Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Deer Hunting 7mm08 ammo

Whats everyone’s go to bullet for deer? I’ve always had great success with Hornady SST 140gr in my 270 so I was leaning toward the 139 SST for the 7mm08. 2nd choice would the the nosler 140 accubond but are they worth $30 more per box?

Are you talking factory ammo or handloading?

About anything in the 140 range works pretty nice for deer.

I've been using old 162 Amax's and generally okay with them. I punch shoulders and the deer tend to drop within a step from where I shot them. DOA.

That said - I have some TTSX and Accubonds in the 140 range I'll give a go here soon.

The 139 sst is a good deer bullet in the 7-08. To me the noslers wouldn't be worth the extra money for deer. My father in law has been using the 150 eldx and they have done really well also

I load 140 grain Ballistic Tips in my 7/08. 41.0 grains of 4064. Shoots tiny little bug holes and it’s light recoiling for the grandkids to shoot.

The 139gn interlocks are fantastic little bullets. I shoot them or partitions primarily. I load my own.

I have never tried 139gn SSTs in my 7mm-08 but the 154gn variety does a wonderful job in my 280.

I see no reason to spend the money on accubonds personally. I am not buying partitions lately either...

I should have clarified, im looking for factory ammo. Im currently leaning toward try to the 120gr TTSX and the 139 gr SST to see which shoots the best. I was leaning 140gr but have heard great things about the barnes TTSX as well.

My wife, exclusively runs the Barnes Vor-tx, 120gr TTSX in hers, for reduced recoil.

She is a stone cold whitetail killer & I used it on a bull moose, when I dropped my .308, loading up for a fly in hunt.

I've used 145 Grandslams for many years, with great results. I did get to use a few 140 AB's, which also worked well, but they were too hard to get ahold of.
This year I plan to try 139LRX's.

Reloading! It"s fun!

My opinion, 120 TTSX are hard to beat out of a 7mm-08.

I use the 120nbts. I have always heard they had a thicker jacket than the 140s and think someone here confirmed. I tried the 139 sst in two of my 708s and both hated them.

I agree with both statements for my 7-08

Never had an issue getting 139 SST's to shoot in any 7mm-08 that was capable of doing so. 4 out of 5 rifles......a Savage M10 lightweight didn't seem to want to shoot anything I fed it in limited testing and got sent down the road.

A M700, a M700 mountain rifle, a M788, and a Tikka. Interestingly the Tikka gave me some fits until I got it straightened out and then it shot the same load as the other rifles into neat little clusters. 41.5 of Varget and the 139 SST. Cannot speak to factory ammo.

120 ttsx for me

For whitetail, no. For bigger critters, yes.

I have previously used 140 grain bullets in my 7-08. Had been using some 145 grain Speers for the last few years. This year I purchased some 120 grain BT. Didn't see a buck to try them on so the jury is still out but they shoot well.

There is really no wrong answer here. Either bullet is great for whitetails (along with 2 dozen other options). Just know the differences in performance, as they are very different.

The TTSX will punch through every single time, unless you shoot them end to end. Barnes says they expand well down to 1,800 fps, but I say keep them above 2,200 fps. They don't necessarily leave huge blood trails, but they will leave something as you will almost always have two holes. I like to break shoulders with these.

The SST will expand rapidly and result in a lot of "drop in their tracks". My experience is that you will get an exit hole about 60% of the time on broadside shots. I prefer lung shots with these.


I've used the 120 TTSX extensively (60+ deer) and I've used the SST in other cartridges for 100+ deer, so I've seen both in action and have no hesitation with either.

Factory loads 139gr Hornady Interlock
Handloads 120gr Nosler Ballistic Tip.

Both worked well on N.C. whitetail

120gr ballistic tips, 140gr Sierra Game King.