7mm-08

[eagle rider]

Bought a TC Encore barrel new off ebay, 7mm-08. Gonna put it on the Encore Prohunter. I have a Nikon Prostaff 3-9 sitting in the closet to mount up on it. Anyone have experience with this round. I've heard some really good things about it for deer.

[Grouse]

Greatest Whitetail Deeer Hunting Round Ever Devised, IMHO. I could go into details of many deer taken with it and the 140 grain bullet, but the statement I made is the conclusion I've reach since I've owned it. That should be all you need to know.

[pistolp71]

Many have called it the perfect whitetail round. I bought one for my wife a while back for the t/c as well. I loaded 140gr interbonds over 4064. Accurate. She shot a boar and a deer, both went right down.

[Pygmy]

Over the last ten years or so the 7mm08 has become hands down my favorite whitetail cartridge..

With 120 to 140 grain bullets, it shoots essentially as flat as the .270 Win. or .280 Rem with a noticable reduction in recoil. Based on the .308 Winchester case, it is an inherently accurate cartridge. Mine is a Rem 700 Mountain rifle and it shoots tiny little clusters under an inch at 100 yards.

I've had great results with 140 Grain Nosler ballistic tips and 4064, but a few years back I decided to try 120 Grain Barnes TSX bullets and RL-15 because of some rave reviews on another forum. The Barnes has become my favorite bullet....In my rifle it's scary accurate, shoots as flat as the .270 with 130s and drops deer like lightning.. And it doesn't kick much, either..

Edited June 9, 2012 by Pygmy

[Lawdwaz]

Over the last ten years or so the 7mm08 has become hands down my favorite whitetail cartridge..

With 120 to 140 grain bullets, it shoots essentially as flat as the .270 Win. or .280 Rem with a noticable reduction in recoil. Based on the .308 Winchester case, it is an inherently accurate cartridge. Mine is a Rem 700 Mountain rifle and it shoots tiny little clusters under an inch at 100 yards.

I've had great results with 140 Grain Nosler ballistic tips and 4064, but a few years back I decided to try 120 Grain Barnes TSX bullets and RL-15 because of some rave reviews on another forum. The Barnes has become my favorite bullet....In my rifle it's scary accurate, shoots as flat as the .270 with 130s and drops deer like lightning.. And it doesn't kick much, either..

Take this to the bank.

BUT............I started monkeying around with 120gr Nosler Ballistic Tips in my 7mm-08 last winter and came up with a great load. Here is a pic of 2 2/3 groups (dumb azz, I forget what I did wrong but I was one load short on that last group) I really like the chambering although the 260Rem would be a 90% answer to the 7mm-08, IMO.

[Lawdwaz]

Just spotted this fresh thread on another forum. (almost as good as this place, which is my favorite)

Some good gack about the 120gr Nosler BT I was mentioning above from some MUCH more experienced shooters than me!

http://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php/topics/6541038/1

[Pygmy]

Larry... That same forum has almost a cult following for the 120 Barnes X in the 7mm08..It is where I got the inspiration to try the bullet.. Some of the Alaska guys even endorse them for big critters such as moose..

Ain't no flies on the Nosler BT in 120....A buddy of mine has been killing deer with that bullet in his Encore for years.. It's just that the Barnes shoots great in my rifle, kills well and will shoot through a whitetail lengthways, should the necessity arise..

My loading with RL-15 gives me an average of 3015 over my Chrony with no pressure signs and mild recoil..

All that said, I am a huge Nosler BT fan.. I have killed quite a few game animals with the 7mm 140 BT, mostly in the .280 Rem, including about a dozen bull caribou...

[bubba]

I have one for my encore. I shoot either varget or IMR 4895 over 140 grain corelokts. Am excellent combo for deer. Many bang flops.

[Santamour123]

In my browning micro I shot 150 nosler balistic tips. A little slower than most 7-08 loads. But, absolutly crushed deer.

[Lawdwaz]

Larry... That same forum has almost a cult following for the 120 Barnes X in the 7mm08..It is where I got the inspiration to try the bullet.. Some of the Alaska guys even endorse them for big critters such as moose..

Ain't no flies on the Nosler BT in 120....A buddy of mine has been killing deer with that bullet in his Encore for years.. It's just that the Barnes shoots great in my rifle, kills well and will shoot through a whitetail lengthways, should the necessity arise..

My loading with RL-15 gives me an average of 3015 over my Chrony with no pressure signs and mild recoil..

All that said, I am a huge Nosler BT fan.. I have killed quite a few game animals with the 7mm 140 BT, mostly in the .280 Rem, including about a dozen bull caribou...

Yes, I drank the 120gr Barnes .284 TSX Kool-Aid too Dan. Only problem is, when they were in my barrel/magazine deer didn't show up often enough!

