Are 160 grain 7mm bullets known to be good with 7-08?

I can’t find my usual Nosler 140 grain BT’s anywhere, but Sierra GK’s in 160 grain are plentiful. I just don’t know if it’s worth stocking up on them.

Nope.

Not worth a damn.

pretty sure this is sarcasm

Pretty much.


160-162 is in my opinion the best balance of speed/weight for the 7-08 in standard bullets. Bonded bullets and solid copper might perform better running lighter.

They will work...but they are stuffed a LONG way down into the case in most rifles. I prefer the 120-140 class bullets.

They will do just fine and somewhere between 300-400 yards they will start doing better than the lighter bullets.

But he did not say his barrel twist? 162s and 9 inch twist goes together like peas and carrots but a 11 inch twist likes 140s.

Most factory 7mm-08 barrels will be 1:9 or 1:9.25 twist both of which will handle the Sierra 160 bullets.

It’s a 1:9.

Any tipped bullet will work perfectly in a 7-08 but I would recommend staying away from bonded bullets because the velocity is just not high enough and the game around here isn't large enough to need them.

I would also recommend staying away from solid copper bullets. The animals around here aren't tough enough to provide enough resistance for the bullets to really do their thing and their use will cause slow kills and lots of tracking.

Yes they will work fine. My personal preference is a 140 on game out to 300. The 160 for targets beyond that. A 120 mono metal is excellent on game out of a 7-08 as well. Currently if you don’t have a supply, load what you can find and be thankful. Your 9 twist will stabilize all of those.

Factory 7mm-08 chambers are generally throated for bullets between 120 and 140.

I’ve loaded for three different factory 7-08 rifles and none of them will shoot well with anything over 140.

I know there a few out there with a bastard twist of 1:11 or 1:12 but I didn’t think it was very common. I know you didn’t mention twist and was was talking about throat but I’ve never had issues with the heavier bullets. I do think beyond the 165 class you get diminished returns. The case just isn’t big enough.

Midway has some 160 DeepCurls cheap.

Same constructions as Fusion and Gold Dots so they open easily.


https://www.midwayusa.com/product/1022980339?pid=528823

160s should be good to go with a 1/9 twist. Grab anything you can get nowadays!

I had to yesterday. I got 130 grain Sierra Match Kings and 160 grain hollow point Game Kings.

I’m glad to have some more 7mm bullets, but I had just found my most accurate load for 140 grains a few weeks ago. Who knows, maybe I’ll like these bullets better.

Case capacity is more of a concern since I’m limited to my AR’s magazine length. I think I’m going to try to find some metal ones to allow for a longer COAL. I found some Berger 140 VLD hunting bullets, but I don’t know anything about them being compatible with an AR-308 so I passed.

Thanks for the help guys.

I tested Sierra 160 GK’s with CFE 223 and got a best group of .7. The 130 MK’s I tried with AR Comp netted me a .4 group. My barrel is 20 inches, but I was getting higher velocities than Hodgdon’s 24 inch barrel. Their reported velocity at max charge of 40.3 is 2525. I was averaging 2560. I’m not disappointed by any means, but think making finer adjustments with the charge may give me a little more accuracy.