7mm-08 help needed
 

I'm somewhat new to reloading and could use some pointers. I have a savage 7mm-08. I have been working on some loads for whitetail hunting using Varget and Sierra Gamekings (140 gr). I have not had good success with groups. I have tried playing with seating depth a bit as well as charge. Groups at 130 yards have been about 4". I have also developed some loads using 100 gr sierra HP's. These group quite well, but about 5" above and 2" left of the Gamekings. Also I made some loads with 139 gr Hornady SST's. These were off the paper, shooting much lower than the other two loads. All loads were made using varget at near max charge and following the reccomended OAL measurements, shooting distance was 130 yards. Does this difference in point of impact sound reasonable? Also, should I continue to work with the Gamekings, or just count them out. I'd like to have at least a couple loads, Varnmit and Whitetail with the same point of impact. Any suggestions?

RE: 7mm-08 help needed
 

You would be very lucky if you could have 2 different gr. of bullets having the same POI... Have you tried other powders for the 140 gr. Gameking? You might find some magic combination with other powders. Try IMR 4350. Some guys are having succes with this powder.

Why are you signting your rifle at 130 yards? Most guys will signt in there rifle at 100 yards and if you’re using a scope how will you make the adjustment. Most scopes have 1/4” clicks at 100 yards. I find you’re just making things harder for your self....

RE: 7mm-08 help needed
 

You might try H-380, H-414,or WW760 with the Gamekings. Some others on this board swear by IMR4350 with this bullet. My gun shoots pretty well with the 140 Nosler Ballistic Tips. Doesn't like the Hornady's or the factory Remingtons. Don't get discouraged. Each gun is its own little world. Just make sure each time you test loads there isn't some other variable, like wind or a dirty barrel, affecting your groups.

RE: 7mm-08 help needed
 

Thanks for the tip Trailer. The more I read, the more I agree I should try some IMR 4350.

As far as the 130 yr shooting is concerned, the topography provided for good safe shooting at this distance. Zeroing the scope took an extra shot or two, butwasn't an issue.

RE: 7mm-08 help needed
 

Try some good old fashion Hornady 139 gr. SP InterLock bullets with IMR 4350. Good luck.

RE: 7mm-08 help needed
 

cbanman,
I have a good results withReloader 15also with the 140 gr in my 7mm-08. That gun was also a Savage. My Tikka likes IMR 4895. I believe these charges are around 38 grains.I have a friend who's gun likes IMR 4064. Hopes this helps.

RE: 7mm-08 help needed
 

I'm with Roskoe on this one. I'm shooting the Nosler 140 BT pushed by 4350 and it's a tack driver off the bench. I've been fortunate enough to have taken many deer with this load and it's proven to work very well. It's all I'll load for this rifle anymore. For me, it's a why fix what ain't broken?

RE: 7mm-08 help needed
 

It usually takes a lot of time and various powder/bullet combinations to find a load that will shoot well in YOUR particular rifle. Although some swear by Varget, it would not produce good groups with different bullet combinations for my 7-08. Imr 4350 works like a charm in my gun, with 139 Hornady SP's. Just keep pluggin along-----It will happen sooner or later, most likely.

RE: 7mm-08 help needed
 

Alright guys, thanks for the tips. As far as developing a couple different loads (predator and deer) what is reasonable for the difference in point of impact at 100 yards between say a 140 gr deer bullet and a 100 gr predator bullet? What I have found so far (about 6 inches) seems like a lot. I was expecting just an inch or two. What do you guys think?

RE: 7mm-08 help needed
 

cbanman - I was having similar problems with my 7-08. My favorite go to powder, IMR4350 did not produce very good groups. Nor did Varget or H4198. I tried Nosler 140s, Hornady SSTs and Hornady Interlock.
Though my groups were not as big as yours (about 2 - 2 1/2").
I finally found a good load using Hornady Interlocks and 42 gr of IMR4064. Of course I also had a rebedding job on my Browning Micro Hunter. It is now shooting MOA pretty consistantly. Its odd that your Savage is producing groups that large. Every Savage I have shot or seen being shot was a good shooter. Is your action down tight? (Screws Snug?) Are you resting the barrel on the rest and not the stock?

RE: 7mm-08 help needed
 

:Dvvn550 140gr BT&139grs.SST half inch groups 100yrds

RE: 7mm-08 help needed
 

Seems like the most votes on powder are for IMR 4350 nad IMR 4064. So for you powder experts, what the difference? How does powder affect the accuracy of the projectile from one gun to another?

RE: 7mm-08 help needed
 

Well, the two powders are not really all that close. IMR 4064 isan extruded powder for medium size cases; and IMR 4350 is a slower extruded powder for larger capacity cases. The latter is probably one of the slowest powders one would consider for this application whereas IMR 4064 is about right down the middle of the road.

However, each gun has its own little preferences based on barrel harmonics and a bunch of other factors. You never really know what a given gun is going to like or not like until you go to the range. My particular 7MM-08 seems to like H-380 with several different bullet weights - and doesn't shoot very well with IMR 4350, at least so far. I could take that 25" Douglas barrel off, cut it to 22"; and it might shoot like nobody's business with IMR 4350. And then again it might shoot everything better . . . or everything worse. You just don't know.

Having said that, however, there are certain bullet/powder combinationsthat seem to shoot exceptionally well in a majority of guns of a given caliber. These are quite often the first load one would try in a new gun. But if it doesn't shoot with one of these "pet" loads, all is not lost. It may drive tacks with some other combination that shot really mediocre out of the last ten guns in that caliber you tested.

RE: 7mm-08 help needed
 

cban - I have one other thought - Have you tried shooting factory ammo out of your rifle? If these shoot fairly well, it may be something you are doing in your reloading process. Do you trim your cases each time? Even just touching the case mouth and ensuring it is 'square' will improve accuracy.

RE: 7mm-08 help needed
 

my savage likes nosler 140 #28140 and H414 49 gr.with a COL of 2.880my gun likes hotter loads than your trying , try heaver loads 1/2 gr. heaver in three shot test loads . you mite all so try presser point at the fore arm .i have seen this work on a 243 and a 308 its easy to do just a peace of paper between the fore arm and the barrel
i did have an encore in 708 butit shot like what your describing

RE: 7mm-08 help needed
 

I couldn't get gun to group to well with 4350, but with 43.1 grains of Varget and 139 Hornady BTSP, at 100 yards, .25" groups.....That was in my Remington 700 LVSF 7mm-08

RE: 7mm-08 help needed
 

I was pleasantly surprised with the performance acheived in my son's 308, using 150 Seirra SP & Hodgdon BL-C(2). I have not checked Hodgdon's web site for 7mm-08 info.
One of the other powders that imediately sounded good to me was H-380, which was confirmed by one of the other guys already.

http://www.hodgdon.com/

Good luck, Don