I am looking to purchase a Tikka for my son for deer hunting in either of these two calibers and had a few questions. The Tikkais offered in a 22" barrel. I realize that the 7mm-8 is a necked down 308. Does either of these calibers benefit from a longer barrel than the other? Is there any down rangedifferences/benfits at 200, 300, 400yards? Is there any difference in recoil? Can you notice the recoil diffrencebetween these calibers and a 270?

I own both calibers and the .308 has a little more "bite" than the 7mm-08...

don't know a lot but, I've shot a tikka 270, it kicked like a bloody mule ok with a lot more umph than even the 30-06 that I've got shooting a 180 gr bullet. The 7mm-08 is a sweet shooting mild recoil round, a pleasure to shoot, my 308's are in the same ball park but have just a hair more force that the 7-08 both have and will kill deer.

In the same gun; the .308, 7MM-08, and .270 should all have about the same amount of recoil. 30/06 just a tad more. But for some reason the 7MM-08 feels really mild to my shoulder. Almost more pleasant than a .243.

I have a Tikka Lite in .308, and its the most accurate rifle I have ever owned, I reload using Hornady SST 150gr, this shoots into 5mm group at 200m, it will put 10 rounds of Nosler 125gr into 4mm group at 100m, this was rapid fire as well. The floating barrel is just magic, the action is smooth as. My son aged 12 shoots the .243 OK, so a Tikka in this calibre would be my recommendation. Just a note the Tikka Lite does kick a bit due to it's lack of weight, so if thats an issue, buy one of the other models that are bit heavier, but you cannot go wrong with the action and the barrel.

I too have both and IMHO, they are close enough that the average shooter will never see a difference. The bench rest shooters will always argue that the 7mm is a ballistically better bullet and the .308 shooters will argue that you can handload the .308 heavier. I think it's a toss up, really. They are both accurate and very effective on game and between the two, I always pick up the 7-08, just because.

I would put my vote in for the .308 Winchester. This cartridge is a more versatile round than the smaller 7mm bullet.