Talk to me about 7mm-08

[Citadel99]

Let me know what you guys think about the round...

Mark

 

[dakotasin]

i really like what i see w/ the 7-08. it is a 308 necked down to take advantage of 7mm bullets (very good bc's); it is not the most powerful in the 7mm class, but very nice, indeed.

the 280 is a step above, but needs a long action to do it. the performance differences between the 2 are pretty small (until you get to 160+ grain bullets).

 

[Tom Matiska]

The only thing wrong with the 7-08 is it suffers from too many short barrel oferings. The ratio of case to bore volume begs for a longer barrel.

The gap between the 7-08 and the 284 Win amounts to 2" of barrel, so why not have the extra barrel?

Tom

 

[P-990]

The 7mm-08 appears to be a very well balanced round. Gives you 7mm efficiency in a true short action rifle. All good stuff. Currently I have an affection for the 6.5mm-08 (aka, .260 Remington). The 6.5mm is also a very well balanced round. Minimal recoil and bc's and sd's that are equal to anything else out there. Of course, the same could be said for the 7mm, so....

 

[Tamara]

It intrigues me, but I like .243 also, so what do I know?

 

[Doug444]

I have to agree with Tom on this one. I have a Rem. 788 in 7-08 and the round seems to do a nice job without beating you up. The 788 only has an 18.5" bbl., so it's quite handy, but the velocities are noticably less than from a 22" tube. Accuracy's pretty good, though I haven't s0ment much time working up loads for it.

Doug444

 

[Art Eatman]

My loading data books claim a 140-grain bullet at around 2,800-2,900 from a 22" barrel, which ain't that far off a 150-grain from a .308 or .30-'06...

, Art

 

[eroyd]

The 7mm-08 is very popular among silhouette shooters due to the pre-mentioned bullet ballistic advantages. Plus it is available in short actions that are slightly lighter and apparently capable of better accuracy.

 

[Preacherman]

It's a lovely round, small enough for short actions, powerful enough for whitetail and slightly larger animals, flat-shooting out to 300 yards or so, and not enough recoil to be a problem. For myself, I'd rather have the .308, simply because of the greater bullet weight selection in that caliber, but I'd be very happy with a 7mm./'08 if that's what I could get.

 

[Rick R]

I have two 7mm-08 rifles. A Winchester M-70 Featherweight and a Ruger M-77 Varmint / Target with a Douglas rebarrel.

They are both really accurate, I don't know how accurate the Ruger is because I think it shoots better than I do.

I can load 120gr ballistic tips slow enough to kick like a .243 and my son used that load to kill his first deer or speed them up enough to take long range varmints. It's possible to load 160gr bullets only a little slower than out of a 7mm Mag.

The only drawback is you can't find ammunition everywhere so that may be a drawback if you're going far from home.

hth

Rick

 

[James K]

A very nice combination (that I do not have - yet) is the 7mm-08 in the Remington Model 7. It seems to me that the caliber cries for a nice light rifle.

Jim

 

[Art Eatman]

Granting that it's a bit pricey, but the Rem700 Ti can total out at 6-1/4 pounds, fully dressed. That's with a 22" barrel, not a "shorty". And mine is a good-shootin' critter.

Art

 

[MPH]

I use 110 gr. TNT bullets in my 7-08 for varmints. Here's a pic of the Remington.

 

[Art Eatman]

ar-snpr, you ever get a bloused eyebrow from the scope mounted that far back?

Art

 

[MPH]

Art
You're probably right on the scope being too far back. Had it down getting a recoil pad put on it and received the new scope in, so it's was thrown together for the pic and not adjusted.

 

[Peter M. Eick]

For me the 7-08 was a nice compromise round. I have a 700bdl stainless with a 24" barrel, and I thought the 243 might be a bit light for TX deer (I was wrong). I did not really want another 308 because I reload M1A's and did not want to mix brass from an autoloaded into a bolt. So, the compromise the the 7-08. So far it has taken 2 deer and several rock-chucks, coyotes and other varmints. Overall it is reasonably accurate with heavier bullets, but with 120 grn or 100 grns, 3/4" 5 shot groups are normal. Sometimes significantly less, almost never worse.

My main complaint is the barrel is pretty light. Long strings of fire make it quite hot and some drift in group centers occurs.

Final word of advice. This is the only gun I have perfed a primer in. Don't mix brass manufactuers, cold weather reloads and very hot day and gun together. It is a recipe for a surprise!

 

[Mannlicher]

7mm/08, 6.5mm/08, or 7.62 X 51, to me, are almost identical Of course they are all from the T65E3 Nato cartridge. All three are suitable for the same size game, and I doubt much if any difference exists between terminal effect when hunting deer.

I still think the .308 is a better long range round, but for normal hunting ranges, just buy the one that strikes your fancy, and don
't worry about the others.

 

[spook2]

No complaints with the Rem 700 Classic....Out of the box, likes Hornaday Light Magnum, 139gr--does under an inch at 100yds. Similar results with H414 right at max with 140gr--flat bottoms. For some reason, ain't too crazy about BT's.

 

[longrangesolution]

to really see what the 7mm-08 is about, put a 26" tube on and have the chamber reamed to make it an ackley imp. Mine is cranking a barnes 140gr xlc bt at 3185 fps using 45.5 grns of hogd. varget powder and the round shoots less than .5moa. Yes, a barnes loading that shoots real groups. have devastated deer at 400 yds with this round and seen them fall in the scope.

 

[BrianW]

I plan on building up a 7mm-08 this winter on a Williams Firearms Co. action (leftie stainless!) with a 22 inch Pac-nor barrel, and either a McMillan or Acrabond stock, I'm undecided there.

longrangesolution, how far off the lands are you seating the bullets, and what's your COL? And did you start with the AI chamber or ream it after shooting it some? If so, how many fps did you pick up going to the AI?

Thanks for the good info, all.