as the OP mentions later on going further out.

Now that the order is placed and the deal is done, and I'm just waiting for stuff to arrive, it's time for some more meaningful questions re: 7mm-08

1) Some folks on here say the 270 WIN is gay. Some have that idea or at least a bi-curious/man bun/metrosexual view of the 6.5 Creedmoor. How come the 7mm-08 didn't get hung with that reputation?

BTW: I did Ingwe's recommended test before I purchased the 7mm-08 and Googled "Is the 7mm-08 Gay?" and all I got back were pics of men standing next to large animal carcasses-- no gay wedding snaps. I take that as a good sign.

2) If the 7x57 is also called the 275 Rigby, what other names does the 7mm-08 have? "Seven Millimeter Ought-Eight" just doesn't roll off your tongue. I nominate the "275 Rigby Magnum."

3) The 275 Rigby conjurs up sitting in the moonlight with a goat tethered beneath you. What does 7mm-08 conjur?

It was cool to shoot the 7/08 before the 280/AI got more popular, it runs VERY close to a 270 with 130-150 with top loads and 22-24" barrels.

7/08 is like the 6.5-08 aka 260, the Creedmoor........VERY Efficient, Effective, modest recoil and blast. For non-handloaders, a 270, 308, 30-06 can do the same job for less money in factory ammo. Now the 6.5 Creedmoor often has more choices, with often better accuracy with factory ammo, and the costs is usually lower than 7/08. That said, a 7/08 will outrun the 6.5 with similar weights, more powder and larger bore to burn the powder. Though true, at long ranges, the gap narrows and the 6.5 often over takes the 7/08, but we are talking distances farther than most shoot.

No bad choice in these rounds like the 6.5x55. I like the short 7 about as well as the 6.5s, though the lighter bullets have a higher BC of course in 6.5, fo say like weight bullets. They are likely much more similar than different, in the end they all work.

All the 'Ballistic Gack' aside......a fella could run a vailla jane 270, '06 or 308 and do what is needed in NA. With plenty of factory ammo options. Handloading, gives the round more reasons to shine, it's a good choice. Enjoy.

Hah well the Seven O 8 was designed for the long range offhand silhouette crowd so to me it stands for men standing tall and sending bullets way out there to knock over steel targets. The 270 was designed specifically to make a certain English teacher money in magazine articles. Apparently English teachers don't exude a "manly" image.

This ^^^^^^^^^^^or the 120 Nosler over 43-45 gr of RL-15, never don't work; for the 140, drop a couple of grains of powder to 41-42 gr.

The 120 TSX is also great but really more bullet than is needed for WT's.

The target below has 3 different powders with the 140 NBT.............in my gun, that bullet is not sensitive to powder changes; RL-15, Varget & H-4350 all shoot to same POI at 100 yards.

MM

A big plate of deer steak.

Good choice in bullets, shaman - if you search the OLD posts here from Dogzapper and Steve Timm, you'll see they think very highly of the Hornady Interlock, even for elk!

You would be hard pressed to grab any off the shelf 7-08 ammo and it not be more than capable for whitetails.

Yes, I remember those posts. That was part of what got me to put 7mm-08 on the short list. It was a long short list I guess, but I suppose a man's reach should exceed his grasp. . . or what's a gun safe for?