Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Deer Hunting 160's in the 7MM/08

I seem to have amassed a bunch of various 160 grain bullets in 7MM. Anyone using these in either a 7MM/08 or 7X57?

ask Big Stick he knows plenty about this cartridge and that bullet

No problem in the 7x57, but you might run into COAL issues in the 7mm-08, assuming that the 7mm-08 is a short action and magazine box length.

I run 160 grain Speer Hot Cores in a 7x57 ahead of 36.2 grains of H4895. The rifle is an Interarms Mark X, so no worries about strength. Could probably push it a little harder, but groups tended to open up over 36.2 grains. As with any new load, drop back 10% and work up in your particular rifle.

For 7-08, it really depends on the action and also on the bullet. For anything slick I'd plan on needing around 2.90 COAL to get enough powder into a 7-08 case. This is no problem with some actions but is a no go on an unmodified 700 short action.

I run 162 ELDMs at 2.93 COAL in my Rem 700 SA (7-08). I threw a few dummy rounds together before I had the rifle built to see what how long I'd need to go without crushing powder capacity, then I had the action milled for a Wyatts box when I had the barrel installed. With a 20" barrel and fairly stiff load of varget they go 2650 fps.

I'd presume you'd be fine in any 7x57.

I’ve got a 7x57R that I shoot 160s in. But…it has a long throat and no magazine.

My various 7mm-08s don’t let me get sufficient case capacity with 160s while keeping within useable COAL.

For the 7mm08, I'd use a 150gr partition vs. 160. There have been a lot of 7mm magnum shooters looking for 160's here lately. Maybe a trade is in order??

Sufficient case capacity for what purpose? I'm not loading for long range.

I load for a guy who uses a shorty Remington M7 7mm08 on deer/pigs inside 300 yards. I put together a batch with some 162 grain Interlocks I've had since the eighties. The load uses IMR4895 and has no capacity problems. It groups well and he's "shot the drops" against his reticle. Hammers deer just fine.

Before that I had him shooting 120's on top of a full blast load of Varget. Those worked great too. Why switch? It's funny I know, but he said after trying the 162's he liked their heavier recoil better.

That's funny. Sounds like some of my buddies. Until one of them had to get a shoulder operation. Then he sold his 338wm. The heavier bullets will definitely work, but speeds are not impressive. Perfectly fine for any big game animal in NA though.

My 7MM/08 is a Weatherby Ultra Light so OAL might be an issue, the 7X57 is built on a 1909 Argentine Mauser action so they might work better in this vs the Weatherby. I've never shot anything heavier that 140's in either rifle. I might be able to go the 160 route in a #1 7MM/08 however. My shooting at deer is largely inside 200 yards so getting enough velocity isn't an issue.

Velocity I needed to justify using 160s instead of 140s.

I have other rifles for 160s.

I don’t disagree with anything you said, or any of your logic. I just couldn’t justify it.

No argument here, just conversation. Nothing scientific either. I had initially put them together on a whim because I had the components sitting around and my 48th ed. Lyman manual had it set out as a potential "accuracy load". So I thought my friend would shoot some for fun and we'd see. Turns out they did quite well.

From a post last year:

I did the same really. Had some extra stuff laying around. I always thought it would be a worthy experiment, and probably would be as effective as I hoped (as your anecdote proves), but sometimes old expectations like velocity are hard to overcome.

My 7x57R with 160s does great on deer, so I’ll just be content to leave the 7mm-08 to 120-140s.

I'm currently shooting factory Swift ammo, 160 A-Frames out of a Rem 783 loaner gun. No problems so far.
It was all I could buy at the time.

My 700 TI 7-08 prints nice little clusters with 160’s. Though I’ve never used the combo on critters, I’m positive they’ll never bounce off and should leave a short blood trail to a pile of meat.

Make a trade and got some 120’s or 140’s. That’s all you’ll need in a 7mm-08. There are many bullet choices in those weights.

Couldn't agree more.

x2

For those of you that have shot the 160’s in your 7-08 I assume the rifling twist rate is a non issue or is it on the boarder line with most factory rifles? What twist rate would you recommend if one was to have a barrel made? Just curious on my end

Edit:
Found my own answer.
https://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbt...s/6039577/Re_7mm_08_Twist_Rate_and_Stock
My son has a A-Bolt Micro in 7-08 I’ll have to see what twist rate it has.

For most things in the 160 grain class the 9 1/4" twist Remington factory barrels have no problem at all.

If I'm ordering a barrel I'd use 8" because for what I do some extra rpm has no downside and any future experimentation will be covered.

I think Browning used 9 1/2" so it should be fine.

Savage did release some with a silly 11" twist IIRC.