Worth Rebarrelling KM84 from 7- to 3-08

WhelanLad

WhelanLad

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Guys, I have been flat out in the Bush this past month, Ten day trip on the Lake, followed by a Week of Quarry work followed by a Week or Guiding a Tasmanian around for a Sambar Stag! finally sat down and packed everything away for a few weeks! Dried the gear and cleaned the rifle barrels.

Lookins to offload a bunch of Rifles and Scopes for some Money gain, while I have that 308 Barrel for the Kimber Montana sitting in the Safe, Its really got me thinking.

Is it worth Rebarreling a 7mm-08 Ultralight into a .308Win Ultralight for the Sambar Deer/Stags Which I Love to Hunt..
Typically at the moment a Good load with 140gr Woodleigh projectile it seems to be Just enough for the Big Deer, if I could pick out any Flaws I would say it lacks the Wack of big bores, but 98% of the time the projectile is in the far side of the hide so it is doing its job well..

The 308 Winchester on the other hand, will handle a heavier projectile without taking away the Powder space, Woodleigh do also make great 30 Cal projectiles... 150,165,180.... but with this comes Recoil , in the light rifles ...


I'm thinking I would use 180gr PPSN and Varget of course, attempting to shoot the 300M mark if needing too confidently, and more often than not under 200m...

Is it worth, "Messing" with Lil Kim, for the Sake of the 308 win?

Keen to hear fellas!

WL
 
If your heart is set on it, go ahead and make the switch, but the reality is, if you can't do it with a 7mm, you won't be able to do it with a .30 of like capacity; be it 7-08 vs .308, .280 vs .30/06, or 7mm Practical vs .300 Winchester. Naturally the reverse is also true. As a rule, 7mm bullets and 7-08 brass cost the same as their .30 caliber counterparts, so no advantage exists there unless you acquire some surplus 7.62X51. For the most part, bullet weights and powder charges are similar between the two cartridges, and any difference in trajectory can be compensated for by a click or two on your elevation turret, making any advantage mostly theoretical, and observers comparing the terminal performance between 7mm and .30 caliber bullets on game seem to say that its impossible to say one is significantly deadlier than the other if they're being honest. The idea got out during the Boer War that it was easier to hit with the 7mm, than it was with a .303, but the 7mm advantage dissolved with the change from the 215 gr round nose to a 174 gr spitzer bullet, yet the mythical 7mm ballistic advantage has not gone away. IMHO the 7-08 and the .308 are two sides of the same coin.
 
To me the #1 advantage of the .308 is ammo availability and that's worth it's weight in gold in some circumstances.

Another big plus to the .308is it's not known as a barrel burner. Not sure how much of a plus that is/isn't over the 7-08, but it certainly is over others.
 
If you want better penetration, try to get your hands on some Nosler partitions. From what I've seen the Woodleighs tend to roll themselves up into a ball. Beautiful mushroom, but I think all that surface area would limit penetration somewhat.
 
There's no guarantee that a 308 projectile will not just end up on the far side hide as well. I killed a bull elk with a 7x57 AI that had a moderate MV at the time using a 140 TSX that penetrated clear through at 200 m, probably in the same league as the 7-08. (I since got the AI performing to where it should be!) You're not gaining much in return to go to 308, in my opinion. I think a 145LRX at 2800fps would be a pretty good performer on deer and boars. Consider a 7-08AI maybe?
 
Ltbull01 said:
There's no guarantee that a 308 projectile will not just end up on the far side hide as well. I killed a bull elk with a 7x57 AI that had a moderate MV at the time using a 140 TSX that penetrated clear through at 200 m, probably in the same league as the 7-08. (I since got the AI performing to where it should be!) You're not gaining much in return to go to 308, in my opinion. I think a 145LRX at 2800fps would be a pretty good performer on deer and boars. Consider a 7-08AI maybe?
Click to expand...

Yeah mate the Option with the other Barrels are 30-284 or 284 Winchester.................. Brass semi an issue.... could scorunge up enough 284 brass though I rekon..
 
You guys are spot on, not worth the change from 7-08 to 308 , the hassle is now which barrel to "mess" with a re chamber .....
hmm

Wondering if the Rechamber to 284 based case will mess up the bolt face for the 308 based case??
WL
 
My rounds now in 708 are loaded with minimum clearance in the magazine allowance, So I don't think its worth rechambering to bigger 284 case.. ill make another post.
WL
 
WhelanLad said:
You guys are spot on, not worth the change from 7-08 to 308 , the hassle is now which barrel to "mess" with a re chamber .....
hmm

Wondering if the Rechamber to 284 based case will mess up the bolt face for the 308 based case??
WL
Click to expand...

No, The 284 case is rebated, and has the same rim diameter as the 308 based cases. D.
 
pete dobinson said:
What is the max case OAL in your kimber?
Click to expand...

mate I'm thinking its closer to 70mm ! which the woodleighs are not pointed, an are at 69mm, a mm more room if any in the mag box, so from my research , theres not enough gain or Room to put a 284 reamer through anything!

its a 7mm08 or a 308win for sure..
 
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