7mm/08

I'm trying to get some feed back on this cartridge. What would be most helpful is opinions from folks that have shot other cartridges such as .270, .308. 30-06, etc. and then used the 7mm/08 and how it was in terms of 1. Accuracy, 2. Taking deer sized game. Thanks. Also, how easy it is or is not to reload.

7/08 is a dang good cartridge that is easily as accurate as any on your list. Broad range of bullets from 120's to 160's in my opinion. Personally the 140/150 seem to be the sweet spot in my opinion. It will hammer about anything you run it through.

One of my favorites...anyone that bad mouths a 7-08 is someone you probably shouldn't be listening too..and for that fact the 270 and 308. The only thing to bad mouth an 06 for is a case full of h4350 flat kicks and I don't like recoil. I'll take a win mag with a slow burning powder of an 06 any day of the week.

Wife and two kids shoot a 7mm-08.

Same performance as a .270 in a short action with a bit less recoil.

It’s a fantastic cartridge they can handle larger game than whitetail and mule deer with ease.

Great cartridge. Little less thump than a .270, but less recoil too. Coyotes to mule deer and anything in between. No harder to reload than any other popular bottle neck hunting cartridge.

Agree with what's already been said. As an all around killer for anything but the largest game animals, it's a certified badasss. Slightly disagree with Judd though......120BT's at 3000fps, and 140 AB's at 2800 simply cannot be beat.

I think the 7-08 might be the perfect all around cartridge for the majority of Texas hunters….. I know I know, some will say it’s way too light for some of the exotics and it’s probably over kill for coyote sized game, but it will just work for most stuff…. In my humble opinion

I will never be without a rifle in 7-08. I use 150 Gr Nosler BT's and have had great success on Deer, Hogs, Coyotes and targets. Very little effort to develop a load in my experience.

I've got an Alamo Precision in 7-08 Ackley. I'm not done fire forming brass but factory Hornady 139 SSTs hit like freight trains. Recoil is very light, but mine weighs over 10 pounds loaded and i have a suppressor. Less than my 270 but the 270 is a lighter weight Sako. As far as reloading for it, I've worked up loads with 162 ELDX and 165 Tipped Gamekings and have hit steel all the way to 1200 yards with it. And that is fire forming, so yeah it's pretty easy to load for.

I've used the 7-08 for white tail with 120 NBT and 140 Core Lokt all one shot and most DRT. Have used the 7-08 and 140 TTSX for one cow elk also DRT. You can't go wrong with the 7-08.

Mirrors my experience.

We don't disagree...I last ran 120's in mine...that particular 120 acts like the 140 But you do lose some distance if you want to stay around the 1000 ft/lbs though. Awesome setup and hits HARD!

Hornady has a podcast and they recently did an episode on the 7mm-08. I'll admit I listened to it as background noise during chores.

Love the 7mm-08, killed numerous whitetail, also took to Africa and killed several animals biggest being kudu and gemsbok.

No difference for me.

I’d say generally it recoils less than the 30-06 family of cartridges, but if you go to the heavy end on bullets and get all you can velocity wise it’s really not much less recoil either.

Rental rifle is a 7mm-08. 20" barrel, loaded with 162 A-Max. It's hit steel out to 1500 yards, and killed a pile of whitetail, hogs and coyotes.

Daily carry rifle is a 7mm-08 Ackley Improved with a 17" barrel, and it is a much lighter rig. It too has put tons of meat in the freezer and stacked up lots of coyotes.

I'm in the 162 gr camp, obviously. It really turns the 7mm-08 into another animal. I didn't want it to go this way. But it went this way. On my pronghorn hunt, outside Marfa, TX the shot was 689 yards. I had two people each holding range finders telling me so. When he was hit, he fell butt then chin and it was over with.

Make me get married to one cartridge, and the 7mm-08 A.I. is going to be it.

if you are going to shoot <150gr might as well shoot a creedmoor…

Hard to go wrong with a 7mm-08. One of my favorite deer rifles.

Same here. LOVE the 7mm-08. Especially for deer. 9 times out of 10 if I'm going deer hunting....I'm going to grab the '08. Load a 140gr. C/T for them.

For hogs....I load a 160 gr. round. Plenty big medicine.

You shut yo mouf! We don't need any Gaymoor love interjected into the men talking here.

you must be shooting itty bitty bullets in 7mm caliber….

The one I bought in 1982 has I do not know how many critters to its credit. 70 or more whitetails plus hogs, coyotes, a few feral dogs that were killing livestock, raccoons, beavers, and a few rabbits. Only 2 of those deer went out of sight of the shooter before expiring and those were less than great shots. Almost all those were with various 140gr bullets and inside 400 yards. Most were 10 to 200 yards. A few were with 120 and 154gr bullets.

Yes, I like the 7mm-08 for hunting and would not hesitate to hunt anything up to elk size with it.

Lots of people do not realize the killing prowess of a properly placed 120 BT. They are phenomenal on game. We've killed several 300lb mule deer bucks with it. Can't begin to count the # of deer and hogs me and my son have taken with it as well. Here's the exit of a 120 through a mature, 225lb panhandle whitetail buck at 400 yds.

[i][/i]

That's what 6.5mm 139gr Scenar's are for.

I gotta get me a 7/08!

I have owned exactly one 7mm-08...a 15" inch T/C Encore Pistol with a 4x Leupold scope.

With 139 Hornadys and H4895 it would shoot 3/4 MOA at 100 yards. I traded it for a 6920 Colt AR-15.

I can only imagine what a well set up 7mm-08 rifle will do.

It’s been said enough but I am a fan for sure. I’ve owned one, and I’ve owned many, but I haven’t been without one for years.


The BTs and the SSTs are perfect for hunting whitetail. The 162 class bullet is perfect for long range, and many 140 class well constructed bullets good for heavier game. I hate to say it’s a catch all one size fits all but in my eyes it is.

I’ve shot about all the weight classes…that Fallow you caped for me and asked WTH did you shoot this thing with…120 BT

I’m down to 1 7-08 right now, I’m busy playing with 22/6/6.5’s as of late.

itty bitty bullets for .28 might as well use 115 in a .257

Save it BOBO, he won't listen.

There's no way a 120 BT actually killed a deer. He musta been faking it.

Deer have fooled lots of hunters using that bullet.

I cant wait until he builds a 300 PRC so he can shoot 140gr bullets

Stay tuned...how's about a 30 Nosler shooting a 190

FWIW (and facts don't matter) I wouldn't shoot the light(er) bullets if I wasn't cutting the barrels down short so they are handier to hunt with. That's the compromise, cut them off and lighten them up...it works and it works well, for the non-believers. Take this for what you paid...magic happens around 3k fps and most folks don't even know.

I briefly had a Ruger American in 7-08, it seemed to prefer the lighter factory loads over the 140s. I killed 7-8 deer with it, and the 120 gr Fed Fusion hammered them from 25 yds to 225. Huge blood trails on rib shots and they didn't go far if they went at all.

If Tikka made a CTR in 7-08 I'd fight you to get to buy it. If I stumble across a good deal on one I can re-barrel, it will be a done deal for my next rifle.

Im not even using hooks today and getting hits!!!




on serious note i bet that 210ABLR is nasty medicine

Okay so the 7mm/08 is a great round. How is the accuracy compared to other rounds, what groups at say 200 yards?

That’s more tied to the rifle you chose to shoot it in. Many factory rifle will give 1 moa with factory ammo. Roughly 2” groups at 200 yards. Reloading improves that. Custom or semi custom can take that down to 1/2” groups at 200 yards. These are results that I have personally seen with rifles I own or owned.

