Ideas For A 7-08 Load

C

Coolhand_Luke

Regular
Rating - 100%
1   0   0
I bought myself a browning 7-08 last fall but noticed that the selection of factory loads is pretty weak. Lucky I can handload. I bought a bunch of federal factory 150's and they would probably shoot alright but the velocity seems kind of feeble at 2650 and i have some doubts as to the strength of the generic bullet as a do-all from deer to moose and elk... Looking at the available options the 150-154 gr bullets seem to be a good compromise from a velocity/sd angle in between a 165 and 180 .30 bullets but with better BC. But this is my first 7mm so i am open to options. Is it realistic to beat that factory velocity with reasonable handloads? Im thinking that a 150gr nosler partition at around 2700 fps should be all i need. Any advice from experienced 7-08 loaders in regards to an all-around load are appreciated.

My thoughts in buying this gun were to sort of split the difference between my win 94 30-30 (my bush gun) and my Tikka 30-06 as my usual gun. The gun doesnt weigh much more than my 30-30 and with the 1.5-4.5 scope should work well from timber ranges to 300 yards. Well anyways I want to develop a load this winter so i can shoot it alot thru spring and summer to get familiar with it.

Cheers
Luke
 
150 grain Nosler Partition would be a good all purpose bullet, but dont overlook a 140 grain Partition, Accubond, TSX, or even a Hornady 139 gr Interbond
 
The 140 accubond is probably very accurate in your rifle, and it should have plenty of SD and oomph from the -08 for medium size game. I find that the 7mm bore really shines with 140 (for high velocity, low-recoil shots on medium game) and 160 (for when you need to shoot through a rhinoceros lengthwise) bullets.
 
i considered both the 140 and 160 but i thought the 150 would sort of split the difference between the two. What kinds of real world velocities could i expect with 7-08 in 140,150,160 gr bullets? I have a barnes reloading manual but it is obviously applicable with there bullets (and no data for the new tsx) and my lyman reloading manual seems fairly conservative. Anybody with some chrono'd loads that could help me out?

Everything i have read on CGN seems to confirm my choice in the 7-08 as a lightweight rifle with good ballistics and low recoil. I just like the simplicity of finding one load for a particular rifle. My first choice in theory was the 150 np but the 140 tsx seems promising but while i have all confidence in their penetration ability im wondering if they are too heavily constructed for optimum results on deer size game... any comments appreciated. A 160 gr np or hornady or grandslam would be another option but im not sure that i can drive them high enough velocity to serve as an alround cartridge. Like i said any and all ideas and experiences are welcome.

Cheers
Luke
 
Coolhand_Luke said:
My first choice in theory was the 150 np but the 140 tsx seems promising but while i have all confidence in their penetration ability im wondering if they are too heavily constructed for optimum results on deer size game... any comments appreciated.
Click to expand...

I have seen 3 mule deer, 2 whitetails, and 1 pronghorn taken during the last two hunting seasons with 130gr 270 bullets. The TSX seems to work very well on deer sized game from what I've seen so far. 6 animals isn't a lot mind you, but the bullets seem to expand quite nicely if that's what you're wondering about. A 140 gr TSX in 7-08 would work quite nicely I would guess!
 
I have been loading for my 7-08 for nearly 25 years. My current deer load is a Nosler Ballistic tip 140gr. chronyed at 2975fps at 15 feet. I won't give specifics as every rifle is different and this is on the hot side. I will say I use Varget but suggest caution if trying to work up to that velocity.

A 140 partition at 2850fps is very do-able using the Varget or 4064 and makes a great all round load.

I have also used a 160gr Grand Slam on a charge of H450 that was very accurate and effective on a moose. got about 2600fps with it.Range slightly suffers but still good for a couple hundred yards

It may be a quirk of my rifle, a Browning A-bolt Hunter, but I find that if I clean it using Hoppes Bench rest solvent and fire 4-5 rounds to foul it, accuracy with the hot load is very good, but only for about 30 shots. I then have to do another thorough cleaning.

I have found that 7-08 will shoot very well with a great variety of powder/ bullet combos. I think some guys call that boring

Good luck with yours.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom