What can you all tell me about the 7mm-08

champ198

champ198

Active member
Needing a new rifle for deer season this year. The kids and girlfriend are taking over my 243 so needing something for myself. What do you all think of the 7mm-08
And yes I do reload also
 
Nothing magic about it. It is the 308 Win., necked down to 7mm, very similar to the 243 Win, which also has it's parent case being the 308 Win. All three bullet diameters, .308, .284, and .243 have VLD bullets, for the long range types, and good hunting bullets for critter shooters.

Me personally, I keep looking at 7mm-08, but I have four 308s, in various rifles and handguns, so I convince myself I don't need one. Even for a 6mm/.243 rifle, I went with a 6mm Rem., over the 243 Win, for the extra powder capacity, and a longer necked case. So I guess I am a "Tree-O-Eight" is good enough curmudgeon.
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But if I was looking for a good deer rifle today, and didn't have history with the 308 Win, I would definitely consider the 7mm-08 for my deer rifle.

Squeeze

P.S. With this said, I do have a 260 Rem., which is again a 308 Win, necked down to 6.5mm. Now that one makes sense to me. Gets to use the excellent bullet choices in 6.5mm, and is in a short action rifle, yet comes with enough powder capacity to move better long range bullets along at respectable velocities. It probably doesn't make sense to the average shooter, that purchases factory ammo, but to a hand loader, it is a great option.
 
Right now I have 3 and have owned more than that. A healthy dose of Reloader 15 or H380 with a 140 - 150 grain Nosler BT or Partition works well for me. It's not perfect but does pretty good.
 
I have a 243 and a 308. Bought my baby girl a 708. 139sst with 4064 is showing good potential for her. The only problem that I see is that you may lose it too. I consider that a good problem to have.
 
I have been deer hunting with the 7-08 since 1984. I have never felt undergunned once. The 139/140 gr bullets put the smackdown on every thing I have ever pulled the trigger on. I currently own 2 remmy's and a tikka in 7-08.
 
When I had mine they were still a wildcat. It was better known as the 7mm/08 in those days. One pass of .308 brass into the sizer die and I was good to go. I shot a lot of 139 grain Hornady bullets back then as they shot so well in my particular firearm.
 
I love the crap out of mine. The only thing I'd change is I should have went with a 26" barrel instead of 24. I shoot 140 Nosler hunting bt and 140 Bergers. Both with varget. Been playing with arcomp and its showing to be pretty dang accurate. Just need to crony it. Use it for what it's intended and don't try to make or compare it to a 7mag or 280 and it'll be good to go. Anything under 600yards and its in the bag
 
It is an extremely very efficient cartridge with a lot of really good bullets available. Couple that with the fact that you can use 308 brass and you got a winner all around. I did go with a 28" barrel to take advantage of some of the slower burning powders. Very accurate, short action, velocity not much less than a 7mm magnum, lots of bullets and brass, easy on the shoulder....what's not to like????
 
I use a Savage 7-08 sporter rig, light enough for all day carry and accurate enough for a 600 yard shot if that becomes necessary. Antelope to Elk with 140gr bullets.
 
I had a TCR years ago, recoil was lighter than I expected, accuracy was very good, found a load fairly quickly with IMR-4064, wish I had another one.
 
Am one of a 700 plus member private shooting range here in Texas. Many of them deer hunt. I've spoken with gents who use anything from a 22 Hornet to a 300 Win Mag for white tail deer hunting.

One day, a couple of weeks before deer season, I kind of laughed at one of our ranges board of directors, when he was checking the zero on the scope on his deer hunting rifle. His rifle was a 7mm-08. What made me chuckle, was his reply to my comment about the 7mm-08 being a good deer cartridge. "Yea, it took me six or so years, to realize I didn't need a 300 Win Mag to drop a deer......that a 7mm-08 did just fine."

In short, a fair number of my fellow range members use a 7mm-08 for deer hunting.
 
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THe 308 is a short action 30-06. 7/08 is the short action .270.


That's a gross simplification, but easy way to think of it.
 
Originally Posted By: Dooger120 NBT's for deer, antelope, etc. 140 AB's for anything bigger/meaner. Big Game or RL-15.

I've had excellent results on smaller Texas whitetails with the 120 NBT's also, extremely accurate in all of my 7/08's. My son's Stevens 200 shoots 1/4 in. groups with them behind HODGDON Varget powder.
 
7/08 in rem 700's
130g Speer BT
42g of IMR 4895
REm 9 1/2
3000 fps
1/2" groups or less in a rifle that is bedded and barrel freefloated
Some bullets/loads are worth building a rifle around, and this load is one of them!

like hitting a deer right between the eyes with an ax!
 
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