Sincerely not looking to argue, this is a legit question. If I load a 162gr in a 708 going say 2700fps and a 160gr in a 308 going the same speed, give or take, how does it hit harder?

Larger diameter given same construction might wind up a bit larger diameter (bigger hole) when expanded. But same weight bullet in smaller diameters will usually penetrate deeper (higher sectional density) so there are trade offs.

Love my 7-08AI with 162 Hornady ELD handloads.

Was using 130's when it was just a baby 7-08. Knocked down everything in Texas, no problem.

When it grew up to be a 7-08AI, it took on a bigger bullet. Sucker hits hard and fast.

Goes right through steel plates at 100 yards!

Great caliber!

I have a 708AI on the way.

Love the 7mm 08 and really do think it’s great, but hard and fast compared to what? A 30-30?

Yep, larger the .308 has a larger diameter.

The 7-08 and .308 are both great deer rounds. However, if I'm buying a 7mm today it would be the 7mm PRC. That caliber truly maximizes the 7mm bullet.

I wish the 7-08 was more popular, but it's not. Ammo is hard to find and I don't see much of any benefits over the .308. Just my opinion. People say the 7-08 has better ballistics past 300 yards vs the .308, and that's true to a small degree. But if better ballistics is what you want, why not go with the 7mm PRC? Hard to beat those numbers.

Where is 7mm-08 ammo hard to find? It’s easy enough to get around here.

Wouldn’t say it’s hard to find but it’s not 243 30-30 270 30-06 7 rem mag 300 win mag etc either.

I will say it is a piece of cake compared to when I bought my first 7mm-08 when there was one factory load from Remington loaded with a bullet that was not what was marked on the box. The 140gr core-lokt when pullet weighed 139 grains and came apart on a deer shoulder if that might give a clue to what the early loads were loaded with. i had to drive 30 miles from where I bought one of the 3 7mm-08s to get one box of ammo in 1982. They had dies at the store with the one box so never looked back wanting factory ammo for it.

In normal times there is a plethora of 7mm-08 ammo on the shelves, once at Academy I noticed then counted there was one less selection for it than the 308. I hope some day to get back to normal but there are cartridges they have not loaded for in several years and until they get back to making the limited run cartridge ammo the shortage is not over no matter how many store shelves are full of 6.5 Creedmoor, 308, 30-06, 270, 30-30, 350 Legend (Why are there more of that on the shelf at bass pro than 7mm-08?)

In many ways ammo manufactures are still trying to catch up, no matter how many times you read that the ammo shortage is over, it is not over until they have the shelves stocked with more than just a lot of a few cartridge choices.

Inherited a 375 win and 7mm stw… looked for components a bit… it’s not back to normal yet.

I see 708 all over the web. 7 PRC is great yes but still very new.

I have a Stevens 200, aka a Savage model 10 I think. it came with an ugly synthetic stock. I put a walnut stock on it. it is a cheapo tackdriver. the 7mm-08 is pretty much the .308 with a little less recoil. a really great caliber and rifle I have.