I owned a 7-08 back in the early 90s, let it get away & I regretted it far to long... until this summer! I now once again have a 7-08 & this one AINT goin away. It's a Sav 11 with a 2x7 Redfield Revo, I had the barrel cut down to 18" & the entire rig (including sling) weighs just a couple ounces over 7#. I have 2 safes full of rifles but in my west TN swamp the main two are my 1968 Marlin 336RC 35R (Gdads hand me down) & if the weathers bad, then the 7-08 Savie gets the call out. (Before that I typically used my Rem Cust. Shop 280 but it's much longer & heavier than the Sav)
There are 4 hunters regularly on my place, including myself. All 4 of us are now shooting 7-08s. (My youngest son "commandeered" my 7-08 7600 I was putting together for myself a couple of years ago) The 120 TTSX Barnes VorTx will bore through any buck standing! We've likewise used 140 CoreLokts from Rem & the 139 Interlock Hornady. A couple of weeks ago I bought a box of 140 Federal Fusion just for trials sake but haven't whacked anything with them yet.
With 140 & lighter bullets, the 7-08 matches the trajectory & power of the 270 Win so if that doesn't classify it as a "flat shooter", then I don't know what does! As is typical with short rounds, performance & "oomph" drops off as you put heavier bullets in it. Obviously if you want to sling 160-175 weight pills at elk with a 7mm then the 280 & any of the 7mags will push them harder. But that weight isn't needed with 140-150grn monolithic bullets like the Barnes, Federal Trophy Copper, Nosler E-tip, Hornady GMX etc...
7-08s are typically EXTREMELY accurate, suffer little to no velocity loss with shorter (20"-22") barrels & the caliber has become popular enough that many mfgrs offer it in many variations. As was stated, ammo selections are quite diverse as well. Personally I think it's as close to perfect as you can get for a deer caliber that might likewise see occasional use on larger game. How many sheep, moose, elk, caribou have been taken with the 308 Win? The 7-08 will do ANYTHING the 308 will do & it does it in a flatter shooting platform!
The "modernized 7mm Mauser",
