Not sure if this is the right place, but I thought I'd ask.

I'm setting up a 7mm08 for my brother in law. I was looking for some input on what would be a good all around bullet. Main game will be NE whitetails and such. I'd like it to be able to handle elk/black bear if he gets lucky on a draw. What say you? I was looking at these:

120 TTSX
145 LRX
150 Sorocco II
140 Accubond
139/154 Interbond
+ open to others


Chris

140 Nosler PT bar none. Muddy

In my opinion 140's really shine in the 7mm- 08.

For whitetails? 140 ballistic tips

Mine has done well with any hornady 139. Soon someone will tell you the 120gr ballistic tip. It's quite popular. I have some but haven't had a chance to load and shoot any yet.

I would be a little concerned if he drew an elk tag with a 140 BT. Agreed if whitetail was the only game, a more explosive choice would be best.

I will be loading 140 NPTs, in mine, a VERY choice, full custom 6lb. scoped sts/synthetic "mountain rifle" on a four hole Mod. 7 action.

I do this based on decades with various 7x57 rifles, loading the 140 NPT over either IMR or H-4350. I have two customs in this fine, old round and find it "perfect" for BC deer and would shoot Moose with it or the 7-08, a recent enthusiasm of mine.

I've used the 120 TTSX out of my 280, though only on whitetails. The last doe I shot, was angling away. I put it in her side near the last rib - it angled forward through the chest and out her throat (head lowered) near the white patch - about 25 inches total. Short of shooting her through the bunghole, I couldn't have gotten much more distance for that bullet to travel through her.

My son is a southpaw and we got him a LH Ruger Hawkeye in 7mm/08. We'll start with that bullet and the 145 LRX and go from there.

Kaiser Norton

From my 25 or so years with this round, 140 Accubond, 140 Hunting Ballistic tips, and 140gr Sierra Gameking. They do the job on the hunt for deer and hogs. Dick

I'm pretty well leaning toward 140 accubond, possibly pt or barnes. One Concern I had with the 140 accubond was performance on small deer. Have you ever noticed any issues on deer around 120 lbs or so? I'm confident with them for larger.

I'd be interested to hear about your experiences with 140 bt's on elk.

no problems ever with that bullet, our typical does are 100-120lbs, puts em down.

I load the 120 TTSX with RL-15 in my 7-08. Neither the whitetails or cow elk I shot this year complained about this bullet.

You should find accuracy with the 120 TTSX and RL-15 somewhere in the 44-45 grain range at about 2.800" COAL.

120NBT for all that moves, doubt you'd keep one in an elk and cheap to practice with to boot

+1 - I'm a huge 7MM-08 fan and pretty much only shoot the 120 BT's out of all of them.

In my 7-08 I run 140 grn Accubonds

In my wifes 7-08 it's 120 grn NBT

I don't have any. That's the main reason for this post. 7mm is an unfamiliar bore size for now

On Deer, in mine I shoot the 139 Hornaday Whitetail which does a good job. On my Daughters, she shoots the Hornaday GMX as she hunts a lot in a leaf free zone. Both do the job for us. For Elk, I'll take any advise I can get as we haven't tried them yet.

The 139 Hornady SP has been one of the easier-shooting bullets I've tried in mine and it has worked a bunch of times with absolutely no drama on caribou. Switching to a Partition of similar weight is generally straightforward in case you/he need a heavier-duty load.

I've probably carried and used a 7mm-08 for more of my Alaska hunting than any other single cartridge.

smoke, never used the 7mm-08 on elk.. Have better rounds for that, but have shot several elk with 140's out of the 7mm Rem Mag.. did fine, but they were broadside shots in open country.. Two of my pals shoot the 150 BTBT for much of their elk hunting.. I am not sure how many elk they have taken with this, but quite a number.. My late wife killed a huge moose with the 140 BTBT from the Rem Mag. at about 200 yards.. One shot just behind the shoulder.. It took one step and dropped.. This said, if I were hunting elk with my 7's I would probably use a partition.. But some of the area's i hunt, I want the elk dead soon.. So the BTBT's do that if placed right.. On these hunts, I have to wait for the right shot or not take it.. We all want the right shot, but on these units a quick kill is highly important..

