20" 7mm-08 powder choice

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Bw44

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I have recently picked up a model 700 youth rifle with a 20" barrel. Going to do a load development and wanting information on powder choices using a 140gr. bullet. I have developted several .30 cals. With longer barrels but not 7mm. Anyone have any suggestions ?
 
Barrel length does not have any effect on the powder you choose. The load that is the fastest in a 26" barrel will still be the fastest from a 20" barrel.

I don't load for 7-08 so I can't be specific about powder, just don't worry about barrel length. If a certain powder looks good in a manual, it'll likely work just as well, all be it a little slower, in your rifle.
 
I'm loading 36.5 grains of H4895 with 120 grain Nosler BT for my 10 yr old son. I'm getting around 2600 fps and accuracy is really good. This is a reduced recoil load but from what I've read it woks well no matter the velocity. (Only download with Hodgdon 4895 IMR is NOT the same. )
 
I appreciate the info I have been using Varget in my .308 with 168gr. Nosler BT and having great luck with velocity and accuracy just wasn't sure about the 7-08.
 
I have had good success with the shorter original 18.5" barrel with 4895, 4064, and especially Win760 (which also meters really nice). Nosler BTSP and partition work awesome for deer
 
The 7mm-08 is a superb caliber for shorter barrels. It loses very little velocity in short barrels vs longer barrels. I have a 7-08 Encore handgun with a 15" barrel I have chronographed published rifle velocities out of it.
 
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I have had excellent results with WW760/H414 in my 7 MM 08. RL 19 has been good too in my Rem 788 with an 18 1/2 inch barrel. My accuracy load is 46 grains of WW 760 behind a 145 Speer Hot Core seated just a few k off of the rifling. This is old Speer data but is safe for me. YMMV
 
Varget, Ramshot TAC, and Reloader 17 are all excellent for velocity. R17 will be the fastest and Varget the most accurate. H4831sc though a little slow burn rate for the case capacity of the 7mm-08 provides stellar accuracy and works great with heavier bullets (140&168gr).
 
Barrel length does not have any effect on the powder you choose. The load that is the fastest in a 26" barrel will still be the fastest from a 20" barrel.

I don't load for 7-08 so I can't be specific about powder, just don't worry about barrel length. If a certain powder looks good in a manual, it'll likely work just as well, all be it a little slower, in your rifle.
Not what I found. I tried 4350 out of an 18" 742 .30-06 Carbine, and it wasn't as accurate as IMR 3031. It also caused big fireballs, which are fun out of my Mosins with surplus ammo, but not what I wanted from my deer hunting round. Faster burning powders have worked better for me from shorter barrels. IMR 3031 and IMR 4064 are my powders of choice for calibers .243 and above, though Varget is close behind.
 
IMR4350 and RL17 have given best performance from my Rem Mod-7 w/20" bbl.
H380 runs excessive pressures before reaching velocities where I see best accuracy.
Try 46.0 grn IMR4350 or 47.0grn RL17. These are my favorite loads for 140grn bullets (not maximum, just nearly, but peak accuracy.). Also, try 47.0H414. Not my favorite, but others report good accuracy.
A friends T/C Icon "likes" 42.5 grn IMR4064, but is a tad (100fps) slower than 4350/RL17/H414 loads I prefer.
7mm08 is a "sleeper" cartridge. Actually better than the parent .308. Lots of bullets 120-175 that will do anything that a rifle needs to do.
 
What jmr40 said is true ....

What ever powder that is the fastest in 24"/26" barrel will also be the fastest in a 20" barrel... accuracy may be different but muzzle velocity even with the"fireballs" will be faster ... those "fireballs" are not the powder burning but super heated gasses more completely burning when they hit the open air ...
 
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"...igniting when they hit the oxygen in the air..." You suggesting there's no oxygen in the barrel? snicker. Those "fireballs" are the already burning gases expanding after leaving the restriction of the barrel.
A 7mm-08 Model 700 youth rifle with a 20" barrel has the same rifling twist as the standard barrel. Difference will be in velocity only due to the shorter barrel. Both barrel lengths use the same loads.
 
Depending on bullet, powders I like in 7mm-08 Remington, aside from the common IMR 4895, H-4895, IMR 4064, H-4064 are AA2495, VihtaVuori N-150 and N-160 and IMR3031 to name a few. Pretty much a matter of what works best for you in your rifle.

Ron
 
Sunray .... yes there is oxygen in the barrel ... But there also a more complete burn of the super heated gasses once they reach the open air ... I know what you are getting at ... but if you'd read in depth some of the research ...

My point to the poster was that the powder has already burned by the 20" mark ... maybe I was not as precise in wording as I should have been...
 
I reload for a friend's Rem 788 7mm08 18.5" using Barnes 140 GR TSX, to my surprise the best powder out of the 4 or 5 I tried was RL17. I crono'd the same Federal factory load out of the rifle & matched its velocity. That combo killed yet another 6x6 bull a couple weeks ago with 1 shot...
 
