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Anyone still shooting 7mm 08?
- Thread starter 806guns
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I went with the 7 SAW Type 2 reamer for the 162 eld-m. Bartlein #3 contour 9tw. 22in finished length. 2850 FPS with Varget which is pretty good considering my buddies 26in 6.5-7 PRC does 3050 with the 162s.
Killed 2 bucks in my first season with it with the 162. Both time DRT.
This year I want to try the Barnes LRX 145 since it’ll be mostly short range hunting and at that distance the 162 will blow up/fragment and make a bit of a mess.
Killed 2 bucks in my first season with it with the 162. Both time DRT.
This year I want to try the Barnes LRX 145 since it’ll be mostly short range hunting and at that distance the 162 will blow up/fragment and make a bit of a mess.
It’s very very accurate and easy to tune. Alpha brass has been excellent so far.
I’ve shot better than 3/8 Moa during load dev. I also shot a 3 round 3/4 moa ground at 1000 y
Recoil is very light. Currently sits in a 9lbs build on a Manners LRH. Optics this fall will be my old trusted LRTSi 3-12 since I’m not planning to hunt fairly long with this rifle. The 162s have been excellent and they’re 1/2 of the price of the 166 a-tips, and have a better BC for a lighter weight.
I’ve shot better than 3/8 Moa during load dev. I also shot a 3 round 3/4 moa ground at 1000 y
Recoil is very light. Currently sits in a 9lbs build on a Manners LRH. Optics this fall will be my old trusted LRTSi 3-12 since I’m not planning to hunt fairly long with this rifle. The 162s have been excellent and they’re 1/2 of the price of the 166 a-tips, and have a better BC for a lighter weight.
Yep... Been shooting it since 2000 when I got my first one. Currently have 2 of them. A Christensen Arms Ridgeline FFT 20" carbon fiber 7mm-08 with a 1:9 twist, and an old 2000 model Ruger M77 MKII AW/SS Mountain Rifle 20" 7mm-08 with a 9.5 twist barrel.
In the old Ruger I'm still shooting Nosler 140 BT's because it's a close-range rifle, and I won't be using it for anything more than 300 yard deer hunting, even though it's capable of much farther than that. The factory Nosler 140 BT ammo shoots really well in it, and are right at 2,700 FPS MV, and I have several boxes still in the safe, so no need to reload for it right now. It shoots about 1 MOA, so more than capable at 200-300 yards for deer.
I shoot Berger 175 Elite Hunters in the CA Ridgeline FFT and it shoots 1/3 to 1/4 MOA average. They're not fast (2,400 FPS MV) but it holds enough velocity and energy to take deer sized game at 1,000 yards.
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Yes. Always a temptation to abandon for the newer cartridges but the cartridge has been just so steadfast reliable i can’t help have a soft spot for it.
The 150eld’s have been really great and almost seemed to have been designed with the 7mm-08 in mind.
When i had the longer barrel 7mm-08 before this it was just slick with the 162’s going right where you wanted them. I regretted selling it shortly there after and came right back to it albeit with a shorter barrel.
The 150eld’s have been really great and almost seemed to have been designed with the 7mm-08 in mind.
When i had the longer barrel 7mm-08 before this it was just slick with the 162’s going right where you wanted them. I regretted selling it shortly there after and came right back to it albeit with a shorter barrel.
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Try a 160 NAB or 168 NAB-LR, they typically do pretty good for me in the rifle that I shoot them in seated about .020" off the lands.
My first ever custom was a 22” 7mm-08 with a 7tw Bart. Running 162eldms at 2740fps - love it. I’ve owned it for over a decade now, wouldn’t change a thing.
If you want hard-hitting, the Berger 175 Elites are stomping out of my 20" Ridgeline FFT 7mm-08 with StaBall 6.5 powder in Nosler brass with CCI 200 primers. I checked with my new Garmin XERO C1 chrono this past weekend, and they were leaving the muzzle at an average of 2,636 FPS (which is about 20 FPS faster than my Bulletseeker chrono was reading). Sadly, I feel more confident in the $600 Garmin's accruacy than I do the $1,100 Bulletseeker radar, just because of how finicky the BSm4 is, and the Garmin never missed a single shot and was extremely consistent from shot-to-shot.
Here’s the ballistics on my rig…
If you have a 1:9 or faster twist, you can shoot the 175’s no problem.
If you ever re-barrel, it would be worth it to run a 1:8 twist to take advantage of the 180 eldms. With Staball 6.5, I’m running them a touch over 2600 out of a 22” barrel. Where I hunt, I keep 1500 ftlbs to around 750 yards, and an optimal impact velocity from basically muzzle to 900 yards.
