7mm-08 availability in Canada

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killntime

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Just joined CGN, this is my first post.
I'm currently looking for a new rifle, and I've basically decided on a Browning X Bolt stainless stalker 7mm-08. My question is regarding the availability of this caliber in Canada. A lot of the places I have called have lots of X Bolts stainless, but not in 7mm-08 caliber.
Do you think this would be hard to find, or do you think it should be relatively easy to order one from Browning Canada?
Also, if it is impossible to find this, should I just go with a .308?
Thanks
 
I bought a 7mm-08 for the wife. I reload and like the fact that I can load down some 120 grain bullets for her if the recoil bothers her. If recoil isn't an issue and you don't reload I would go with a 308. The availability of ammo is the best reason to go with the 308. I live in a town of 4200 and could not buy 7mm-08 locally and there are two gun shops in town. I know the 08 cheerleaders will be along soon preaching the benefits of higher B.C. bullets and so on, but the fact is if you are relying on factory ammo the huge selection of 308 ammo out there means you will easily be able to find ammo suited to your needs.

Also. If and when you find factory ammunition it will cost about $10 more a box for the 7mm-08.
 
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I like them both, but I have to say that 7mm-08 offers similar performance in a much milder package. Buy a cheap Lee Press kit and reload. You will never look back. It's not like you will require a crate of 500 bullets. You can order a few boxes of 7mm-08 from a number of our vendors. Use the brass for reloading.

Just on the topic of 308... yeah there's plenty of bulk fodder around, but I haven't seen a great deal of quality hunting ammo in that calibre either.

If you're going to sing the praises of **good** commercial hunting ammo availability, go with 30-06. It offers more punch than either of the other two, and there's a huge selection of bullet weights and configurations to choose from.
 
I have hunted with both the 7-08 and .308, inside of 300M I can report no difference in the ability of either cartridge to lay down a pile of hurt on critters with cup and core bullets from 139-180gr... The difference in ammunition cost is negligible if you compare federal blue box .308 150gr to Hornady American white tail 139gr 7-08 ($2-$3 per box) and anyone who has purchased a box of .308 HSM or Barnes ammo can tell you that once you step up to anything aside from the "cheap stuff" the "cheap" .308 ammo is not exactly "cheap"... But the variety of loaded cartridges on the shelf is far superior for the .308, that is irrefutable.


I would say if you would like a good all around caliber you really can't go wrong with either the 7-08 or .308... But If your looking for something a bit unique the 7-08, 7x57, .280rem (as well as the .25-06 depending on action length preference) are all marvelous hunting cartridges.



My missus with her first white tail, rifle is just a plain old savage fcxp11 in .308, 180gr federal blue box cheap stuff at 85ish yards broadside...






One of my 3 white tails from last fall all taken with my 7-08 encore PH at distances from 35-100yards, none went more than a few paces...


 
What makes you think you want 7mm-08 in the first place? What is your main argument for it?

For the ammo availability, just a quick look at the sponsors:

SFRC - has one item for 7mm-08, not in stock. 308 - 4 pages of items, some not in stock too, but 4 pages.
Wolverine - has no 7mm-08 ammo listed at all. 308 - 1 item.
The Shooting Edge - has no 7mm-08, many 308
Canadaammo - 7mm-08 is not even listed, 308 - 9 items.
TradeEx - 7mm-08 none, 308 - 5 items.

On the bright side, I can see one X-bolt in 7mm-08 in stock at:

https://ellwoodepps.com/browning-x-bolt-micro-buckhorn-pink-shot-show.html

It has pink stock though. You probably will want to change that.
 
The Kurgan said:
I like them both, but I have to say that 7mm-08 offers similar performance in a much milder package. Buy a cheap Lee Press kit and reload. You will never look back. It's not like you will require a crate of 500 bullets. You can order a few boxes of 7mm-08 from a number of our vendors. Use the brass for reloading.

Just on the topic of 308... yeah there's plenty of bulk fodder around, but I haven't seen a great deal of quality hunting ammo in that calibre either.

If you're going to sing the praises of **good** commercial hunting ammo availability, go with 30-06. It offers more punch than either of the other two, and there's a huge selection of bullet weights and configurations to choose from.
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Thats why you troll gun shows for it. Picked up a box of Federal Premium 180gr Nosler Partitions for $20 in the spring for mine. You'll find little to no ammo at gun shows for 7-08.

Last weekend I saw loaded Barnes TSX (Sellier and Bellot) for $30/box at a retailer. Thats a fine price for loaded premium all copper ammo.

7-08, by virtue of being rare, will be more expensive to feed.

3006 is again as much recoil over 308 as 308 is over 7-08. Ammo availability is effectively the same as 308, but 308 offers milsurp or commerical FMJ in greater numbers then 3006.
 
Buy what you want and what you like.

I Used factory loads for my 7-08 for probably 10 years before I started loading.

When you are at a store that stocks it, buy a couple boxes, stop by store #2 , buy a couple more, buddy is going to Cabelas , buy a couple more , soon you will have a variety of ammo and brass to reload.

If there is only 30-06 ammo available when you go WAY up north and EVERYBODY forgets their ammo at home, then why so many animals taken with all these fancy chamberings that are out there.

Sometimes a box of shells with last for a couple years if you are only hunting with it.

Benefit to a .308 , if you are shooting lots and not reloading then okay it makes sense, wanna put sausage in the freezer, buy what you have your heart set on.
 