Sure, there is oxygen in the barrel, but there is a metal piston called a bullet between that oxygen and the powder charge, which pushes that oxygen out of the barrel before it meets the powder gases!

Sunray, do you know ANY chemistry? Gunpowder in a cartridge does not burn with air. In a full rifle charge, the air (21% oxygen) between the grains in the case may contribute a tiny bit to burning the powder, but it is really minute compared to the mass of the powder, and any reaction between that air and the powder would be complete before the bullet was much into the bore, so it would be unaffected by barrel length. The real oxidizer in the reaction is the "nitro" in nitrocellulose and nitroglycerin, not gaseous oxygen, which is why nitromethane-powered dragsters produce such enormous horsepower compared to any other piston engines. You could fill your cases with pure nitrogen or argon before seating the bullet, and I'll bet the difference in velocity would be immeasurable. But if you used dry argon and sealed the primer and the neck, that ammo would have a heck of a shelf life!
 
20" 7mm-08 powder choice

Let me apologize in advance for being slightly off topic of the original OP. I do not think the OP was apologizing by mentioning the youth gun. But I have seen posts that do.

I do not yet own a 7mm-08, I would like one in the future. There seems to be an opinion that this cartridge is a good beginner cartridge and not manly enough for adult male hunters. I do not think this is the truth. This is not a round for just youth or women. I am pretty sure that it can take 95% of the game in the lower 48 states. I handle the recoil of my .30-06's just fine. I bet I would shoot the .7mm-08 even better.

(Sorry for the rant)

Swanee
 
Let me apologize in advance for being slightly off topic of the original OP. I do not think the OP was apologizing by mentioning the youth gun. But I have seen posts that do.

I do not yet own a 7mm-08, I would like one in the future. There seems to be an opinion that this cartridge is a good beginner cartridge and not manly enough for adult male hunters. I do not think this is the truth. This is not a round for just youth or women. I am pretty sure that it can take 95% of the game in the lower 48 states. I handle the recoil of my .30-06's just fine. I bet I would shoot the .7mm-08 even better.

(Sorry for the rant)

Swanee
Real men hunt deer with nothing short of the 50 BMG. Real men think nothing of defoliating an entire forest to build a camp fire to cook breakfast and then wiping out an endangered species just to have meat for lunch. One thing real men do not do is eat quiche. :)

Seriously, the 7mm-08 is a really nice flat shooting little spawn of the 308 Winchester. I actually have an M1 Garand chambered in the 7mm-08 which is always a pleasure to shoot. When hunting the cartridge is well suited for a wide range of North American game and finally as the thread points out there is no shortage of great loading for the cartridge. While the cartridge is in fact a good beginner cartridge it also is an all around very good hunting as well as target cartridge in the right rifle.

Ron
 
As I posted earlier, better than it's parent cartridge.
Better with slower than expected powders. Think IMR4350 series powders, esp RL17. 150 grn or hevier bullets, esp 160-162grn.
Best deer "hunter" I ever knew, used Rem M700 "varmint"'HB, 7mm08, Sierra 140grn BT 46.0 grn IMR4350, killed over 400 in 4 yr period w/ depredation permit. MOSTLY HEADSHOTS. Sub moa, very accurate, and deadly. Sub Nosler 140 part. For elk. Best friend took 1,200 lb. 6x6 in '06 w/my rifle in Colorado. Three shots plus fourth on insistence of guide. All but Sierra 140 (last shot) penetrated heart of elk. Sierra 140 broke both shoulders and brought down "dead" elk! Have the bullet!
 
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Goose-
H380 runs excessive pressures before reaching velocities where I see best accuracy.
Try 46.0 grn IMR4350 or 47.0grn RL17. These are my favorite loads for 140grn bullets (not maximum, just nearly, but peak accuracy.). Also, try 47.0H414. Not my favorite, but others report good accuracy.

I'm in complete agreement about H414, its not my favorite either.

As for H380, I can't say enough good about it. I feel the exactly the same way about it and Rx 17 as you do but the opposite is true for me.

My go to load for 7mm-08 - 45.1 grains of H380 and Fed 210's under a Hornady 139gr BTSP interloc seated to the center of the cannelure . ~2700fps modest but very accurate.( !AS ALWAYS, NEVER ASSUME INTERNET DATA IS CORRECT, USE A PROVEN SOURCE OF DATA, START AT THE SUGGESTED STARTING LOAD!)

Varget and IMR 4064 are seemingly just as accurate. Varget is harder for me to get and neither meters as well as H380.

The ease of reloading makes me lean toward H380.
 
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I've been working up loads for my 7mm08 this past couple of weeks when the weather permits. I tried IMR4064, a few different loads, not that good in my rifle, then I tried Varget, much better group with 42 grains with 139 grn bullet. Loaded up some with 42.5 grns to try next. Good luck with your search.
 
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