I am looking for the magic powder for the 7mm-08. Something that gives me the most FPS with sub MOA accuracy out of a 21 in. pipe.
This is going to be my Blacktail killer, so it has to shoot from 50 ft, to 350 yards. Plan on using 140 gr. Partitions simply due to the fact that it would also make a good short range back up gun for elk and I may use it for black bear as well.

Thanks in advance.

For the 7-08 with 140s, and not in any particular order:

Hodgdon Varget
Hodgdon H4350SC
Alliant RL15
Alliant RL17
Ramshot Big Game

No temp sensitive ball powders for me. RL17 might be the velocity king, I'll let you know soon.

MtnHtr

I look forward to seeing your results on those. Are you using a LR primer or a Magnum primer with the RL 17? Seems like an awful slow powder for the 7mm-08.

44.5/414 w/Speer 160 # 1635
Fed 210 w/Win 7/08 case
2.80" oal
safe/accurate load in my 595 SS Tikka.......

If you dare go lighter than 140 grains, try the 120 TSX or TTSX with 44.0 grains RL-15. Gets you about 3,000 fps and some dead animals...

I have both LR and mag primers, will start with LR primers. As for the burn rate, RL17 might be just what the doc ordered! It's real close to H4350 in burn rate.

MtnHtr

its even closer to IMR 4320 and H 380,, both that have been around for eternity and are therefore easier to find...

A good dose of R15 works very well under a 140 TSX w/ my 22" tube.

Was just out a few days ago shooting my new Win Model 70 in 7-08. It was my first time out with the rifle, and I was testing some loads. The main bullet I'll be using is the 140 Nosler partition, which is the same bullet I use in 7x57's. The best group I got was with 45.0 grains of H-414, and it measured 5/8" for 3 shots at 100 yards. I will settle on that load.
Also shot a bunch of different loadings of light weight bullets. Sierra's 100 grain HP with 42.0 grains of Varget also shot a 3 shot, 5/8" group, so I'll settle on that for a Varmint load.

Don

+1 Great load for the 7-08; handles bigger animals just fine, too.

MM

46 gr of IMR4007ssc under either a Nosler BT or Sierra SPBT. 2800 fps and sub MOA from a 24" bbl.
http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d149/1Savage/DSC01230.jpg

49 gr with a 120gr Nosler BT is as accurate and 2900+ fps

If there is a magic powder for the 7-08, it may very well be R-15, as several others have already posted. I can also get good velocity and accuracy with WW760/H414 and IMR4320.

My 7-08 is an early Rem Mod 7 with an 18.5" barrel. It is uncommonly accurate and the short barrel makes it quite handy. I've shot a few 140 gr Noslers, but my gun really likes the 130 gr Speer boattail behind 45.0 gr/r-15 for 3024 fps.

And speaking of blacktails, here are two that I took with this outfit last fall in Humboldt Co, Cal.

Nice bucks!

I am kind of curious about the 130 Speer, have you ever found any of them in animals?

Thx 4 sharing

Dober

Thanks, Dober,
Who woulda ever thunk a 3-pt would make book, but mine green-netted 141 B&C, so should easily make B&C all time. The 4x5 grosses just under 130. And, they are free range deer too. I really got lucky, for sure.
This little rifle is pretty much my go-to rig for deer and hogs. Over the last 15 years or so, I've shot maybe 10 deer and around 30 pigs. I can recall no collected bullets from deer as all exited, but I did retrieve one nicely mushroomed bullet from a big boar. There's really nothing magical about Speer's 130 gr BT--it is just a basic cup-and-core bullet, but my gun simply loves it. Three-shot groups often make nice little clover leafs and almost never exceed 1 MOA. I like R-15 for the velocity, but IMR4320 is even more accurate, but sadly 120fps slower.
I've shot nothing bigger than deer/hogs with this sweet outfit. I like bigger rounds for bigger animals, usually with Nosler Partitons. (In fact, my buttocks are still smoldering when I boo-hooed the .25-06 for elk in this forum last week--talk about getting flamed! Undaunted tho, I will NOT be using my .25-06 for elk in Wyoming this fall, nor my beloved 7-08; I'll have my .300 Winny with 200 gr Partitions!)

Man that is smoken fast for that short barrel!

