7-08 Ammo shortage

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d2wing

d2wing

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I went to a couple sporting goods stores that are usually well stocked for supplies and ammo for the upcoming deer season. They had all kinds of oddball stuff and lots of 308 but no 7-08. The particular Hornady ammo I want is also out-of-stock online.
There was a few boxes of 6.5 Creedmoor but pretty expensive. Lots of .308. I looked at new rifles and nobody had them either except for a Savage Axis. No way. Just about every rifle that I liked was in 6.5 Creedmoor which is inferior to 7-08 for hunting. Hmmmm.
 
I can't think of an easier cartridge to make your own brass for. Almost as easy as making 7.65 Argentine cases ( or 7.7 Japanese ) out of 30-06 brass. You won't even have to trim the case length when finished. Maybe a tiny bit.

If you don't reload and want to shoot the rifle very much... you'll never find a better time to start.
 
7-08 is going to be tough to find. What I see is ammo for the most popular calibers is easiest to get. Hence the fact that there is 308 and 6.5 ammo kicking around.
Rolling your own may be the best option.

Not even going to touch the statement about how the 7-08 is superior to the 6.5 Creedmoor for hunting. Both do an excellent job.
 
Was at a sporting goods department of a store in North Platte, Ne last week, man was looking for .243 ammo for deer season. They had one box which the clerk said he had gotten in about 10 minutes prior. Instead of getting cases of ammo, he gets it one box at a time now. For about a year and a half I believed the "millions of new gun owners" line but I honestly think we are getting screwed over now!
 
The 7-08 shoots a slightly bigger bullet, more frontal area faster with more energy in like weights. The Creedmoor does have a better B.C. and overtakes the 7-08 but that doesn't come into play at normal hunting ranges. Splitting hairs as far as some of you are concerned. I am not a bandwagon guy. I may stoop to buying a 6.5 but not going to wear a man bun.
 
d2wing said:
The 7-08 shoots a slightly bigger bullet, more frontal area faster with more energy in like weights. The Creedmoor does have a better B.C. and overtakes the 7-08 but that doesn't come into play at normal hunting ranges. Splitting hairs as far as some of you are concerned. I am not a bandwagon guy. I may stoop to buying a 6.5 but not going to wear a man bun.
Click to expand...

I don’t have enough hair to put into a bun, but I don’t know how anybody can honestly complain about the performance of any of those cartridges in the 308, 7-08, 6.5 CM, 260 Rem or 243 Win range as far as deer sized game are concerned. I don’t think anything that size would know what cartridge it was shot with in that family of cartridges. I like all of them, honestly, and I don’t fully understand why anybody would love one of those and hate another. I could maybe see people thinking the 243 was too light, but I’ve killed a pile of deer (and recovered them) with a 223 Rem, so I don’t have any qualms about going to even the lightest end of that family.
 
Mail order SOMETHING in 7mm-08, set your rifle, and just use that for a bit. Or handload if you can get components. 7mm-08 is what I hunt with too but I never need much ammo for hunting. I've still got about 23-ish rounds of PPU 140gr left and that'll likely last me 3 or 4 more years.

Always try to buy enough ammo a season or 2 ahead to make sure you don't get bit by a shortage right when the season starts.
 
Had a lot of 7-08 around here for a while at better prices than anything else. But it all dried up. Tons of .308 and not much 6.5cm.
 
LoonWulf said:
Think i got some 140 ballistics if you want them
Click to expand...
Well I appreciate that offer. Let me check my stash and I will message you. I like the newer BT Hunting bullets. The originals not so much as they tended to explode leaving lead frags in my venison...
 
d2wing said:
The 7-08 shoots a slightly bigger bullet, more frontal area faster with more energy in like weights. The Creedmoor does have a better B.C. and overtakes the 7-08 but that doesn't come into play at normal hunting ranges. Splitting hairs as far as some of you are concerned.
Click to expand...

Yep, the 6.5 creed and prc were designed for long range shooters and one cannot argue that they do well for that purpose. The 6.5 has been marketed well so it's popular with gotta have the latest and greatest crowd or the new shooter who is getting started...
 
I have a 7mm-08 that I haven't fired yet. My lgs is good about stocking ammo, but he can't get(find) 7mm-08 .

I was in there looking just a few days ago.....nada.
I bought some. 204 instead.
 
I don't know if delta in performance of 0.02" in frontal diameter between a 6.5 and 7mm is measurable on deer sized game. I'd prefer the 7-08 IF I was choosing between the two for elk, but pretty much all the .308 Win based rounds are adequate for deer.

All hunting ammo seems to be hit and miss now, as are bullets for reloading, but it's not any surprise as folks have been biatching about lack of availability for over a couple years now.

I don't buy factory, but am having the same problems with getting the bullets I want. I believe it's getting better though as I took delivery yesterday of 200 Nolser .308 180 ABs and 100 Hornady .358 200grn SPs. I'm now set for the next few years as far as hunting bullets go. Now I'm stocking up on my practice stuff and getting ready for the next shortage.

My method is to google search for what I really want, and place "stock arrival alerts", then pounce when I get the email that it's arrived. It works, a few days ago I received a notice that Midsouth had some Barnes bullets come in stock that I was looking for. I also received a notice that the .308 ABs were in stock from Midway.
 
There's something to be said for having a deer rifle chambered for a common cartridge, especially if one doesn't reload. Of course a person doesn't know if a cartridge will become common, like the 6.5 CM. I never would have guessed that 6.5 CM would become as popular as it is for hunting. It wouldn't be my first choice for a deer rifle. I'll always go for the most common cartridge that will do the job at hand. That would be a three-o-hate.
 
d2wing said:
The 7-08 shoots a slightly bigger bullet, more frontal area faster with more energy in like weights. The Creedmoor does have a better B.C. and overtakes the 7-08 but that doesn't come into play at normal hunting ranges. Splitting hairs as far as some of you are concerned. I am not a bandwagon guy. I may stoop to buying a 6.5 but not going to wear a man bun.
Click to expand...
with sta ball powder in the 7- 08 you can push a 162 bullet with a .670 BC over 2800 fps. you aint being over taken by the creed and it will get there with a heavier payload
 
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