308 vs 7-08 for all round hunting...

[dead meat]

I don`t have either one, oh crap my #### may fall off. It`s really 6 of one half dozen of the other. Where i live in Sask. i`d get a 308 just cause you can pick up ammo at just about every co-op gas station in the country side. The recoil difference won`t be that much the stock fit and shape will be more of a factor. My .02 worth.

 

[senior]

All true.
But I see 7mm-08 everywhere, plenty of hunting rifles are chambered in it, and for longer range shooting, 7mm-08 will always have a flatter trajectory, at a given recoil.

Put a good hunting bullet like a 150 in either rifle!
My trusty Hornady book shows 2800fps with 150s in the 308 & 2500fps with 154s in the 7-08.
Same book shows a drop of 14.6" at 300yds with a 100yd zero & 1393 remaining energy for the 308. The 7-08 shows a drop of 17.9" with 1285 remaining enrgy.

A clear winner in my opinion

 

[t-star]

Put a good hunting bullet like a 150 in either rifle!
My trusty Hornady book shows 2600fps with 150s in the 308 & 2500fps with 154s in the 7-08.
Same book shows a drop of 17.6" at 300yds with a 100yd zero & 1175 remaining energy for the 308. The 7-08 shows a drop of 17.9" with 1285 remaining enrgy.

Now you want to compare heavier bullets

that hornady/pacific load book is giving PUSSY loads again- a GOOD 308 /150 should be around 2800 fps, 2600 is what you get with 180s- mof 2610 is the WINCHESTER FACTORY LOAD with the 180- and i can documnet that load till the cows come home-

 

[gtrussell]

150 grainers

you're handicapping the 308 by using the 150 grain bullet- if you want the do-everything round, you want 308/165 or 308/180- those are the two best bullets for the 308

Actually the opposite is true.At least in my case for whitetails.Of the two or three 308s I use, 150 grain shoot better and are faster.Mostly use reloads.

 

[Johnnyoneshot]

Wow! Cherry picked statistics for sure. So what does the 7mm-08 do with 180 grain bullets at 300 yds ....... Oh wait. I just remembered. Nothing.

That comparison is very misleading. The .308 will get more energy out of any specific bullet weight than the 7mm. At extremely long range, and with a very few specific bullets, the 7mm will have slightly more energy remaining than the .308. But then at "normal ranges" where 95% of game is shot, the .308 can do things the 7mm can't even attempt.

Let's keep it in perspective, and fair.

7-08 175 GR. NOS PART Hodgdon Hybrid 100V .284" 2.800" 40.0 2359 41,500 CUP 44.0C 2568 48,300 CUP

308 180 GR. SPR SP IMR IMR 4320 .308" 2.800" 41.0 2407 43,500 PSI 45.4C 2665 57,900 PSI

Dosen't really appear to be much difference between the two and despite the 100ft/sec difference @ 300yds energy equals out as the BC of the 7mm bullet helps it fly better. This is just one example but many different loads say the same. JMHO.

 

[t-star]

i'm LUCKY if i even see whitetails out in the bush- they're mostly muleys, elk and moose- that's the eastern slopes of the rockies, hence, the heavier bullets- and most of the time the ranges amount to about 250 yards or so- and if you look it up, you'll see that the COMPETITION end of things in 308 uses 165 and better- with the exception of the 155 scenears or whatever- so your 150 is a PROVEN handicap

 

[gtrussell]

Iam a Proven handi-cap also.So what the heck.

 

[Huntin' Gun]

I don't own either, but that's because I own a couple .280's and a couple .30-06's. But if I were to get one of those short action rounds, I'd by far rather have a 7-08 than a .308. I'd load it with 120 grain TTSX's going 3100 fps. That'll give light recoil, fly flat, and penetrate deep. I'd be happy to take any of the animals mentioned with that. And to me it's just more interesting than a .308. The .308 has never been of any interest to me. ymmv.

 

[guntech]

What's she going to be hunting? If deer is the biggest animal then the 7mm would be OK but throw elk or moose into the mix and the 308 wins hands down. You can look at all kinds of energy figures on paper, but the 308 is just one of those calibers that performs better on animals than it should.

Nothing bigger than deer? What a crock!

​

Both the 7mm 08 and .308 perform well. Buy which ever you wish.

 

[tjhaile]

By this logic the only rifles people should practically hunt with is a .243,270,303,308 and 30-06.

I would cross .303 off the list, but this is sound advice if you aren't going to reload. Nothing you would shoot with a .308 or 7mm-08 is going to know the difference if you do your part, but .308 ammo is usually a few dollars less per box, besides being easier to find. However, you can reload for either for about the same cost and components for either are readily available. I suggest that reloading is the way to go if you really want to play around with ballistic minutiae.

 

[Jordan Smith]

Then the 308 hits harder,

Does it? How much harder? What real-world experiences have taught you that the .308 hits harder than the 7mm-08? I'm really curious.

Handling heavier bullets is a moot point with today's deep-penetrating options. I dare you to send a 140gr TSX from a 7-08 through a couple of moose shoulders, and then say to me, with a straight face, that you wish the 7-08 could handle heavier bullets better

If anybody that is posting on this thread can honestly see a difference in terminal performance on game, then they have a more refined eye than I

 

[Jordan Smith]

Actually the opposite is true.At least in my case for whitetails.Of the two or three 308s I use, 150 grain shoot better and are faster.Mostly use reloads.

Crap, when these guys finally try some 130gr TTSX bullets for hunting in their .308's, they'll forget the manufacturers even make a hunting bullet heavier than 150gr in .30-caliber!

 

[bearkilr]

Does it? How much harder? What real-world experiences have taught you that the .308 hits harder than the 7mm-08? I'm really curious.

Handling heavier bullets is a moot point with today's deep-penetrating options. I dare you to send a 140gr TSX from a 7-08 through a couple of moose shoulders, and then say to me, with a straight face, that you wish the 7-08 could handle heavier bullets better

If anybody that is posting on this thread can honestly see a difference in terminal performance on game, then they have a more refined eye than I

For a light recoiling 7mm the caliber of choice should be the 7x57. The 7-08 is just a wannabe Mauser and nowhere near as cool...........

 

[muckle]

Wow! Cherry picked statistics for sure. So what does the 7mm-08 do with 180 grain bullets at 300 yds ....... Oh wait. I just remembered. Nothing.

That comparison is very misleading. The .308 will get more energy out of any specific bullet weight than the 7mm. At extremely long range, and with a very few specific bullets, the 7mm will have slightly more energy remaining than the .308. But then at "normal ranges" where 95% of game is shot, the .308 can do things the 7mm can't even attempt.

Let's keep it in perspective, and fair.

Thank you I get it

 

[c-fbmi]

For a light recoiling 7mm the caliber of choice should be the 7x57. The 7-08 is just a wannabe Mauser and nowhere near as cool...........

There is some truth in that, I'll agreee. 7X57 needs a medium action thougth and the 7-08 gives close to same ballistics in a shorty.

I just picked one up in a mod 7 MS cutom shop in 7-08. What a sweetheart it is, just working up loads for it and it looks like it's going to be a keeper.

 

[muckle]

While I don't own a 7mm-08, all that I have read indicate it to be an excellent flat shooting cartridge with very manageable recoil. I hear its a real tack driver cartridge with the silhoette shooting crowd. I might just re-barrel my 308 Savage 10BA in 7mm-08 just to piss off the purists and have some fun at the range.

Do that you may just be defeating yourself. The 168 grain 308 cal is aready a very proven tack driver . The 7mm08 may get there one day good luck .

 

[popper]

7-08 175 GR. NOS PART Hodgdon Hybrid 100V .284" 2.800" 40.0 2359 41,500 CUP 44.0C 2568 48,300 CUP

308 180 GR. SPR SP IMR IMR 4320 .308" 2.800" 41.0 2407 43,500 PSI 45.4C 2665 57,900 PSI

Dosen't really appear to be much difference between the two and despite the 100ft/sec difference @ 300yds energy equals out as the BC of the 7mm bullet helps it fly better. This is just one example but many different loads say the same. JMHO.

Cherry picking indeed - the best 7-08 load from the manual with a random 308.
Let's compare to a 175 gr 308 load (since your bullet is 175 gr):

175 GR. SIE HPBT Hodgdon CFE 223 .308" 2.800" 45.5 2612 49,600 PSI 47.5 2752 60,400 PSI

you have close to 200 fps advantage at the muzzle which translates to good 15% energy advantage for 308 which is quite significant.

And there is still advantage past 300 yards btw...

 

[muckle]

Due to a bad shoulder,I like my 7-08,just because of less recoil.

You must have a every sensitive shoulder to tell the different of a 7mm08 and 308
the recoil is so close try and better pad limb saver will help you a lot on either caliber

 

[Ardent]

For a light recoiling 7mm the caliber of choice should be the 7x57. The 7-08 is just a wannabe Mauser and nowhere near as cool...........

Ditto.

To the thread, the 7x57 really walks away from the 7-08 when loaded to its potential in a modern action. It also does the heavy bullet stuff, 175grn and 180grn, a lot better of course too. Heavy bullets are still important, despite what people will tell you wonder bullets (with which I also hunt almost exclusively, Barnes for me) don't replace sectional density. They compliment it, rather.

 

[Jordan Smith]

For a light recoiling 7mm the caliber of choice should be the 7x57. The 7-08 is just a wannabe Mauser and nowhere near as cool...........

Hey, you won't get any argument from me!

I've really enjoyed the 7Mauser, myself, and it definitely has the old-world "cool factor" that the newer chamberings don't enjoy. I remember knocking over the 500 meter rams with a buddy one day, and he commented that the long, 175gr bullets that we were sending down range were like a freight train; they took a long time to arrive on target, but when they did, they hit those rams with authority.

On the other hand, there's nothing wrong with a short-action 7mm that is soft to shoot, and sends a 120 or 140gr TSX/TTSX at around 2900-3000fps. In fact, it works a lot like the .308 Win firing a 130gr TTSX at 3000fps