I know you don't tune but that's a bullet you'll likely see me never use...I've read to many tuning nightmares and with the way Nosler is acting on bullets, they can keep them. It's like they act like they are the only game in town. The last 140 7mm accubonds I saw were over a dollar a bullet

i had good luck with the the 129 in a .26.

what point of 300 anything and not shooting 200 plus grain bullets.

7mm-08, I have made sub 1" at 200 yards with Tikkas.

And custom rifles, I've made 1/2" or better at 200 yards.

Many, many times the cartridge is not the fault on how poorly something shoots. It is the rifle and the ammo at fault.

Hell, I made a 7.62X39 shoot well under MOA at 200 yards, just to see if I could. The cartridge had a bad rep, and I never believed it was the cartridge at fault. And it isn't, it is the sloppy rifles (you can't hardly break) that are to blame.

I see a lot of praises being laid on the 708 already, I'll pile onto that.

I've been hunting with one for a couple of decades now. I also have experience with 3006, 280ai, 2506, 6.8spc, and a few others. While they are all effective, I haven't seen another caliber that's notably better than the 708, and vice-versa. What I do like about the 708 are the same things everyone else likes. Short action, very effective round with little recoil and inherently accurate. Very easy to load for as well.

Actually, I own two of them now. One Remington VLS 26" barrel w/brake that is my heavier gun, and my daughter (ok, sometimes me too) hunts with a Ruger American Predator in 708. She started using it at 13yrs old and has never once complained about recoil after stepping up from her 6.8spc. In the Remington I've run the spectrum of bullets thru it from 100gr Sierra HP's for varmint, up to 150gr bullets and everything in between. For me, the sweet spot seems to be 140gr projectiles for medium game, I specifically like the Sierra Gameking. It just seems to work well at the velocities the 708 produces. Almost always a pass-thru with a nice wound channel. Usually either DRT or they drop within 50yds or so.

I've tried lighter bullets (120's and 130's) and the ratio of pass-thru's tends to suffer a bit, more recovered bullets. And while that's not a bad thing when the deer drop pretty quickly, if they run at all I want them leaking from two holes. I've used 140gr Accubonds and while all deer shot were recovered pretty easily I can't remember one the was drt, and most made it farther than with a 140gr GK. Wound channels just not quite as prominent. I think the AB just needs a bit more velocity, as an example my 280ai drops more of them in their tracks with the AB's (then there's the cost difference). Due to availability issues I changed to 145gr Speer Hot Core bullets last year and two deer shot with no discernible difference from the 140gr GK's.

I know the same can be truthfully said about a dozen or more cartridges, but for medium game I think the 708 is hard to beat. It has the capability to go down to 100gr bullets, and up into the 160'ish range practically. That's a pretty big range of application when you start comparing it to some of it's competitors.

Many factors affect accuracy, possibly the least of which is the cartridge itself. Sure some are inherently accurate but it usually aint the round that is the issue. Quality of the rifle and ammo are certainly number one but I think overlooked is the loose nut behind the trigger. I've got a lifelong friend that built a 6.8SPC and couldn't get it to shoot for crap. He blames the round even though he's seen me shoot mine sub MOA repeatedly, for the last 15 years or so. This great tool we have for quickly sharing info, the internet, spreads bad info just as great. If my buddy goes online and says the 6.8 is crap, many won't know better and believe it. He replaced the 6.8 with a 7.62x39 and can now, "cover up 10 shots with a dime". If you have quality parts and take the time to work out the bugs and find the sweet spot, almost every cartridge is accurate. It's the Indian not the arrow, which tickles me as much as a shooter spending $5k on a custom build and not practicing just to be outshot by someone with a $500 budget rifle.

This morning's project.

Yep. The cartridge case itself (or at least the design of it) is pretty far down the list of things that cause poor accuracy. I know of at least one guy who's been playing with the .30-30 cartridge in the benchrest game. I haven't heard that he's actually used it in competition, but he reports that it shoots remarkably well.

I really appreciate the help. This pal of mine hunts more than I do and has shot a ton of game and recently started using the 7mm/08 and really liked it. I have to admit, a mild recoil is OKAY. I shoot 338 Win Mag (not too bad) and a 454 Casull Ruger Blackhawk so I have hard recoil firearms but I'm wondering if I have strayed too far in that direction. The cost to shoot is also a lot higher.
Along the same lines I am tending to look more toward 26" barrels. When I was young I hunted on foot but now it is tree stands, why not have a heavier rifle with a longer barrel?

My 7mm 08 and 270 win are both 26 inch varmint contour barrels. They make more velocity from my experience and the weight reduces recoil. I don’t mind it at all for stand hunting.

Let's just build you a custom. With perfectly tuned hand loads to go with it.

I went the opposite direction. Had magnumitus for many years, the older I got the more I liked reduced recoil My 24" McWhorter 7-08 wore a break.....hated the freaking thing but it shot so good I left it alone. Couple years ago I chopped it to 18", suppressed it, and I still wouldn't hesitate shooting 2720fps 140 AB's at elk sized game. It a dream to shoot, love it now more than ever.

I have a model 70 in 7-08 that my oldest boy claims. I have a Ruger compact American that my youngest shoots. Both do well with the same load and 120 NBT. They kill deer almost as dead as a 6.5 Creedmore. The youngest has killed at least 50 animals with the compact and 120 NBT and has yet to miss one with it. That rifle fits the little man perfectly. I shot a pair of coyotes with it last week. The stock is short and the gun is light but it has very little recoil.

This is a posting by Steve Timm from another forum on the effects of 120 NBT on elk size animals. Granted the bullet wasn't fired from a 7-08 but from a
280 AI. Thought some would enjoy the read.



Steve Timm
Milwaukie/OakGrove

Messages
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Feb 2, 2017

Thread Starter
#32

osprey said:
Welcome aboard Steve. I am looking forward to your contributions. Anybody that hunts with a 280AI is ok in my book and obviously enlightened. My avatar is of a Missouri breaks Mule with my 280 AI laid across it.


Dang, I was shooting the .280 Ackley waaaay before it was cool and I have little doubt you were, too. It is simply the finest bang for the buck out there.

Funny story; quite a few years ago, my buddy Chub Eastman told me that the Nosler .284" 120Ballistic had an incredibly thick jacket and that in beefing the bullet up for Rifle Silhouette shooting they'd inadvertently made a fantastic big game bullet.

So, I tried the 120s and they killed big old Alberta whitetail and elk great.

Then, the moment of truth came when I had a Canada moose charge out of the bush and stand looking at me at 90 yards. I aimed right under the chiny-chin-chin and shot.

The bullet coursed the neck and took out the ENTIRE second cervical vertabrae, left a one-inch exit and may still be orbiting the earth, for all I know.

The moose stood there, straight-legged for about ten seconds .... then, it sloooowly tipped over like a piece of balanced plywood that was caught in a slight breeze. THUMP.

Hey, it works.

Oh, an apology to all ... I'm unfamiliar with the forum'f format, so it might be a while for this old fella to get up to speed on the messages and such. If I don't answer or whatever, it's just that I don't know. I'll eventually make it.

God Bless,

Steve


https://www.northwestfirearms.com/attachments/elkguts-jpg.339740/

Here's a bull elk I killed with the 120Ballistic. One per customer, with no returns or complaints. ST

Yall convinced me. I have a 7-08 barrel laying on the shelf for my encore that I have never used. I just ordered a scope for it and a case of 140gr game kings.

IMO, the 16”-18” lighter weight suppressed rifle in a 308 win/Creedmoor powder capacity cartridge is a pretty ideal hunting rifle for most hunting.

The first thing I ever shot was a rabbit at about 10 yards, running right to left, with an H&R "topper" 12 gauge magnum. There wasn't much of the rabbit left. That was sort of what got me thinking on a 7mm/08. Off hand, seems ideal for deer at 150 yards or so.

Both of my 7-08’s reliably shoot sub 1/2 inch groups with hand loads.