Truth be told
 

there have been over ten cartridges that have been harvesting whitetail deer for over thirty, forty and fifty years.

Where do you hunt and how many guns can you afford?

If you hunt in forests within 100 yards, you certainly don't need a magnum or a caliber that reaches out to 400 yards. You can use one; you don't actually need all that power.

What size is your body and how much recoil can you take?

Not every hunter wants the recoil of a magnum or even a 30-06.
I knew an army vet, trained on 7.62 mm or 30-06 cartridges (the civilian cartridge) , harvested whitetail deer with a 257 Roberts. Some of the young big boys would hide if they used that caliber.

A lighter recoiling rifle, like a 7mm/08, can do the job. 35 Remington's and 30/30 did just fine for hunters in heavy woods within 100 yards, and weren't known for great recoil.

A famous elephant hunter, by the name of Bell, early in the last century, was more concerned about expenditures, so he used light recoiling rifles. He used a 7 x 57mm Mauser cartridge to take over 1000 elephant. As Bell proved, it's not the cartridge always, but where you shoot the bullet. Bell knew anatomy, and brain shots downed elephant.

So use what makes you happy. You have choices, like magnums, and light recoiling rifles and even lever action rifles.

No, it doesn't kick nearly as hard as a .30-06. What's good about the 7mm? Well, the bullets that are offered from the factory have excellent ballistic coefficients. They seem to be very efficient. The 7mm-08 has very mild recoil compared to other cartridges designed for similar use (i.e. .270, .280, .308, .30-06), which, for me, makes it more fun to shoot and easier to shoot well.

It's what was on sale at the time I headed out to the range to sight in the rifle. They grouped well, and performed well on the deer I've shot with them, so that's what I stuck with. If it was a strict apples to apples comparison, i.e. using the Remington PSP CL's for all three cartridges, the 7mm is still flatter shooting, although the difference isn't quite as great.

To respond to your "how far can it kill" question...

I believe it's a generally accepted rule of thumb that you want a minimum of 1000 ft lbs of energy at the range you're shooting the deer (some folks set their minimum at 800). The bullets will certainly kill while retaining less energy, but, I think we can use that as a starting point. "Rules of thumb" exist for a reason... :)

Using the 1000 ft lbs minimum, the .243 is a 300 yard cartridge, the .30-06 is a 400 yard cartridge. And, the 7mm-08 still has 1005 ft lbs at 500 yards.

.270 from your list.


I'd take my 7MM Rem Mag if the deer are big and the range is long, otherwise it's my .243 Win.



BTW - PBR on the .243 & the 7MM is just about 300 yards.

Au contraire. Even further.

Using a Remington 90gr. Swift Scirocco Bonded bullet, using less than max powder load, one can achieve the 1k lbs. at 400 yards.

I've always felt the .243 was underrated as a long distance gun. Too many connotations it's a "kids" or "woman's" gun. For punching paper, it can go comfortably beyond the 400 yard mark.

iSnipe

So, why ask the question "What is a 7-08 anyhow?"? I thought you honestly didn't know, and I was trying to give some basic information.

Hmmm.... usually when someone structures their sentence that way, with a word in quotations marks, they intend a bit of sarcasm... If you'd care to point out anything I said which indicates that my "experience" was incorrect, please, let me know.

I'm sure you can coax quite a bit more out of all the cartridges listed. Unfortunately, I only reload for my .45's and my shotguns, so I'm stuck, for the time being, with factory ammo, and a budget that pushes me towards the Remmy green boxes...

If legal you should try the famed .223! Hard to believe it had not been mentioned yet.

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+1 to the above :lolabove:

i have a browning 7mm-08 and absolutely love it. it is has a 22" barrel and is light enough for me to carry all day in the PA hardwoods, but flat shooting to take deer out to 300 yards...I always used it in silhouette shoots in the "hunting rifle" categories (no special mods, no greater than 9x scope).

140gr handloads have taken at least 15 deer, no follow-ups required

The 308 would be my first choice with the 30:06 as a close second.

If you reload try reloader19 powder I've had the best groups with 58.5 grains but work your way up .5 grains at a time start at around 56gr. and work up you should be fine just check for signs of pressure (ie) flat or pushed out primers! I've tried lots of powder and my local smithy turned me on to the reloader19 and I've had several freinds try it and loved the groups they had with it!