7mm-08
 

Have been thinking of purchasing a 7mm-08 for some time now since a friend of mine in TX loves his & I got to shoot it when I was down there hunting. Main purpose is VA whitetail deer hunting w/ maybe a trip out West for Antelope or Mule deer. Please tell me about this caliber. How is bullet selection (I don't handload)?

Midwayusa.com lists 28 different loads for this round. Most are 140 gr. bullets for deer and a 120 for pronghorn/deer. They also have the Hornady 139 gr. GMX that can pull double duty on elk. Also listed is a 150 gr. Speer Hot Cor and Nosler 160 gr. Accu Bond, either of which should work on elk. Though I don't own this round, much reading on it shows it to have a good combination of trajectory and velocity making it very effective for your purposes.

Hornady bullets I have shot are 139 grain Interlock and SST factory ammo. The SST's are flatter shooting and designed to expand more than the Interlock, which I prefer for superior penetration. I have also shot Remington 140 grain ammo. Around here it is very common and easy to find at any box store or LGS

I think you'll love the 7mm-08. For 95% of deer hunters it's a "perfect" choice You shouldn't have any problem finding ammo for it. Our local shop stocks several options.
-Jake

I have one and I also love this round!!! Remington CDL... MOA rifle and what more can I ask for and in a pinch you can use 308 brass for reloading if need be

I have 2 7mm08's a small Remington Model 7 I have set up for hunting UP cedar swamps, A Remington 700 mountain rifle set up to hunt deer long distances across cranberry bogs and on the beach.
I hand load a 120gr, Sierra HPBT game king over a charge of IMR 4350. Fine cartridge low recoil, yet does a excellent job on harvesting deer.
You can use 308 brass 243 and 260 also if you can't find 7mm08 brass. I've never had a problem.

:D Al

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! :s4:

The "modernized 7mm Mauser", :party0005:

I've owned & shot 7mm08s for YEARS and in MY opinion, the 7mm08 is THE most perfect all-round whitetail cartridge ever designed! The 7mm08 is at it's best with quality 139-140 gr bullet loads such as Nosler or the like. Usually extremely accurate, and the recoil is so mild my daughter used 1 when she started out deer hunting at the ripe old age of 11 and got both 1 shot clean kills!

I'm prone to believe that the .243win is the most efficient whitetail cartridge available - in other words, it's plenty more than enough to be enough. The 7-08 then is just a little more "enough" since it spits bigger pills. It's just right on Muley's and not too much on pronghorn.

Factory ammo supply is good for the 7-08 - even the walmarts around here carry it, and they don't even carry firearms anymore.

For a reloader, there are boatloads of brass and parent brass to be had, and plenty of 7mm pills to choose from for different applications.

If they ever find a cure for magnumitis, I'd probably sell off all of my long actions and just be happy with a few rifles 223rem, 7-08, and 338fed. Thank God Magnumitis is terminal!

& coolB have you chosen a rifle yet? If not, there are 2 particular pkgs that I know to be GREAT pkgs & they offer ALOT for the $$$. The Savage 11 Trophy Hunter pkg comes with a Nikon Prostaff 3x9x40 with BDC reticle for around $500. Ruger has an "American Pkg" with their American bolt action topped with a Redfield Revolution 3x9x40 with Accu-Range reticle (The Revo is American built & lifetime backed by Leupold!) I've seen that rig on sale for under $500 as well.

2 of the 7-08s in our camp are just as above. My Sav 11 (which wears a 2x7 Revo) & my sons huntn bud has an American with a 4x12 Revo. They both shoot "lights out", are tough, easy carrying & a ton of gun for the $$$. Both my youngest son & his bud started out with Weatherby Vanguard Youths (243), I likewise REALLY LIKE the Vgards! A Vgard Compact is a DANDY rifle that can be had for under $500 & will do anything you ask of it as well. (Howa builds them in Japan for Wby)

I also have 2 7-08s. A Browning Micro Hunter A bolt and a Savage 11 youth model that I have waiting for my grandson the hunt (next year). My Browning will shoot right around moa but that Savage...whew. I've shot 1/4" 5 shot groups with that little rifle. Its an amazing shooter.

That's awesome with the savage

I don't think you will be disappointed. Ammo is fairly easy to find. I have a 7mm-08 in a BLR and love it. Modest recoil.

I lean towards the .308 over the 7mm-08.

My daughter has used the 7mm-8 for years for Whitetail hunting with 100% quick recovery of deer shot. I've used 7mm Rem Mag and 30-06 exclusively for years and this year due to a shoulder surgery I switched to the 7mm-08 due to recoil. I took a buck this year using handloads (140 gr Nosler BT, 40 gr IMR 4895 traveling at 2735 fps .35" MOA). Buck was DRT, 150 yds. The deer did not know it was hit with a 7mm-08 or 30-06. I was impressed and will use the 7mm-08 to save the shoulder.