What‘s your velocity at 900 yards?
Looks like the load drops below 1800 fps at 800 yards.
But that’s at sea level.
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It depends on where I’m shooting, in Phoenix the DA often 2-4k, so I hit 1800fps around 850ish. But I generally hunt at elevations anywhere from 5-9k real altitude, so in those instances I hit 1800 fps anywhere from 900-1000 yards depending on the weather
- Nov 3, 2010
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Guess it depends on what aspects you look at.
-The 280 is a long action only, the 7-08 can play both sizes.
-The 08 uses a 308 as a parent case and, the 280 is based off 30-03 brass
After that I guess it’s just small things that separate the two. Both shoot roughly the same weights of bullets. One(280) may have a slight advantage as the bullet weights get heavier.
Every 708/708AI load I’ve tried with StaBall 6.5 has pressured out before desired/book velocity compared to W760, RL17, H100V.
243/.243AI too.
That’s unfortunate, with 162’s I’ve been getting your same velocities with 6” less barrel and better temp stability (at least in my testing).
Alpha munitions has been excellent so far. You just have to keep an eye on velocity, because it will handle some pretty spicy loads and not show it.
My experience, as well. I gained over 200 FPS MV when swapping from Varget to StaBall 6.5 with all else being the exact same.
I wish they would make a run of SRP 7mm-08 brass. I'd much prefer the extra strength when running the high pressures of the StaBall 6.5. While it didn't show any extreme pressure signs, it did cause some primer pockets to loosen up quickly on some brass that I'd already put 3-4 firings on and done load workup with (so they have been pushed to max several times testing different powders and bullets). Now that I have my load data, the next batch of new Nosler brass I can see how many loadings the StaBall 6.5 will allow when I keep it 0.5 grain under max.
I honestly don’t think the srp brass is necessary. I’ve had soon irresponsibly hot loads (162’s at 2880 from a 20” barrel, in a ladder, I don’t run them that hot) in my lrp alpha brass and nothing has loosened up yet. I’m only a few firings in, but that still probably would have gone in the trash if it’d been anyone else’s brass.
Plus the large primers are nice insurance running ball powders in cold weather.
I've been interested in trying the Alpha brass. I might order a box or 2 just to see how well it will last compared to the Nosler.
For anyone interested, Bruno's still has 10 boxes of the Alpha 7mm-08 brass left in stock for only $108 a box... I just ordered a couple to try.
www.brunoshooters.com
Alpha Munitions Brass - 7mm-08 Remington - Large Rifle Primer Pocket (100) | Bruno Shooters Supply
Product Details
www.brunoshooters.com
So far so good for me, but I haven't had a chance to test it in really cold weather yet. I developed the load when it was about 95ºF outside, so I figured if it wasn't overpressure in the heat, it should be fine in the winter. It was 70's last Saturday, and it still shot good, but that's the largest temp swing I've tried. I will keep testing through the winter as the temps drop outside.
Maybe someone else has tested some much larger temp swings?
I developed a load in the winter and shot it through the summer with no issues (in Phoenix this is no small feet) and no real anomalies hitting steel at range. I have the velocity change set to .5-.7 fps/degree, which basically puts it somewhere between Varget/h4350 and traditional ball powders.
I haven’t done any formal tests yet, but as long as what I’m doing is working, then I won’t worry about it.
The point I’m trying to make, and doing a poor job of, is if you want to hot rod a 7mm-08, why don’t you just buy a 280 Rem? And I get the LA vs SA argument, but it doesn’t resonate, given that we’re talking about less than half an inch in difference.
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I own a dozen SA rifles, and one long action. They are way more interchangeable/compatible with all my gear.
And again, that’s like saying why run a hot 280 when you can run a 7rm… there is always something bigger.
And again, that’s like saying why run a hot 280 when you can run a 7rm… there is always something bigger.
It's WAY slower than both Varget, and slower than H4350. It actually ranks right above Reloder 19 on the burn rate chart.
#110 - Varget
#130 - Hodgdon H4350
#135 - StaBall 6.5
#136 - Alliant Reloder 19
The only reason I playing with the 7mm-08 is that it has been my favorite hunting gun I own and they discontinued the factory rounds she loved. I also want to run it suppressed and right now it’s a 22” barrel and while that’s great for plains antelope, it’s not something I can put on my pack and walk through the mountains. So I would like to cut it down to 18” and shoot hand loads that are not as expensive.