Ah come on, nut up and carry your 25 for elkies...grin

When and where you going if you don't mind me asking. I'll be hunting moose down south of Jackson the first week of Oct.

Dober

Those are a couple exceptional Blacktails!
Ingwe

Ruger280....Yep, I shoot my loads over a Chrony and Oehler simultaneously (the Chrony resides midway between the Oehler's 4' screens). The recorded velocity is repeatable, and there are no sticky bolt-lifts or even flattened primers. I still have 4+ lbs of that lot of R-15. BTW, I loaded up the same formula for my neighbor's A-Bolt, and it averages just under 3000 fps.

Dober....I'll be hunting south of Cody, Unit 61-2, in November for an elk. Several years back, I drew a desert sheep permit, possibly the most coveted tag in NA, in Nevada. I DID use my .25-06 then and took a good ram on the way to my recently-completed Grand Slam. There ain't no flies on the .25-06, nor the 7-08. I guess I like a little more oomph for a tough wapiti bull. It's just me.....

Don't blame you for liking the 300/200 Noz combo that was one of my favs for quite some time. (one of the fellas I guided for desert borrego used the same load in an Legend)

If you get a chance, how about sticking up some pics of your slam when you get a chance.

Cody, is a town I could live in easily, but I am kind of partial to Boze and Big Sky. Speaking of Big Sky I saw one heck of a blonde down there today, bruin that is...<g>

Dober

Oh and congratz on your slam!

Dober

OK, I gotta horn back in here...dawaba: Blacktails like those...AND a Slam!!! YOU SUCK!!!
( Once youve been around the "fire" for awhile, you'll realize coming from me " You Suck" is the ultimate compliment...it translates roughly to " I wish I were the guy in the picture...")
Welcome...
Ingwe

Very nice blackies. I have seen a few that big up here in Washington state but almost never during season. My biggest netted about 130, and was 300 lbs. on the hoof.

My 7-08 is a custom job I built on a Remmy action, Douglas bbl, and an MPI stock and it will be my BACK UP elk gun. I shoot a Sako .338 WM pushing 210 gr. partitions at 2950 fps. Will knock a bull elk flat at 400 yds. But you never go a couple of hundred miles from home without a back up, so I take the next biggest gun I have.

Looks like I have to decide what powder to try first. I had a guy on another forum tell me to use 760 with a magnum primer, he uses it and it shoots as flat as a 270.

I'll tell you what sucks, Ingwe. Let a guy try and afford a sheep slam today: Stone and Bighorn hunts are around $30 grand each. In Mexico, a desert ram will set you back at least $50 thousand. Relatively speaking, you can hunt a Dall real cheap at around $10-12 thousand.

I got drawn in Nevada for the desert and, just last year, in Wyoming for a bighorn. In 1991, I paid $6500 for a dall/caribou combo in the NWT. And in '93, it was $8k for a Stone/moose combo in B.C., if I remember right.

Here is my bighorn. I will try and get around to scanning the old 35mm photos of the other three.

Very nice posts dawaba, you have answered a couple questions I have about my 7mm-08. I have had a devil of a time getting mine to like the same bullets I do. :p

So far I have two very accurate loads: 140 Accubond over 41.5 grains of R15 for a chrony'd 2790 (I bumped it to 41.7 for 2810, I've no idea why I did so) and 130 BT Speer over 48 grains of H-4350 at just a tick faster (this was to be a light practice load but it will group the same all the way up to 50 grains). Both loads are very accurate once I polished them but I'm not crazy about either bullet.

I may give the boat tail a go this hunting season after seeing your results. I was afraid it would be a little light tbh. Unfortunately my rifle isn't crazy about 130 or 145 hot-cors and despises 139 interlocks. These were my first choices. As a last gasp I ordered a box of 145 BTs thinking it may be the ability to crowd the lands just a tad that this rifle needs and the Speer BTs give you that moreso than the regular soft points. I'd be a little more comfortable with 145s than 130s.

Thanks for the info.

Will

Yeah, Penguin, it's funny how individualistic guns can be. Two identical rifles in the same caliber can show vastly different preferences. They're like cats or women in that regard. I wonder if guns have souls?

I don't know but getting this one ironed out has been a real chore! I was thinking I needed to sprinkle it with Holy Water or rub the barrel with monkey bones to get it to shoot. :p

Once I got the right stuff it shoots just fine though. And like with your rifle, mine loves the BT 130. It is really no trick to shoot under an inch with 4 or 5 shots. With the 139 IL you could cut a cantaloupe in half and couldn't cover the groups half the time.

