Nope, I don't have one... yet. There are tons of devoted 7mm-08 fans(and owners) on this board,however, and on many other boards. I've been trying to talk myself out of one for nearly 2 years, so far successfully. I am wearing awfully thin, however!

There are an almost stupid number of 7mm variants out there: 7x57, 7mm-08, 7mm Rem Mag, 7mm Rem Ultra Mag, 7mm STW... each of them using different cases & amounts of powder to try to push the same diameter bullet ever faster, and shoot ever flatter. The '08 is on the low end of the velocity spectrum for these cartridges, but that's also true of its muzzle blast & recoil. I, personally, view the 7mm-08 as being wonderfully efficient: it givesa tremendous amount ofperformance (energy, trajectory, on-game power) for the amount of powder burned (recoil, muzzle blast).

Even so, it kills exceptionally well for its size, and it still comes within about 1/2" to 1" of the .270's trajectory at 300 yards, depending on bullet weight: http://www.remington.com/products/ammunition/ballistics/comparative_ballistics_results.aspx?data=R270W2*PR C270WB*R7M081. I'd call that plenty flat enough for most everyone's shooting needs.

[DISCLAIMER: these figures are for factory loads, and froma singlemanufacturer. Handloads can wildly skew this comparison, in either direction. This information is meant for general information only, and should not be used as evidence in starting flaming posts, or in insulting the intelligence, wit, judgement, or masculinity of the poster. Soapbox dismounted.]

The 7mm-08 has been likened to a short action version of the venerable 7x57 Mauser, a cartridge my father has used to harvest everything except for grizzlies & brown bears. So, yeah, I guess I'm trying to attach a sentimentalfondness to it. That's what we all seem to do to cartridges! That being said, for hogs & deer, it's nothing but hair splitting to try to differentiate between 25-'06, 7mm-08, and .270 for use on hogs, 'yotes,& deer at 300 yards or under. They'll all be wonderfully effective, and the partisans of each cartridge could wax poetic and technical for days on endabout why their favorite is far & away the best.

If you wanted to make a choice among them, I'd go with 1) ammo availability in your area, 2) your preference for a long action or a short action, and 3) the possibility that you'd ever want to hunt something substantially larger with that cartridge.

So, why don't I have one yet? Well, I was given a .243 for Christmas when I was 11, and I got out of deer hunting when I went to college. After my divorce 2+ years ago, I decided i wanted to try my hand at elk & moose hunting, so I went through my own cartridge search odyssey, and settled upon the .30-'06.I viewthe 7mm-08 as being redundant for me at the moment,addressing hunting situations that my other 2 rifles currently have covered.

However... if my quarry were tobe what you've outlined earlier, I'd probably have the 7mm-08 in my safe as we speak... and probably in a Remmingotn 700 CDL... and probably with a Zeiss Conquest on it...

See, you ask a simple question, & I send you a novel!

FC