7mm-08

Thoughts on the 7mm-08 ?
Handloaders?
Regular shooters/hunters?
Competition?
Long range guys ??

Seems to be one of the best all around deals out there

I've done quite a bit of looking into it years ago. It's on my list to get someday.

Love mine. Just picked this up a couple of seasons ago. Only recommendation: buy plenty of ammo for it when you can.

https://www.browning.com/products/firearms/rifles/blr/blr-lightweight-stainless-curved-grip.html

Looked at really hard before buying my 270. Still want one. Keeps up (even slightly) than the 6.5 creedmoor inside most guys hunting range. As a hunting cartridge I like it better than its parent cartridge the 308. Mild recoil with good performance. Don't regret buying the 270 over it though. The little increase in recoil was well worth the extra performance the 270 delivers.

nothing wrong with them, have had a savage 99 in 7/08 for oh my gosh! 40 years, have killed a couple bear, a hog, and a bunch of deer with it.

I like my 7mm-08. It's a Remington Model Seven 25th Anniversary Edition.

I'm not into all the ballistic stuff like some of yall, but I can say my rifle likes Winchester Ballistic Silvertip ammo in the 140 grain size. I bought 6 boxes a couple years ago. Glad I did. Can't find any now.

Happen to ever take it out on game at distance? I know your good a taking long pokes on game so curious what you think

Interesting, how bullet selection over a .270 ?

Bought my daughter 1 in Weatherby Camilla it’s a great little rifle. Shoot 140gr Accubond like a dream.

Always tell folk if they don't shoot alot just find what the gun like drop $200 and buy a case lol

Very nice , almost too pretty to take to the woods lol !

Love'em...
700 rem.
Shoots 120s -140s better than most can shoot.

I'm not a gun guru but I believe the 7mm has a better selection especially if you lean towards the target type bullets. As a hunting cartridge I just like the flatter shooting of the 270. Inside 300 yds I'd chose the 7mm 08 for dee sized animals over the 270. The 270 is a better choice for game bigger than deer. I bought the 270 for my boy whose in a wheelchair. He shoots quite well off a bench I built that goes on his wheelchair and the 270 gives him a bit more range with his limited mobility. And factory ammo is easier to find for the 270.
I am a remington 788 fan and would like to have a 7mm 08 built with a longer barrel than the standard carbine barrel they come with.

X2

About the same ballistics as 6.5 cm at hunting ranges. The 700 I use shoots 120-140 grain great as well. Once I get to 150grain the accuracy tails off a lot. Easier to find 6.5 cm factory rounds and much more variety. I guess if I handloaded I’d like the 7-08 more, but I enjoy the 6.5 a little more. They both serve the same purpose as they are so similar that I am not sure why I have both! Lol

Have a Winchester 70 featherweight stainless. Love it. 120gr nosler BT. Plants deer in the dirt. My daughter will have this rifle some day.

I think the drawback on the 08 is that it can not handle the high BC bullets.

I don’t own one, but next door neighbor does, small frame Ruger. His kids have killed at least 5 moose with it. My kids killed 6 moose with it, probably 20 caribou between the kids, and maybe five black bears. Amazing little gun, I have witnessed most of the shots. Usually one shot, bang, flop! Including a 60” moose at 270 yards. All adults were ready to back up that little gun. Bang, flop, no backup needed. It has harvested more game than any gun I have. Co-workers kids, wives, smaller I am afraid of a .300 Winchester guys have borrowed it and filled freezers. If you put bullet in right place bang, flop!

What a beautiful gun.

Interesting, wouldn't happen to be able to give info on the bullets ( brand weight type ect) range and shot placements would you ?

I picked up a 7mm-08 in Rem model 7 a couple of years back for a lighter rifle for backpack whitetail hunts. Can't believe how light the recoil is for a sub 7lb rifle with scope. My 5' wife has no problem shooting it and if we can ever get pronghorn tags it is what she will use. So far the only load I've developed is with Varget and 120 gr Hammer Hunters. It worked nicely on a whitetail doe this past season. I'd have no hesitation to use it out to 300 yds.