I shot the 139 Hornaday Interlock this year. Killed 3 whitetail deer with them, one was about 180 lbs. They all fell within sight but the bullet fragmented in all directions into many tiny pieces that I dug out of the meat.

Next year I'm going to try the 120 TTSX, 140 Accubond and 150 BT. Whichever I get to shoot best first.

These days, its 140 gr. Accubonds in all my 7-08's.



JAPPF,


GWB

Been doing some reading, and it seems the Hornady IB/SST combo could be a good mix. Have any of you messed with those? Seems like the SST would be good for deer and hogs with cheap practice. Then, I could swap out SST for an IB if he draws an elk tag. Should be pretty much interchangeable since they shoot to same POI.

Assuming that really works in practice, would you all recommend the 139 or 154 offering?

Gotcha. I'm looking to try the 140 BT on elk one of these days, based on what I've read they should work fine. Always interested in different opinions though.

My experience with SSTs and IB's is, the SSTs were fairly easy to get to shoot well, the IBs not so much.

If I was looking to use two different 140s for deer/elk, for my money the Noslers are easier to get to shoot, FWIW.

Nice thing about rounds like a 7mm-08 is that a lot of bullets seem to work fine at those velocities. Son killed his first elk with a 7mm Rem Mag youth load and a 120 Sierra of some type. Wonder what speed a 168 Berger Hybrid would do from a 7mm-08? Would have to try that one or a 162 amax.

I've shot a lot of 139 SST's out of my 7's, the only one I ever recovered was from a WT shot from end to end and that deer fell where he stood. Good bullet as far as I'm concerned.

FWIW...the 162 Amax out of my 7-08 works well on game too.

The 130gn Speer BT soft point and W760 worked a treat in my Rem 700 7mm/08

150 Ballistic Tip

I'm no SST fan

Amen brother!!!

Go the 120 gr TTSX or 140 gr Accubond or Partition route and you have solved all your problems regardless if the target is deer or elk. No reason to over complicate things.

That's where I'm going to end up. Possibly a 145 LRX, but it's SUPER long. Just trying to do my research up front on this.

I'm putting this project together for my brother in law (including setting him up with the gun), so I'm trying to get my ducks in a line so I don't waste any of the tight budget. Either way, I think I'll be money ahead just working up a premium load one time. 140 AB keeps tugging at me.

120g nosler HuntingBT for antelope/deer is all it takes to 500 yards w/ease.
Elk, 140g partition or barnes.

Where I live, running deer after the shot often means lost deer. So, the 130g Speer BT with a load of 42g of IMR 4895 with a Rem 9 1/2 puts them on the ground real fast. Lots of converts on this load around here.

My little 13 yr old nephew was in the box stand with me, and with his Rem 700 that I fixed up for him, two does walked out at 300 and 325. He shot the 300 yd one first, then the 325, one dropped on the spot, the other ran 20 feed!!! The boy can shoot!

140 AB's or partitions.

Ditto.

120 Ballistic works on big Alberta whitetails, Montana mules & speed goats, mooses and elk ... what's not to like????

Blessings,

Steve

Bingo!

Thanks for all the input. Going to try 140 PT/AB and 120 BT. I'll let accuracy be my guide.

Chris

Nothing Steve....but...I already HAVE a bunch of AB's and Partitions.

I'm not hard to please,as long as it works.

Geez, the ONE NBT I used, ONCE, on an average coastal BT buck, years ago, blew up, killed but too much mess for me.

No offence, Steve and Bob, but, I would not shoot an Elk or Moose with one, given the availability of NPts-140-`160.

Bob, got your PM, yes, it's me, Dewey, will respond later as hands are sore from arthritis.