I killed a few deer in PA. with them and have absolutley no problems with them. In the past couple years I have had a bunch of PM's with Steve Timm (dogzapper) about the 120gr NBT, George Herron knives and some of his old articles in Varmint Hunter Magazine. He really sold me on trying them out of my NULA as a bonafide lightning bolt killer! So far I haven't killed anything but powder, primers, paper & time!!

I could easy hunt until the end of time with those Barnes TSX or TTSX. Last fall I used a 80gr 6mm TTSX via the 243 in PA. and that killed like the above mentioned lightening bolt also.

[Phillygunns]

I have to echo what has been said already. The 7mm-08 is a great deer rifle cartridge.

[eagle rider]

So hands down,... higher confidence levels for 7mm-08 Rem. over the 243 Win..... LOL. I was thinking about 42 grs of Varget under a 130 gr Sierra Gameking as a starting place for two reason. (1) I have two boxes of the 130 grs laying on my bench and (2) I have an unopened can of Varget.

[bubba]

it should work well

[Single_shot]

In my wife's mod 7 I use the 139gr Hornady Interlock PSP flat base using 42.0g of 4064 and have outstanding performance at 2536fps. No complaints with this caliber or load,knocks them dead and not your shoulder.

Edited June 10, 2012 by Single_shot

[ants]

I switched to a 7mm-08 last year (Ruger m-77 with the same scope you have) I took a good buck with it at around 70 or 80 yds. and it folded him right up. He went maybe 20yrds.

Its a good accurate round. I just used Rem. green box 140gr. ammo. but Im sure hand load stuff would be even more accurate.

Good luck

[ants]

I switched to a 7mm-08 last year (Ruger m-77 with the same scope you have) I took a good buck with it at around 70 or 80 yds. and it folded him right up. He went maybe 20yrds.

Its a good accurate round. I just used Rem. green box 140gr. ammo. but Im sure hand load stuff would be even more accurate.

Good luck

[Culvercreek hunt club]

THis is actually the pistol barrel I wanted for my encore but the .308 deal was too good to pass up. THe next encore barrel will be 7mm-08. I have seen great things with a buddy who shoots one.

[Danny]

LOVE IT

I have a Browning A-Bolt in 7mm-08, it's my goto rifle same recoil as a 35rem but shoots much much flatter, has dropped every deer i've shot with it

[Lawdwaz]

Bump.............I'm out of Barnes 120gr TTSX bullets but found another 100 of the Nosler 120gr BT's.  I think I'll give them some love this year.

 

Any new members here have a pet 7mm-08 they'd like to showcase? 

 

Tell a story and hang a pic, please!

[Pygmy]

I'm out of 120 TTSX myself, but I have 43 rounds loaded up, so I guess I'm OK for THIS season...<<GRIN>>...

I'm thinking about taking the 9.3 out this year, just to get it some exercise..Haven't shot anything with it in a long time and I have some 270 grain Speers loaded up that might go stale if I don't use them...

[DanD]

I bought a browning x-bolt stainless stalker in 7mm-08 in spring as an engagement gift to myself since she gets a fancy ring. I have only shot it a handful of times at targets, but it is more accurate than my browning 30-06. My gun tends to like the 140 grain nosler ballistic tips from Federal a little more than the 120 grain ballistic tips. Can't wait to take it deer hunting this fall.

[ants]

Been using the 7-08 for several years now and I love this round. Perfect for deer. But I think I might resurrect the old Remmy 700, 30-06 this year. Its been benched for a while and I just want to give it some play time again.

[grampy]

I got my Axis 7mm-08 for Christmas last year. Upgraded the glass with a Leopold 3x9x40 and did some trigger work. I have shot the 140gr Fusions, 140gr Honady Whitetails, 120 and 140gr Remington Core Loc's and a couple others and they all shot good. But the Federal 140gr BT's shot the best for me. And will be the round I will use this hunting season. This will be my first year hunting with a rifle, so I don't know how well any of these perform on deer. Will the 120gr BT's perform as good or better than the 140gr BT's on deer?

[Pygmy]

I think you could use the two bullets interchangeably for years and never see the difference..I'd use whichever shoots the best for the confidence factor..The deer will never know the difference..

[Lawdwaz]

I'm out of 120 TTSX myself, but I have 43 rounds loaded up, so I guess I'm OK for THIS season...<<GRIN>>...

I'm thinking about taking the 9.3 out this year, just to get it some exercise..Haven't shot anything with it in a long time and I have some 270 grain Speers loaded up that might go stale if I don't use them...

 

This year should see the following, in order:

 

260 Rem, 7mm-08 and 243. 

 

 

I think.  2 and 3 could get swapped around.  Decisions decisions. 

 

270gr bullets?  Holy kielbasa....................................................