- Location
- Back in the Peace Country
7mm-08 Varmint getter
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
as many of you guys know (I flaunt it as much as I can lol) I own a 7mm-08 sako battue, classic stock, AII action and a leupold vxIII 3.5-10x on top.
I do love this gun, but it was not love at first shot.
It took some getting used to, but after learning to reload for it and having taken a few animals, my confidence improved.
Being a through through lever action guy, 400 yrd shooting was moving into new territory with a big game rifle. I have owned other rifles that were capable, but only my Varmint rifles had been put to use at longer distances.
Though with a 140 gr bullet I was doing alright at 400 and 450 yards.
I got to thinking, what if I loaded up some 100 gr. Sierras,..(warm)
would I have a Varmint getter?
I worked up a good load, and indeed I did have a decent Varmint getter...
But then the over thinking of it all...
What about when I am not Varmint hunting, but do come upon varmints..
What about my favorite 140 gr load...shouldn't I at least try to be as good as I can with it, maybe even approach the comfort I have with a 30-30 150 gr bullet?
So I abandoned the 100 gr sierras, bought a ****load of hornady gmx, barnes tsx, cci primers and varget powder.
I shot these bullets at all ranges, 600m being the farthest and 50m being the shortest.
This morning came and we headed out deer hunting. Within 2 hours we saw 8 coyotes, only 2 deer.
my buddy doesn't like shooting coyotes. But with so few deer today, and so many coyotes, I told him he needs to step up and start killing some predators or stop complaining about the lack of deer. He agreed.
The next coyote we saw was laying in a field.
I went down to one knee, sdropped the bipod legs and snuggled in to a nice prone position. The coyote was so light in color that I lost him in the scope once against the stubble field.
Once I found him again he was looking right at me and rising to his legs.
Distance was 320 yards and to be completely honest, I Second guessed the shot, but soon settled in again. I dialed up to 8.5x, rested my cheek and watched as he watched me.
I put the crosshairs on his shoulder and the 300 yrd b&c graduation rested on his mid chest, ... I knew the range and my bullet drop, so the 8.5x wasn't a factor.
I squeezed the trigger, and heard the thump, though I did not see the hit.
Bang Flop!
I walked out after sharing a "right on" with my buddy who watched through his binoculars.
All I can say is that the gmx really smoked him.
The entrance wound destroyed a perfect round hole right behind the front leg,
The exit wound took out a large portion of the rib cage on the off side and left a hole that you could put your fist in, most on the insides exited through this hole as well.
While the bullet may not be the most fur friendly bullet, the calibre is certainly capable, with mild recoil to boot.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
as many of you guys know (I flaunt it as much as I can lol) I own a 7mm-08 sako battue, classic stock, AII action and a leupold vxIII 3.5-10x on top.
I do love this gun, but it was not love at first shot.
It took some getting used to, but after learning to reload for it and having taken a few animals, my confidence improved.
Being a through through lever action guy, 400 yrd shooting was moving into new territory with a big game rifle. I have owned other rifles that were capable, but only my Varmint rifles had been put to use at longer distances.
Though with a 140 gr bullet I was doing alright at 400 and 450 yards.
I got to thinking, what if I loaded up some 100 gr. Sierras,..(warm)
would I have a Varmint getter?
I worked up a good load, and indeed I did have a decent Varmint getter...
But then the over thinking of it all...
What about when I am not Varmint hunting, but do come upon varmints..
What about my favorite 140 gr load...shouldn't I at least try to be as good as I can with it, maybe even approach the comfort I have with a 30-30 150 gr bullet?
So I abandoned the 100 gr sierras, bought a ****load of hornady gmx, barnes tsx, cci primers and varget powder.
I shot these bullets at all ranges, 600m being the farthest and 50m being the shortest.
This morning came and we headed out deer hunting. Within 2 hours we saw 8 coyotes, only 2 deer.
my buddy doesn't like shooting coyotes. But with so few deer today, and so many coyotes, I told him he needs to step up and start killing some predators or stop complaining about the lack of deer. He agreed.
The next coyote we saw was laying in a field.
I went down to one knee, sdropped the bipod legs and snuggled in to a nice prone position. The coyote was so light in color that I lost him in the scope once against the stubble field.
Once I found him again he was looking right at me and rising to his legs.
Distance was 320 yards and to be completely honest, I Second guessed the shot, but soon settled in again. I dialed up to 8.5x, rested my cheek and watched as he watched me.
I put the crosshairs on his shoulder and the 300 yrd b&c graduation rested on his mid chest, ... I knew the range and my bullet drop, so the 8.5x wasn't a factor.
I squeezed the trigger, and heard the thump, though I did not see the hit.
Bang Flop!
I walked out after sharing a "right on" with my buddy who watched through his binoculars.
All I can say is that the gmx really smoked him.
The entrance wound destroyed a perfect round hole right behind the front leg,
The exit wound took out a large portion of the rib cage on the off side and left a hole that you could put your fist in, most on the insides exited through this hole as well.
While the bullet may not be the most fur friendly bullet, the calibre is certainly capable, with mild recoil to boot.
Most deer rifles will blow a yote up pretty good. Nice rifle.