LOL Hi Dewey!

Of course no offense taken!

The new Ballistic Tips are not your grandfathers Ballistic Tips. Most of them have been through 2 or 4 incarnations since the 1980's, all hunting weights with much beefier jackets.

However, a Partition or NAB would be my first choice on bigger, big game. But I hear the NBT works, even on elk

Dewey, nice to see you!

150 Ballistic Tips or 150 Lapua Scenars for me.

Tanner

Been using 120gr TTSX to good effect on our deer.

Took a small bull moose with it this year, too !



Sorry for the crappy cell phone pic !

Good to see first hand pics. Any qualms with te 120? Where did you place the bullet?

No qualms, or I wouldn't have taken the shot.

Hump/spine, at 149 yards !

Stiff legged half step & crumbled right there.

Was still breathing as I walked up, so administered last rites.

The only picture I have of my cow this year that dropped to a single 120 gr TTSX from my 7-08. It was about 3 below that morning and my camera froze up so no field pics, but I got some frozen pics.

10-4. I assumed you had none before the shot. Glad you saw performance like you wanted. I really may have to bite the bullet and give these monos a shot. I think the 120 TTSX should drop deer about like a BT, but they'll also handle the bigger stuff. That may be my best do it all load. I've just been reluctant on the monos.

That freezer full works too

In 2013 I killed a 4x4 Roosevelt bull with a 140 grain Partition. One shot, double lung. I switched to 140 Accubonds and that bullet has taken several mule deer and one antelope. I haven't had the chance yet on elk but I'm confident the bullet would do the job if I do mine.



P

150 Ballisitc Tip... I'm generally not a fan of mono's.

Dang Brad, nice work with that 7-08/150BT combo. Care to share a good load or two? I've been wanting to try that combo myself.

Based on what I've seen with the 145gr Speer, H4350 is likey a good pick for the 150. My 20" 7mm-08 gets a bit over 2,700fps with the 145 and a load just under book max.

No say fan and used a lot of different calibers on deer and bear. I switched to a 7mm-08 for my son and I and all bullets performed well. Surprisingly for a low recoil round the 120 gr SST in Hornady Lute made an impressive hole in quite a few. Kind of the opposite of the Core lot light loads. If going full speed I use a 140 Accubond and a 120 BT. Never tried a Barnes so can't comment there. An earlier poster was right about the ability to shoot Alot of bullets do to speed being reasonable. My UL custom is also on a 4 hole model 7.

No SST fan stupid spell check. Haven't tried it on bigger than deer bUT between my son who is now 13, kids and adults I mentor, and I they always seem to do the job. Not counting this year's poor showing with only 4 deer for me it accounts for 10-15 deer a season or more. I also took a fox straight under my stand with a 120 BT and nice clean little exit hole and no damage to the pelt.

My bullet of choice for just about any caliber is the Nosler Partition. Been using them for more years than I can remember with stellar results.

My T3 in 7mm-08 shoots both 140 & 160 grain Partitions into itty bitty groups.

I'm new to the 7mm-08 but I picked the 150 Ballistic Tip and H4895 for my LVSF. Accuracy has been easy to find but I have no dead critters under my belt with it yet.

Thanks again for all the input. I was able to pick up the following in trades:

100 120 BT
50 120 TSX (would have rather gotten TTSX, but out to 300 yards, there's no difference)
50 140 TTSX
50 150 E-tip

I'm on the fence with working to see how the 140/150s shoot. I may just try to trade them for 140 ABs or 150 PTs since that's where I really want to be for the heavy duty load.

You're overthinking all this

Try as many different bullets as you can, and go with the most accurate, because there is very little difference in terminal perfomance

There are no bad bullets in a 7/08

All three of these were taken with 140 grain NPT out of my Mtn Rifle in 7mm-08.


Moose at 300 yards. Dropped when it was hit.



