7mm-08 thoughts

I have a 700Ti in 7mm08. 6.5 pounds, ready to hunt. Recoil at the bench is not onerous.

IMO, the 7mm08 in the usual deer load is a .308 with ten grains weight less bullet.

I'm sure 7mm-08 would be fine. I hunt similar areas, and like the .270 for deer and antelope, but lots of cartridges will work well for what you need.

Unless you're dead set on a short action, I'll throw 25-06 into the ring as well.

I think .270 is the better compromise between 243 and 300WM, if you don't mind the recoil and long action. It has the upper hand in ballistics when compared to 7mm-08.

260 Remington may be something to consider as well, with a very low BC and also a 308 parent case.

Nothing against 7mm-08 though. it will do the job as well.

7mm-08 is a little more forgiving than most calibers if you feel like handloading/reloading. If you are going to stick to factory loads, a 308 would be a better selection as most stores carry it compared to factory 7mm-08 ammo.

7mm-08 is often considered a low recoil alternative to 308 and I really didn't see that when I had one of both. With the right loads you can make a 308 a real soft shooter and the components are far more available.

I didn't have the 7mm-08 until recently. I decided to use one as a backup hunting rifle, lightweight mountain, for elk out to 200 yards. I have a 338-06 but it's a couple pounds heavier.

Have a 25-06 for open prairie antelope and predator. I haven't had a chance to stretch its legs yet.

You have to look at the families here and understand what they do.

Start off with the 30-03 family. Shortened a tad and you have the almighty 30-06 which is the measure of North American game rifles. It's great for large deer, elk, bear, but too heavy a bullet for most medium or light game. Neck the 30-03 down a touch and you get the .270 win, faster flatter, and perfectly suited for all medium sized game and edging into big game territory. Neck down one more notch and you once again crank up the speed and straighten out the arched bullet flight path a bit more, but you lose bullet weight again and that cuts you back to being a good medium game caliber with very little room left to step up into big game territory. It's a factor of a given propulsion power and bullet weight/ ballistic coefficient. My pick for large whitetail was .270 win and I never looked back or thought I was under-gunned.

So now, short action. 308 is the standard to which others are measured. It is known to be the equal to the 30-06 out to around 400 yards give or take so for hunting purposes we can call that a dead even comparison since most folks aren't hunting where they shoot over 400. So 308 is a good medium game round suitable for some use in big game adventures. Neck it down and cut bullet weight to 7-08 and your at the same place as the .270 win (practically) with a wonderful medium game round. Still some potential for elk but I wouldn't go after bear with it. Neck down a touch further and you have the fastest and flattest hunting round in the family in the 243 win. Excellent whitetail round, but personally I want more for big white tails at range. Group Muleys in with big white tails and I think your at the same point when your out west. For short action, again I would pick the middle of the family and go 7-08. It's a compromise in power but not much of one. 7 mm bullets are easy to find with good options (not as good as 30 cal but close).

So to bridge your gap from medium game excellence in .243 up to big game power in 300wm (30-06 +p) my vote is the 270 win as it is only a smidge more power than 7-08, but the 7-08 is right on its heels. Looking at the pros and cons of short/long action rifles sways the difference here because they are so close. Either way you have a good round that bridges your gap nicely.

7-08 is like a short action .270. It's a sweet shooting cartridge that is easily shot by young teens and petite women in a properly sized stock. It is a flinch-free shooter for a full size man, but still has the power to handle pronghorn, mule deer and yes, even elk and black bear. I even know of one Shiras moose taken with one shot at 350 yards. Shot placement is always the key, and 7-08 puts the shot where you want, with authority.

If you didn't already have a 243 I'd say to look at something in 6.5mm. But since you do 7-08 or 308 are logical choices that fit nicely between 243 and 300 WM. You'll likely never pick up the 300 again if you get either. With the best hand loads and premium bullets 7-08 and 308 are within 2" of having the same trajectory out to 500 yards and within 50 ft lbs of energy at the same range. The edge goes to 7-08 by the way with a very slight advantage in recoil as well. Either are capable of elk size game out to 400 or a little more which is why you'll likely never use the 300 again. Why get double the recoil for such a small gain in performance.

I chose 308 just to keep things simple. I load for other 30 caliber cartridges and factory 308 ammo is easier to find, especially at good prices. Staying with 30 caliber just made sense to me, but there is nothing I'd hunt with one and not the other.