Very nice firearm Mike. What make and model?

Chris

Usually Barnes X or a bonded a frame type bullet. 139 grains . Usually factory loads. Not 100% sure on bullet weight..

Have three of them in Remington 700 . Me and kids have shot Deer and Bear with them . Great caliber

Lung shots, always lung shots.

If you don't mind me asking what are your thoughts on those hammer bullets?

That's very interesting, thank you

Have Two. Remington Model Seven and Remington 700 Titanium. I have killed a pile of PA deer with them. All I really use anymore. Don’t reload. Shoot mostly 120 Grain Barnes Vor-Tx factory loads. I’ve recovered very few but the ones I found are perfect mushrooms.

I have "numerous" in 7-08 all Remington 700's or model 7's. Good ballistics and mild recoil. I stocked up (again) on ammo in January when Norma had a big sale and got it for just over $20 per box to my door. I should be good on ammo for a while.

I have been shooting the 7mm08 since 1984. I currently own 3.
Rem 788, 700, TIKKA T3.
I have harvested a pile of deer with them, mostly 150 yds or less.
I have NEVER, EVER FELT under gunned!
Varget and hornady 139 interlocks, will put the hurt on them.

I bought one for my daughter when she was 10, she will be 16 in September. With140 grain Accubond bullets she's taken 4 bucks and 2 bull elk. I can't recommend this set up enough for kids especially. We live out west and 300 yard shots are common this fits the bill for her.

I have found a 788 and I'm waiting on the owner to finally part with it. I can't wait to hunt with it.

788 is on my list of needs

Your first 788 huh?

Bought one for my oldest son a few years ago. He's doing shot three PA whitetail with it. Hardly moved after the shot. All three were heart shots. One at 285 while it was running. I'll be working up some loads this summer, as we've been shooting 140 grain factory loads and it'll cut holes with them. It's a Savage, can't remember what model.

My son has shot numerous deer in the 250-300yd range while on doe patrol. One spotter, one shooter. Bullets are key, SST’s shoot great in his gun and kill deer. But, you better be able to see it fall, that bullet doesn’t exit. He’s trying some Barnes and something else this coming year. He used the Barnes at the end of season and every deer seemed to drop and the couple that ran had a blood trail.

Have older Model 7, put a synthetic stock on it, 1 x 4 Leupold scope, pure poison on Pa whitetail. Loads, best I found is 40 grains of Varget n Hornady 139 spire points. Buy 1 you won’t be sorry.

Wife, grandson, nephew and his wife all shoot it, love it low recoil good nock down. Have shot, Elk and mule deer with it as well as whitetail. Great accuracy out at 400 yards.

I bought one for my daughter for her 9th birthday. She piled deer up with n it both myself and my boys have shot several with it. Out of all our deer guns it's my favorite. Deadly accurate and bang flop or a short stumble. Light recoil supresses well.

For comparison we also shoot deer with 243,260,357mag,300black out, 270,30/06, 50cal Muzzloader Xbox and bow.


But that 7mm08 is my favorite. A factory left hand rem 700 with SAS Arbiter .30cal suppressor it will hold 2.5" groups at 300 with Hornady American whitetail factory ammo so and I bought several hundred rounds of it for the kids to practice with so I could have the brass. Turnd out to be so accurate and effective I have not bothered to load any of that barns on the shelf yet. It can wait tell we run out of the factory ammo first.

Have a Rem 700 in 7-08. Stainless fluted. The caliber is deadly on whitetails and recoil is not bad. When I first got mine many years ago I loaded some Barnes copper bullets. Lined up two doe deer and made a double head shot. Never again, but it worked flawlessly. I prefer Remington CoreLokt for NC deer. Caliber is perfect for the East. Nicest whitetail I have ever taken was in the Idaho panhandle. A guided hunt. Everyone else had magnums or long action cartridges. I took the only deer. A 10 pt at 50 yds straight on. Others said they were holing out for something better. I killed mine on day #2, then slept in. Rained every day. Good ole little 7-08.

