7mm-08 performance from an 18" barrel?

nomad 68

nomad 68

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Just curious how the caliber would perform in this length.Ruger has added two new compacts to the American line with 18" barrels(.243 and 7mm-08)and weighing 6 lbs.Just wondering how the 7mm-08 would do in this barrel length?If i was to buy one,i'd be hand loading it.Thanks.
 
7mm-08 does very well in an 18" barrel... I have one in an H&R Ultra rifle, that I cut to 18" and braked, it is being coverted to a Walnut Mannlicher as we speak. It was originally 22" and I lost a total of 68 fps with Hornady 139 SST's and 92 fps with 120 NBT's... big deal! I wasn't shooting at max anyway and regained everything I lost with a new load... accuracy has actually improved, probably because I recrowned at the same time, but the shorter length certainly did not hurt accuracy. The more compact length and "between the hands" feel is well worth it... you can't go wrong with an 18" 7mm-08... it is a great caliber... very efficient.
 
I just got a Remington 7 youth model in 7mm08 for my wife it is a 18 1/2" barrel not sure how much velocity is lost but I did not notice any increased muzzle blast.
 
I have a short barrel 788 in 7-08. In practical terms it does everything a long barreled 7-08 or 7X57 will do, and the muzzle blast is not as objectionable as it is from a short .243 or .22-250.
 
nomad 68 said:
Just curious how the caliber would perform in this length.Ruger has added two new compacts to the American line with 18" barrels(.243 and 7mm-08)and weighing 6 lbs.Just wondering how the 7mm-08 would do in this barrel length?If i was to buy one,i'd be hand loading it.Thanks.
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Velocity will be lost with this shorter barrel, however Ruger probably new that but wanted a lighter, compact rifle for carrying.
 
track said:
Velocity will be lost with this shorter barrel, however Ruger probably new that but wanted a lighter, compact rifle for carrying.
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Its not lost if the rifle is acquired with a short barrel, because it was never there in the first place. It would be like saying that a 7-08 looses velocity compared to a 7 magnum, it doesn't loose it, if it never had it. Besides, if you can't do it at 2700 fps, you won't be able to magically do it at 2800, so except for the hunter who prefers the feel of a barrel two feet long, a long tube has no advantage over a shorter one; whereas the quicker handling, short barreled rifle might provide the hunter with an opportunity he might otherwise miss. Note how I didn't mention that the shorter, stiffer barrel was potentially more accurate, because the majority of hunting situations don't provide a scenario where the difference could be exploited, but on the range it might be a bragging point.

The bottom line is that you should get the type of rifle grabs your imagination, and is appropriate for the kind of shooting you anticipate doing. If you prefer the look and feel of a full sized rifle, perhaps a .280 or a 7 mag is a better choice than a 7-08. Or perhaps you would prefer an older Brno 600 in 7X57. I had one, a beautiful little rifle with a pop-up peep sight, but I sold when when I realized it stayed home in favor of my .30/06 anytime I decided to carry a small bore. Do I regret selling it? Oh yes, but then my practical side kicks in and tells me the the .30/06 is my cartridge, not the 7X57, and that rifle would still be collecting dust. Instead it went to a good home where it has accounted for moose, caribou and wolves, with a 140 gr TTSX at 2900.
 
The reduction/increase of velocity with barrel length really doesn't have much effect on game.

You may want to burn a slightly faster powder than you normally would just due to the loss of efficiency just to optimize the load you are shooting.

From a 22" to an 18" I would expect a loss of about 100 ft/sec( the most I have seen is a 25 ft/sec per inch of loss)which in all reality isn't much.Get your load accurate and don't worry about the velocity.

It will work just fine. ;)

Try some H414/W760 or RL 15
 
A friend built a 7-08 with an 18" barrel on a Rem700. Nice little rifle. It's loud off the bench, but it seems quite accurate. I shot a couple of tights groups with it at 100m, and rang the plate at 300m. Beautiful, light rifle with little recoil.
 
My 20" barreled Model Seven had a tough time getting much over 2700 with 140gr bullets and about 2400 with 160gr bullets. I agree with Guntech in that I certainly prefer a 22" barrel.
 
A 140 doing over 2700 ft/sec is plenty, unless of course you are expecting STW velocities out of your 7-08. ;)

1899 said:
My 20" barreled Model Seven had a tough time getting much over 2700 with 140gr bullets and about 2400 with 160gr bullets. I agree with Guntech in that I certainly prefer a 22" barrel.
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Well i think i'm going to pick up the compact American in 7mm-08 when they are available and work up some loads.I read a lot of reviews on the hawkeye compact and they are, overall very positive.The barrels on those are only 16.5".I think i should be able to get decent performance from the 18" barrel.
 
nomad 68 said:
Well i think i'm going to pick up the compact American in 7mm-08 when they are available and work up some loads.I read a lot of reviews on the hawkeye compact and they are, overall very positive.The barrels on those are only 16.5".I think i should be able to get decent performance from the 18" barrel.
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You will get excellent performance... the 7mm-08 is a very nice caliber and does a great job on all but the largest game animals.
 
I have a rem 788 with a 18.5" tube in 7mm-08 and get 2750fps with nosler bal tip 140 and reloader 19 powder. Same gun with hornady 154 and reloader 19 gives me 2650 fps. It would depend on the barrel if you have a fast one or a slow one. Also have a ruger with 18.5 brl and using barnes tsx168 and reloader 15 only get 2500fps. I had another 308 with 18.5" brl and had the same speed with rem core lok in 165g give me 2500 fps also. Also tried hornady 180 and it gave me 2500 fps in same gun. just for thought.
Keith
 
hoytcanon said:
7mm-08 does very well in an 18" barrel... I have one in an H&R Ultra rifle, that I cut to 18"... It was originally 22" and I lost a total of 68 fps with Hornady 139 SST's and 92 fps with 120 NBT's... big deal! I wasn't shooting at max anyway and regained everything I lost with a new load... accuracy has actually improved, probably because I recrowned at the same time, but the shorter length certainly did not hurt accuracy. The more compact length and "between the hands" feel is well worth it... you can't go wrong with an 18" 7mm-08... it is a great caliber... very efficient.
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1899 said:
I did not expect 7mm STW performance, but I also didn't expect a 200-250fps drop from book 24" velocities either.
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Alot can affect "book" values, not just barrel length... the post that I quoted from my earlier post is "actual" loss from the same barrel, before and after the cut from 22" to 18" and the loss is minimal in all real world scenario's, and as I indicated, I made up for the loss with a new load... I like the handling of the shorter barrel... and lost nothing in accuracy.
 
1899...........You must have a high friction barrel for whatever reason, I know from previous posts, you know how to read your brass, so we won't even go down that road. I picked up a little Rem mod 7 MS custom shop in 7-08 and I am getting just a touch under 3000 fps with the 20" barrel with RL 19 and a 140 sierra flat base. It shoots into an inch and YES the brass is reusable. Backed down a grain from slight ejector marks, using W-W brass and CCI 200s.
I was quite impressed with this little guns ballistics.

PS this is the only 140 gn bullet I can get to shoot from it

Satjuly21loadtesting002.jpg


Satjuly21loadtesting001.jpg
 
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