BTW, have you ever had to put one of those 130s through a shoulder? With your experience with it, would you hesitate to do so?

Thanks a bunch for the info,
Will

Sure, I've shot a few deer and hogs thru the shoulder with the 130 Speer, and the bullet did a fine job. And most any cup-and-core bullet would do the same on like-sized animals.

Others here will disagree, but I would look at using a premium bullst for breaking shoulders on bigger animals like elk and bears. Probably a partition or bonded bullet.....

dawaba; BIG TIME congrats on your Slam! Thanks for posting pics of the Bighorn...you must be old school like me, I had to scan all old ( and new) 35mm photos to post..don't own a digital camera.....
Anyway keep the pics and info coming!!! Good posts!
Ingwe

Thanks dawaba, that info is very much appreciated.

I don't as a rule go for the shoulders first anymore. But you never know what shot you'll be given when you load up. I started out hunting with overly tough bullets. And as a result I got very good at finishing shots and tracking when shoulder shots weren't readily had. I became a big fan of cup/core and bonded bullets as my experience grew. This one was just one of those that no one I knew had any experience with.

Always a pleasure to learn a bit from someone who has tried the exact combination you are curious about. Thanks a bunch.

Will

Dober...did that blonde have a hump back, or was it a "regular..?" Ya' never know down close to Pig Stye...
Ingwe

I like the above combo, and another great one that I used for years(MANY deer) is 140gr Partition over 46gr IMR 4350. Great load.....

Beautiful bucks.. but are you sure those are blacktails???

Look more like Mule Deer crosses, but what do I know?

What I do know is I'd sure like to see F & W let a bunch of them loose in this area and have them breed with as many of our local does as possible...

those are some impressive bucks.. blacktail or blacktail/mule deer cross...

They are nice........

Dawaba-your deer hunts were they on your own or guided? Cali right?

Ingwe-no hump on the blonde, but it was a long long ways away...

Dober

D,

Those are bomber bucks, and great pictures too. The background reminds me of a mountain I used to hunt in the B zones that started with an "A".

Thanks for sharing and congrats,

MtnHtr

Dober,
It was a private ranch of some 9000 acres near Bridgeville, California. The ranch owner was the outfitter and guide. The two bucks are exceptional, even for this ranch. I turned down several recommended shots to hold out for these.

The property is within 25 miles of the Pacific Ocean, so they should be homozygous pure blactails, not muley crosses as another poster suggested.

Thx Dawaba-very cool stuff and great memories to boot.

One of the desert borrego hunts that I guided on down below was right on the Sea of Cortez. Way cool to be on a mtn and look down below to the sea as you well know.

Thx again for sharing!

You ever get Montana way to hunt?

Dober

I've had three Remington Sevens in 7mm-08. I've always focused on 140 grain bullets.

The first one was never a great shooter. It was an old blued gun with the 18.5 inch barrel. It did it's best work with Nosler 140 grain solid bases and IMR 4350. Managed to get a deer with it one year ... 40 yards. Had there been readily available aftermarket synthetic stocks for it I might still have it, never know.

The second one has the tupperware stock and 20" stainless barrel. It shot 140 grain partitions really well (under 3/4 MOA to 200 yards) book max loads of RL19 w/ Fed 210Ms or Win 760 with Fed 215s. Most often I used RL19 with the 140s and saved the Win 760 for launching 120 grain ballistic tips which it also liked.

I ruined the throat on that gun one afternoon. I took a couple hundred rounds of the 120s out and started practicing offhand. I torched it, got it WAY too hot, and after it cooled off and was cleaned up, nothing ever shot well again. SMACK! DAMN!! I'd had it 3 years and killed 4 blacktails with it. Really liked that little gun. I should have rebarreled it but a friend bought it and made it into a 6x.250 for his kid to shoot squirrels with. It's always sort of for sale but I don't want to spend what they think they have to get back out of it. I hope someday they'll shoot it out and it'll be for sale again and maybe come back home to me.

The last one was a dog. It was a Seven XCR with the camo stock, magnum contour fluted barrel, and coated metal. It never would reliably go under 2.5 MOA regardless of what I shot in it.

Tom