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

I recently stumbled into a Remington Model Seven FS in 7mm-08. This is the one with the 18.5” barrel and Brown Precision stock. I’m deep into 30-caliber bullets and I was looking for a short-light 308 walking around rifle, but the price was too good to pass up. The plan was to make it a 308, but then I shot the donor. Now I’m torn about whether to keep it as is or continue on my original path of making it a 308.

So now I have questions.
1. The 7mm-08 will do most of what a 308 will do. I don’t shoot far enough to need the BC advantage that I’d get from 7mm bullets, and the barrel is too short to move them fast enough to do much good. Why should I leave this rifle as a 7-08?
2. Several posters here have commented that reloaders tend to overload the 7-08 more than most other cartridges. What are realistic velocities in a 18.5” barrel assuming 60k psi loads assembled by a careful, experienced handloader?
3. 7-08 ammo seems really scarce compared to 308 ammo. I handload, but I will fly commercial to hunt with this rifle and I want to be able to find ammo when not if the airline loses my baggage.
4. What bullet weights do you recommend for a 7-08 with a short barrel?

Thanks,


Okie John

If you reload 110 grain TTSX. Barnes 120 grain TTSX factory load. Nosler makes the .284 120 grain Ballistic Tip jacket pretty stout for deer.

The 139gr Interlock or Interbond are great bullets. 140 Partitions are always a good choice. You can go heavier but I never saw a need for deer. If elk was on the table, I would stick with the Interbond or the Partition. The 120 BT has a great reputation too. There are a lot of good choices out there. Before the recent supply shortage, the 7mm-08 was always available at every gun store.

What's the intended range?

I've seen stuff killed with the 110 TTSX, 120 TTSX, 120 NBT, 139 HIL, 140 Fusion, 140 NBT, and 145 Speer BTSP, all from 7mm-08 carbines. If you are only shooting at woods ranges and don't need the flatter trajectory of the lightweigh bullets, I like the 140gr class of softpoint at 2,700fps +/-. They kill just like a 150gr .308Win load. If you want to stretch things out a bit more, I really like the 120 TTSX. Suitable powders should take you to 2,900-3,000fps. I've seen them work rather well on deer and hogs.

I shoot a 120nbt over 44.5gr of varget out of my m7, its heck on our whitetail. I've always heard the 120s have a thicker jacket than the 140s and perform as well. That just maybe a rumour about their construction. I had to back way off the lands to get it to cycle reliably from the magazine, I think I'm about .040 away.

I'm looking for another 708, my son is about to inherit mine, the tikka veils are a unicorn but they are out there in it. If I come across one I'm buying it.

I shot a 270 for 20 years before I switched to the 708, doubt I'll ever change up again.

I did score 4 boxes of the hornady whitetail at academy awhile back for just in case purposes.

I share your apprehension about finding 7mm-08 ammo. I love my Tikka T3 in that cartridge, but I hoard ammunition for it - I will buy it anytime I find it available.

It kicks less than the .308, but that is pretty much the only practical difference. You can find 120gr, 139gr, 140gr and 150gr factory loads (when they are available) that will drop any game animal in American without fanfare.

If ammo availability is the most important factor, rebarrel to .308. But I would suggest you consider ordering the new barrel in a 20" length. I did that for a Remington Mohawk with an 18 1/2" barrel, and the extra length made it feel better in my hands and kept it steadier when shooting offhand.

P.S. There is normally a good number of Remington .308 take-off barrels available for a very reasonable price - and you can easily cut one to the length you choose.

Killerv - yes, the 120gr Nosler BT does have a thicker jacket. It was designed that way to knock down steel targets way back when, and then folks found it penetrated just great on most game animals as a bonus. It's a favorite of mine, and I wouldn't hesitate to use it on just about anything in the lower 48.

I have a 7mm-08 and a .30-06. I shoot 139 gr. Hornady GMX in the 7mm-08 and Barnes 150 gr. TTSX in the .30-06. I can't tell a difference in how deer react to the shot of each. I shot a decent 8 pt. Kentucky whitetail deer a couple of years ago with a frontal shot from the 7mm-08. I hit him at the junction of the neck and the brisket. The deer dropped on the spot. The 139 gr. GMX traveled 3/4 the length of the deer. Based on that terminal performance, I would not hesitate to shoot an elk with it from any shot angle except a Texas heart shot.

So, in short, I have been pleasantly pleased with the performance of the 7mm-08.

Load us some Speer 130, 139 Hornady and 120 Barnes TTSX with faster burning powder, chrono them and then decide, if you're not happy with velocities sell the rifle and buy a 308 but don't ruin the 7-08.

Mine like 140 ballistic tips and 120 TTSX bullets. Deer and pigs like neither

The powders that give the most velocity from a 22" barrel will still do so from an 18" barrel.

Thanks for all the input.
• Now that I think about it, ammo availability is probably not the most important factor. I bought this rifle as a lightweight walking rifle, so it probably won’t travel, so I won’t need to find ammo anywhere but my loading bench. At least that’s my thinking today.
• If I do rebarrel, it would be to at least 20” and maybe 22”.
• I handload, so I’m not reliant on factory ammo.
• Most shots will be within 200 yards but I might (rarely) stretch to 350.
• I’d probably take a 30-06 for elk, but it’s good to know that the 7-08 could handle them.
• I have 100 rounds of Hornady’s 139-grain Interlock Whitetail load on hand. I bought it mostly to get the brass. I also have 400 each 139-grain Interlocks to load when that ammo becomes brass.

Thanks again,


Okie John

Yep, and the difference in muzzle velocity will probably only be about 100 fps, using the same bullet and powder charge....

One of my rifles likes that ammo enough that I quit loading for it and bought about 100 rounds. It's good stuff if your rifle likes it.

Congrats!! A Remington Seven FS in a Brown Precision stock is a serious find up here north of the 49th. Mine came through the Remington custom shop, and was scoped and tuned for this particular client.




Which Brown stock did you pick up? the leafy camo or gray version?

Being diagnosed as a rifle looney I bought a couple more 7mm-08s with 20" and 24" barrel lengths to cover any hunting scenario. Seeing as I inherited a mess of .284 bullets reloading for 7mm-08s has been my latest project at reloading bench.

Enjoy your FS, John. There are no wrong answers, only lots of different possibilities on how to play your hand.

That America Whitetail hunter ammo with the 139gr Hornady SP was sub moa from my ss XS-7 7-08 from the get go...mb

I’ve hand loaded the Hornady 139 sp for a long time and it works great, but if I could only have one bullet for the 7/08 it would be the 120 grain ballistic tip.

That's a gorgeous rifle. Mine is gray. It's missing the iron sights and a previous owner had his name engraved in the floor plate, but those are easy fixes. It also has a couple of chips in the finish, which someone tried (and failed) to cover up with spray paint.

The more I handle it, the more I like it. I shot a couple of groups with a 4x scope last week but I doubt they fully reflect what the rifle will do. I put a higher-powered variable on there and will probably take it to the range again this weekend. I also snagged a lightweight Swarovski 3-9 on the Classifieds this morning so that's probably what it will end up wearing.


Okie John

My 7-08s all shoot 120 TTSXs real well. I'm more than confident carrying them for anything in the lower 48.

I bought a used Weatherby Vanguard 2 in 7/08.
Have not been able to shoot it yet, but it looked unfired when I got it.
Always wanted one so scratched that itch, I now reload for more than 20 calibres, I am trying 120 and 140 grain bullets.