First Mule Deer at 250 yards. Lung shot. Ran 20 yards.



First Elk at 250 yards. Spine shot, dropped where it stood.

Elk and Moose both got finishing shots up close. Not required, but I like to have them out asap.

Only bullet I found was in the elk under the hide.

I've also taken numerous WT with the rifle as well. Might try a lighter load with 120 NPT's for my 11 year old this fall.

SS

150 grain Partition over 44.5 grains of IMR 4350. That groups well out of my Tikka. The whitetails and mulie didn't seem to care. I've not yet seen a reason to use anything else.

I use the same load with 139 grain Interlocks for range practice.

ive killed 8-10 deer with the 7mm-08 but have never seen an Elk so wont comment on them. Each deer Ive killed with the 708 has been with the factory loaded hornady sst 139grn. Every deer so far has been a bang-flop. Every. Single. One. I shoot high just behind the shoulder and they fold no tracking. deer sizes have been does to a old 6pnt that weighed just shy of 200lb. small sample size I know but the SSTs are extremely accurate and work great on deer for me thus far.

I'm getting really good accuracy (MOA @ 200 yards) using both Speer 145 grain Grand Slams and Speer 145 grain Boat Tails in my Tikka T3. I'm a Nosler fan and I have always reloaded used Nosler Accubonds or Partitions in most all of my other rifles. I may still try both Nosler's in my 7mm-08 but, I don't want to overlook the Speer. I'd like to find a bullet I can use on deer, hogs and elk. Any thoughts on Speer's performance or should start working up loads using Noslers? I'm currently using Re 17 and Big Game but, I have a pound of Varget which is hard to get here in OK. Your thoughts will be appreciated.

Used the speer 145 BTs in the 7mm-08 and 280 but only on deer so far all with good results have used the speer 180 BTs in the 30-06 for everything from gopher to grizzly with good results if they shoot well out of your gun see no reason to try others.

thanks for the additional input. I stepped away for a while and forgot about this.

You cannot go wrong with the Abs, or Partitions. Why have several different kinds of bullets? Use one of these two and be done with it, as long as your gun like them.

The SST will eventually fail on you. The 139 Interlock probably not. The SST will be OK for deer as long as you don't mind the dynamite effect.

My last 7mm-08 was a SS Rem Seven. It was particularly accurate with the 140 grain Nosler Partition. It would be my first choice if I were to do it again.

Tom

I'm putting my two cents in for the Sierra 140gr Prohunter. My son and I shoot them in our 7mm08s. They hold together really good and do a decent amount of damage. We've only killed whitetails though.

140gr.Partition and a good knife...ScottyO.

I'm running 130 Speer BTSP for Deer and 140 TTSX for everything else. No luck with 140 or 120 Nosler BT for accuracy.

Old thread, but I will chime in too.

I use both the 120 and 140 gr. TTSX in my 7mm-08 depending on what I am hunting.

My Daughter uses the 139 grain GMX as she hunts in a lead free zone. Seemed to do a pretty good job on a Buck she got last year. My rifle likes the 139 grain interlock. I did write Barnes and ask them to consider a 140 grain load and they wrote me back saying they would consider it.

I picked up some 139 interbonds via trade when I was looking. I plan to work those up first. From most accounts, the IB seems to be a bit more emphatic than the ABs until you really push the range. That seems like a perfect fit for me. I won't be pushing this range.

Only reason I'd consider having the 120 BT's worked up as well is that I like bang flop, and the 140 class does not seem to do that on WT size game. I'll try both to get some first hand experience as well.

I came back to this because I picked up (or will be) getting a 7mm-08 SS Savage LWH for myself.

I agree with 140 gr slugs in the 7mm-08. Standard cup/core work wonderfully

145 LRX

http://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php/topics/8163655/all/Works_on_bulls_too

Was gonna add my $0.02 but there it is! 140AB has been all I could hope for in the 7mm-08. Hopefully it'll get some more "testing" this fall.