If the accuracy is there, they have plenty of retained energy, it was developed by remington for sillouette shooting because it would shoot flatter and retain more energy to topple the 500 meter rams. my old savage will only average about 1-1.5" at 100 so never pushed it beyond 400 yards.

I have a Winchester Model 70 Classic Compact in 7mm-08 which Zim helped me pick out in 1998. Before that, I borrowed one of Zim's rifles for gun deer season.

I love the gun and have shot 39 deer and one bear with it. It seems like every year, Zim buys me a new box of ammo. I use three rounds to sight in, and put one in one deer or two in two deer, leaving 15 or 16 rounds in the box at the end of each season. When the big ammo shortage hit, I dug up all of my partial boxes of 7mm-08 ammo and the whole stockpile was pretty fun to look over. Anyway, this boy was from 2001 and the gun is in the photo.



I can't comment on distance shooting with that round, because I always hunt deer (and my one bear) in the woods where every shot is fairly close, less than 75 yards. I was trained by Zim who expects a one shot per kill ratio, and have never disappointed him. All deer down and bear deflated, each with one round. The 7mm-08 has performed just fine for me.

I have 3 - .243s for me and kids/grandkids 100gr.bullets out to 400yds but usually under 200
I shoot my 7mm. Rem mag a lot 139gr bullets out to 400 + easily for deer/ Antelope

Bullet choices 139gr interlock
140gr/ 150gr/160gr/175gr. Plus more

The 7mm 08 does not have the capacity and versatility other cartridges do.

They are a very good choice.
I pick up the used Brass and one swipe through the proper die and presto change -o alakazam, I got a perfect 243 .

Excellent caliber. I've killed several deer with it.

I think it's lost in popularity the last several years thanks to the almighty Creedmoor. I'd still rather have a 7-08 in a hunting rifle.

I have used the 7-08 in a couple of handguns. The Rem XP100 and a T/C encore. I've taken 3 elk (cows) 2 bears and I don't know how many buck and doe deer and antelope. Great cartridge!!!!!!

personally, i'm a .308 kinda guy. when the ammo shortage hit, there was almost always a box or two of .308 at my local hardware store, but i have heard good things about the 7-08

There one on the shelf at your pawn shop Wolfie?

I am also an incredibly boring 308 shooter , 7mm-08 brass run through a full length die goes right back to 308.

keep it simple and stock it deep what ever you use .

at my house that is 308

nothing wrong with 7mm-08 at all

be boring have lots of ammo , it is sort of catchy like Teddy's foreign policy "speak softly carry a big stick, you will go far"

Learn from the past and stock up plenty of the ammo you want. Or reloading components. Then you dont have to worry about what is on the shelf.

I killed an elk at 287 yards using a TC encore with a 7/08 barrel on it. It was a 140gr handload, bullet was under skin on the opposite side of the center of the ribcage.
It was the 4th shot I had ever sent with that gun - I arrived in AZ and my brother said “here, use this one, since you such a wimp about recoil….”. I shot 3 times to check the zero at camp, then the last evening of our hunt shot the elk. just as dead as the elk he shot with a 300win mag…. And my shoulder wasnt even sore.

My son n law has one. It’s a tack driver. But, it is hard to find ammunition.

3 pages of it for sale on ammo seek if he's needing some

I picked up 25 boxes of Hornady north american whitetail 139gr interlock at rual king a whileback. Infact at that time you couldn't find 308, 5.56, or 9mm on the shelf. There was also a time I couldn't find 12g or 20g but 28g was available. I used to think standardizing on a few calibers was a good idea. It makes thing easy for sure but having several cal rifles to chose fome means you are more likely to be able to shoot ammo you find avaliable.

Thank y’all!! I will tell him!!

Barnes Vor-Tx 120 Grain. The only two I have recovered from dozens of deer.

Was scrolling down to say this^^^. Especially if you are a reloader, which is important if you shoot the 7-08. That 120 TTSX will smoke a whitetail.

I’ve got a couple boxes of 120 TTSX for the 7-30 waters. I’ll have to try them in the 7-08

Probably not capable of the range you would require. How about a hit at over 3k yards on a 24"x 24 plate https://youtu.be/_TcP2rVDEl8