Problem with 7mm-08 as I see it, that you have to reload. But if you do reload you can take 270 Win and load it to whatever mildness you want or add more power than 7-08 can ever have. Yet you still have an option to skip reloading and buy off-shelf 3rd if not second most available hunting caliber around. So why 7mm-08 at all? Because it is a shorter cartridge? Like we have belt fed automatic weapons for shorter cartridge to make any difference.
 
owlowl said:
Problem with 7mm-08 as I see it, that you have to reload. But if you do reload you can take 270 Win and load it to whatever mildness you want or add more power than 7-08 can ever have. Yet you still have an option to skip reloading and buy off-shelf 3rd if not second most available hunting caliber around. So why 7mm-08 at all? Because it is a shorter cartridge? Like we have belt fed automatic weapons for shorter cartridge to make any difference.
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Then why not just buy a .30-06 and have the Ultimate hunting cartridge?
 
The 7-08 is popular enough to find available ammo rather cheaply in a town the size of London?? Is there not some odd law in southern ontario limiting cal to less than .270, the 7-08 is too large at .284 bore.

For a general caliber either is great, if one reloads, the target animal is not moose, or a recoil shy person is too use it....7-08. Otherwise, between the two 308.

If that goofy .270 law applies, maybe consider the 260 Rem or a 270. Any of those four would work, for moose the 270 or 308 would be better choices.
 
Initially I was going for a .270 or 30-06, but later changed my mind when I decided I wanted a short action cartridge. I then decided I was going to go for the .308, but after some ballistics research I felt the 7mm-08 would be better, not to mention the fact it supposedly has less recoil. Which is no big deal if you're taking one shot, but its probably better if you have to take more than 1 shot.
Also, even guys I know that have a .308 say they feel a 7mm-08 may be a better choice. But ultimately, its a bit unique, and it makes for more arguments and trash talk at camp, which is the best part about hunting, haha!

I see one available at Ellwoodepps actually, https://ellwoodepps.com/hunting/fir...lter=2885&firearm_type=1569&no_cache=true&p=3

Also one available up around kincardine (Lake Huron Rod & Gun), which is a bit closer to me.
 
nowarningshot said:
The 7-08 is popular enough to find available ammo rather cheaply in a town the size of London?? Is there not some odd law in southern ontario limiting cal to less than .270, the 7-08 is too large at .284 bore.

For a general caliber either is great, if one reloads, the target animal is not moose, or a recoil shy person is too use it....7-08. Otherwise, between the two 308.

If that goofy .270 law applies, maybe consider the 260 Rem or a 270. Any of those four would work, for moose the 270 or 308 would be better choices.
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I use my bow if hunting in SW ON (when I can find land to hunt on, which I haven't been able to do the last few years). Rifle hunting in Nova Scotia mostly.
 
killntime said:
Just joined CGN, this is my first post.
I'm currently looking for a new rifle, and I've basically decided on a Browning X Bolt stainless stalker 7mm-08. My question is regarding the availability of this caliber in Canada. A lot of the places I have called have lots of X Bolts stainless, but not in 7mm-08 caliber.
Do you think this would be hard to find, or do you think it should be relatively easy to order one from Browning Canada?
Also, if it is impossible to find this, should I just go with a .308?
Thanks
Click to expand...

You can order the rifle from any gun shop that handles Browning. I recently bought the same caliber for my son, the Federal Fusion is inexpensive and shoots well out of most rifles, and it's okay for now. When he's older and will come out with me for moose and elk, then we'll try the Nosler Trophy Accubond ammunition in his rifle, the stronger bullet construction will work well on larger game and still perform fine on deer. I like the fact that the caliber handles deer, elk, and moose out to 350 yards or so, and it's 12 ft.-lbs. of recoil is lighter than the .270s 17 ft.-lbs. and the 30.06's 20. Until I looked at the 7mm-08's ballistics I was thinking I'd get him a .270 like my dad got me for my first rifle, but the 7mm is almost as strong and has less recoil so that's what I went with...
 
I was a 308 all the way kinda guy until I bought my first 7mm-08 and then met Kelly on line:p. Now my 308's sit in the safe for the most part and one of my many 7-08's call my name the loudest on hunting mornings. No problem finding ammo, especially Hornady, it's what I like. Go for the 7mm-08, it's milder to shoot and a hammer at 500 yards! You won't be sorry.
My youngest son has an X-bolt Micro Hunter in 7-08 and loves it. Head shots every time, no misses and down they go on the spot, stone cold dead! I go for the vitals, old guy, poor eyes etc.
 
Any of those four would work, for moose the 270 or 308 would be better choices.
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The bullet that hits it's mark and suites the intended game is lethal...


This is one of two fusions recovered from white tail does last fall after some hard miles spent tracking, both were double lung shots and both bullets were found in the chest cavity, no blood trail, rifle was a .270... In contrast I seen a mature moose take a 7-08 139gr interlock high to the shoulder and fold like a house of cards with a fist size hole missing from it's spine... Bullet construction and placement are key factors.


 
If you go the 7mm-08 route, you can always make 7mm-08 cases from once fired .308 Winchester. No cutting involved, just run the longest 308 cases (2.013" or longer is best) through the 7mm-08 die. They end up being just about the right length.

I just did this for a friend yesterday - said he "couldn't find ammo anywhere". I converted 30 cases - 10 for sighting and 20 for hunting. I used 44 gr H380 under 150 gr Remington PSP which will yield about 2,550 fps

And yes, I did mark the box of ammo noting the actual caliber and "NOT 308 WINCHESTER!" boldly marked.

I told him he should have bought the 308 rifle instead. He agreed... ;)
 
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