Home Forums Reloading Big Game Rifles Ruger 7mm08 Compact Ballistics?

I'm thinking about getting a Ruger 77 Compact in 7mm08, and I've read up as much as I can find on the net and in reloading manuals about the performance of the 7mm08 in short barrels. What would a realistic expectation for velocity be with 140 and 150 gr bullets out of the 16.5" barrel? What powders perform well in this application?

Hodgdons web site says 2500+ fps with a 150gr bullet in a 15" pistol barrel, and is possible with the same powders that gave best velocity in the longer rifle barrels.
That isn`t far off the mark I got from my old M7 with a 20" tube and 150s

.............Have you seen this article?

http://www.shootingtimes.com/longgun_reviews/scout_102606/index.html

This is about the 7/08 Ruger Frontier with the same 16.5" barrel as the new Ruger compact you are contemplating. According to Metcalf, his test rifle chrony`d 4.5% behind the advertised velocity of the 24" tubed 7/08s using factory ammo.

When tested along side two 24" 300 WSMs using the same handloads, my own shorty 300 WSM Frontier ran on average the same 4.5% behind.

In the grand scheme of things, go out and hunt the same way as you would if you had a longer barrel.

I own a 77 Compact in 7-08. bigsqueeze is generally right, any shots under 250 yards and I don't really see a big difference. Now this depends on what you're hunting. WT, mulies, sheap, rams, and pigs you'll never know the difference (and niether will your game), within 250 yrds. Now if your thinking of elk, which a 7-08 is more than capable of, then I think things get a little tricky. But shorten your range and it should still be capable with a good bullet and shot placement. If you're going to stick to thin skinned, light to medium boned animals within 250 yard, you will love carrying that light little rifle all day.

As far as vel/ftlbs, back when Hornady was manufacturing the Light Mag ammo, I was getting about 2850 out of thier 139 SST Light Mags, or 50+/- ft/sec better than standard ammo in a 22 inch barrel (I also had 22 inch Savage in 7-08 to compare against) and shot .7"-1.2" groups at 100 and <2.5" at 200. The SuperPerformance ammo is likely to do the same for ya.

Hope this helped, good shooting and good luck!