A 25-06 won't do anything a 243 won't do as well or better and both are more than needed for deer. In fact 25-06 or 243 with good modern bullets are legitimate elk cartridges. You're looking at only .014" larger bullet diameter between the two. A 243 will shoot 105 gr bullets at the same speed as a 25-06 will shoot 115 gr bullets. At 200 yards or less the 25-06 shows a slight energy advantage, but beyond 200 yards the better BC's of 243 bullets hit harder and shoot flatter.

The .260 Rem is probably what you're really looking for. Check it out.

I agree, .260 Rem, or how about 6.5 Creedmoor?

If we're going this route we should throw in 30-40 krag

My go-to for whitetails and muleys is an old Sako Hunter 75 in 7-08. Yeah, ammo is not as common as .308 or 30/06, but I can still find several different brands at Wal-Mart, Academy, and similar places. Good ole Remington CoreLokt 140 gr. works fine. It's never let me down. I guess the recoil is a little lighter than .308 or other comparable cartridges, but I also have .308's, a .300 WSM and a .338 WM with good Limbsaver recoil pads. The recoil from the heavier rounds is a little more noticeable, but not much. I guess it also depends on how well you press the butt into your shoulder.

I have taken over 80 deer with the 7mm-08, I really like it for the combination of recoil, ballistics, and terminal performance. Several of the deer were at longer ranges, out to nearly 500 yards.

The load I shoot is 139gr PSP at 3000fps, which pretty much exactly duplicates most factory .280 ammo and is extremely accurate. With this load it will get into the vitals of even large deer from virtually any angle.

Just remember Horsey, you shot all the misses out of your trusty old rifles... Those are the ones the kids need so that they don't get discouraged. You need the latest and greatest to replace those...or the classic collectibles, depending upon your taste in guns.

I had a little Kimber 84M in 7mm08 for a few years. I only killed one animal, an exotic sheep ( Texas Dall) around 200yds. I did it with the old Hornady Light Magnum 139sst going 3100fps. He made a death run around 60yds, and kicked once. Looking at the damage, I felt the SST was a good "deer bullet", no way I would have used it on elk. A heavier (from 150-160) Barnes or GMX or 160 Nosler would work just fine on elk. think of it as a modern 7x57. Its not as far reaching as the 280 but close. The new Kimber "Hunter" may be what you're looking for.

My 7mm-08 replaced a .270, after a couple of years the latter was sold off. I didn't find anything the .270 did that the 7mm-08 couldn't do as well or better for me, and with less recoil.

The best terminal performance I've seen out of my 7mm-08 has been with 139gr Hornady Interlocks. And in general it seems the 140gr bullets perform best on game in this caliber, in my experience. After several negative experiences with polymer-tipped bullets from various manufacturers I don't use them on deer...they're great for varmints, but not what I'm looking for on larger game. Years ago I used Nosler Partitions, they worked pretty well also. Be aware that some rifles have problems extracting the Light Magnums, I've seen this 3-4 times, apparently some sort of chamber issue maybe.

Vanguard Stainless in 257 Weatherby Mag.
Kimber or Tikka in 270 WSM.
25-06 with 24" barrel.

I have no use for 7-08 and I hunt NE

The 7mm-08 is probably my favorite small all-around cartridge assuming it's chambered in a fast twist (1:9 or better) rifle. It has the sectional density to stretch up to elk & moose - the 175gr partition stays within its velocity window and retains > 1200 ft/lbs out to over 400y at elevation. On the flip side, with a 100gr sierra varmint bullet, it's got a 300y +-3in point blank range. There's plenty of bullets in between.

Ill admit to being and unabashed 7mm fan. I WILL have a full line up from the tcu up thru something in the ultra range eventually, but the next rifle i buy (or possibly re-barrel the wifes .243 to) will be a 7-08. with bullets ranging from 120-160 at good velocity there isnt much in the way of deer hunting that i think would be out of its ability, and larger game at moderate range should be fine.

As a handloader the 7mm-08 will do everything a .308 can do and it will do it better. But on the other hand a .260Rem will do everything a 7mm-08 will do and it does it better.

I own a 7-08 and it is my favorite caliber hands down. If you want available factory ammo then choose 7-08 if you are only gonna hand load for it then the 6.5CM or my choice .260 Rem will be it.