what factory ammo does your kimber classic 7m-08 like the best?

Dave

There are FACTORIES that make AMMO???!!??!? Who knew!?

See if you can find some PMC or BLack hills loaded with the 120gr TTSX. From deer to elk you will be all set. Barnes is making thier own as well and calling it Vor-TX ammo. Would be my first choice if forced to shoot ammo made by someone else, perish the thought.

Dave .... I have a Weatherby Deluxe in 7-08 that tends to like both Federal Fusion & Federal Premium 140gr TSX. The Federal TSX are about $40 a box! (Guess shooting a Weatherby is expensive regardless of chambering!).

Safariman,

I see your note on the 120 TSX - what experience do you have with that bullet? Have you taken any elk sized animals with it? If so, did you get complete penetration.

My two Remingtons really like Federal Premium 140g Ballistic tips, one of those rifles is fairly picky

Have used it in a 7mm RemMag on both Elk and a few African critters. It blows right through stuff. There is no need for more bullet than this unless one is trying to stretch a 7mm into something it is not, such as a big bear rifle.

I tried some Fed. 140 Trophy Bonded Tips in my Browning micro 7/08 (just one box). They grouped a little better than handloaded 140 gr. partitions, which suprised me. Never shot any game with one though.

This will give you an idea of the 7-08 and a 120 TSX.

http://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php/topics/3324716/1

Great thread post there. I have not as yet tried that bullet on anything quite that big and have bigger guns for Moose etc but I COULD sell everything outside of my 416Rigby and 257WBY now and hunt happily ever after.... Notice I said COULD......

Well, I have tried only one factory ammo in my Kimber Classic 7mm-08...and that was Fusion 140g, which averaged about 3". Of course the same ammo in a Marlin XS7 shot around 1"...so take that example for what it's worth.

I haven't had a chance to shoot the Kimber much, but with a couple reloads I've tried, the best is 2"...Proper action bedding will probably shrink the groups a bit, but doubt it will ever be that great as the throat is a mile long - considerably longer than the magazine that is for sure. But it's going to make a wicked fast-twist 22-250 someday!

Fusion 140's drive tacks with boring regularity out of my Montana 7-08. She shoots them so well, and they have performed so well on deer, that I haven't had much motivation to load for it.

I would rather run 120's and have played with them a bit, but the Fusions have been lights out.

140 Fed Premium NBT's have also shot well.

DJ

Another vote for the Federal Fusion 140 gr.

A few years ago, shortly after I moved, I couldn't find the box with my 7mm-08 handloads (I HATE moving...). Ran to the local shop and they recommended the Fusion load.

Shot wonderfully, and has performed just as advertised on a few deer since then (including full penetration on a quartering shot through a big bodied mule deer buck).

If forced to pick one factory load for my 7mm-08, it would be that one.

I've never shot any store bought ammo though any of my 7-08s but what happened to Remington with 140gr Core Lokts??? Don't tell me that won't work as I have shot several deer, WT and mulie, with the 140gr Core Lokt bullet as a component in a 7-08.
Also, one of my elk, a cow, was shot with a .280 and a 150gr Core Lokt bullet.
A young fellow came out to my place in WV for me to help him sight in his .270. He had ammo that cost over $30.00 a box. To kill a 100# WV WT.

The Fusions have worked great for us in a 7-08 also.

I would try HSM 140 grain Berger VLD's. I have never tried them, but I'm going to this year in my 7mm-08 Blaser.

I agree, but I am looking for the most accurate factory load without buying 10 different brands...

Dave

Dave,

Across the board, Fusions have been extremely accurate for me in two 7-08's, three 243's, two 270 Win's, two 25-06's and a 300 WSM.

Same pretty much holds true for Federal Power Shoks, but add a couple of 308's to that Tally. Doesn't hurt that these are pretty cheap, to boot.

I'd start right there on anything where I wanted an accurate factory load.

DJ

Dave, sorry to say but in the FWIW dept, you ain't gonna be able to tell how any ammo is gonna shoot in your rifle w/o shooting it. The reason I was shooting the Core Lokts was 1. they are a fine bullet, and 2. They were as accurate as any in the rifles I used them in.
If I had known I was going to be shooting a cow elk with a .280. I probably would have loaded up some NPs or Grand Slams just for the fuzzy feeling.

YMMV

Dave,

The best three shot groups that I have ever been able to get out of my 7mm/08 Kimber Montana, factory or home brew have been with the no longer produced Hornady Light Mag 139gr SST's. Best group was .735". I bought a few boxes of these, while I could still get them. I plan on trying the new Superformance rounds before season starts to see if they will group as well as the LtM's.

To be honest with you, I was getting damn tired of trying to find "the handload" for this rifle, and it was about to find a new home. Sure am glad I tried the H LtMags, as I love the little rifle and the 139gr SST's have been deadly on Whitetails. That's all I got to say about that.

G2

ummm, yea. All I am looking for is a starting point-If others had good luck with federal ammo, that might be a good place to start, yes? If I get good results, then there is no reason for me to try another, right? UNless it is a slow day and I have an extra $30 to $40 in my pocket...which is not very often!

Dave

Mine liked Remington (express coreloct) and Winchester (gray box power point), and shot almost as well with Federal partitions. Did horrible with Barnes, and with anything tipped. No clue why.

FWIW, I tried some Federal 140 gr Trophy Bonded Bearclaw and it wouldn't feed in my M84 7-08.

I bought my 7-08 84M Classic in 2004. It's a two position safety with better than average wood.

It has never shot factory ammo very good and even spent two trips back to Kimber for some work.

I finally just started loading for it after I got a couple hundred fire formed cases from it. 42 to 43 grains of Varget with a 140 grn Sierra Game King has give me consistent sub 2" groups of 5 or 6 shots.

It's a love hate relationship, I love the way the rifle handles but it wouldn't bother me if it would shoot just a bit better.

The cheap basic Federal ammo, don't remember what kind, 140 gr bullets were the only thing that would group less than 2" in my montana 7mm08. They would group around 1.5". None of my handloads would even do better than that. I think the 7mm08 is just a tough round to get to shoot accurately in a Kimber montana. The 308's just don't seem to be as difficult on average to get to shoot accurately.