ks_shooter
Member
Is there a source for 7mm-08 factory ammo that uses the heavier 7mm bullets? I have only found loads of 120 or 140 gr. I am looking for a 150 or 160 gr load. Thanks.
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7mm-08 Factory Loads w/ heavy bullets
- Thread starter ks_shooter
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I just happened to have Midways site open in another window. 150 gr. Hot-Cor at 2650. http://www.midwayusa.com/rewriteaproduct/179810
Grendelizer
Member
KS, I'm with you in spirit, but I don't have any factory loads for you! To get my 160-grainers in 7mm-08 (Speer bullet) I need to handload.
Anyway, best wishes, and if YOU find any factory loads, let ME know!
John
Anyway, best wishes, and if YOU find any factory loads, let ME know!
John
ks_shooter
Member
Grendelizer,
I am a big fan of the 6.5 Grendel concept. I like the approach of using moderate muzzle velocities and high BC bullets to retain down range energy.
I like to 140 gr. 6.5mm bullets for their high sectional density but I would like to get a little more energy on target. The 160 gr. 7mm bullet is the equal of the 140/6.5mm in terms of S.D. and B.C., and provides a little more energy on target. A 160 gr. bullet at about 2750 fps is what I am after for hunting large Whitetails.
I have toyed with the idea of going to a 260 Rem instead of a 7mm-08, but the popularity of the 260 seems to be waning. I prefer to hunt with factory ammunition so I don't have to worry about handloading stout ammunition.
I am a big fan of the 6.5 Grendel concept. I like the approach of using moderate muzzle velocities and high BC bullets to retain down range energy.
I like to 140 gr. 6.5mm bullets for their high sectional density but I would like to get a little more energy on target. The 160 gr. 7mm bullet is the equal of the 140/6.5mm in terms of S.D. and B.C., and provides a little more energy on target. A 160 gr. bullet at about 2750 fps is what I am after for hunting large Whitetails.
I have toyed with the idea of going to a 260 Rem instead of a 7mm-08, but the popularity of the 260 seems to be waning. I prefer to hunt with factory ammunition so I don't have to worry about handloading stout ammunition.
kaferhaus
Member
You could always to to a commercial 6.5X55... these can be loaded substantially faster than any of the manuals will show as they're all based on the low pressure small ring mauser actions.
You can EASILY best the 260's ballistics with the 55mm case.
I have a 6.5X06 that's suhweeet!
Of course the 6.5X284 is great also....
Can you tell I have a thing for 6.5s???
You can EASILY best the 260's ballistics with the 55mm case.
I have a 6.5X06 that's suhweeet!
Of course the 6.5X284 is great also....
Can you tell I have a thing for 6.5s???
Peter M. Eick
Member
As a reloader, I made heavier bullet loads for my 7-08. I found accuracy went in the trash can above about 140 grns or so. By 168 grns I was near shotgun patterns. I suspect that my twist of the barrel is to slow to stabilize the heavier bullets in my 700BDL.
Have you seen any problems like that in your rifle?
Have you seen any problems like that in your rifle?
kimbernut
Member
Heavy bullet 7mm-08
With just a quick search around the horn,I,like Bigfoot found only the 150 gr. hot-cor factory available @ Midway.
Reloading really is the way to go with 7mm-08 as with many others- the realm of possibilities is astounding. I found a MOA round rather quickly for my Rem.mdl.7 with a 130 gr.Speer SPBT and IMR4064 and have stuck with it.Of course we're talking small southern deer and smallferal hogs (120-150 lbs.) but everything shot with it so far has dropped in it's tracks.
With just a quick search around the horn,I,like Bigfoot found only the 150 gr. hot-cor factory available @ Midway.
Reloading really is the way to go with 7mm-08 as with many others- the realm of possibilities is astounding. I found a MOA round rather quickly for my Rem.mdl.7 with a 130 gr.Speer SPBT and IMR4064 and have stuck with it.Of course we're talking small southern deer and smallferal hogs (120-150 lbs.) but everything shot with it so far has dropped in it's tracks.
rbernie
Contributing Member
Most 7mm/08 rifles I've come across (e.g. Weatherby, Ruger, Winchester) have standardized on 1:9.5" or 1:10. If my math is correct, that should be plenty fine for up to 175gr bullets....
GooseGestapo
Member
- Joined
- Jan 6, 2003
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- 6,153
2,750fps from a 7mm-08 with a 160gr bullet is dreaming. Unless you have a 29" or so barrel.
You'll need to go up to the .280 Rem and a 24" bbl to get that velocity. The 7mm RemMag was developed to get 3,000fps with a 160gr bullet, and usually "just does, barely" from 24" bbls. Many lot#'s of factory ammo I've chrono'd for friends haven't broken 2,900fps. Most in past 5yrs have though, largely due to the ammo makers having to be more honest with cheap chrono's in abundance!
Just this afternoon, I was tinkering with some 150gr Nosler Bal.Tips in my 20" bbl'd Rem Mod-7 in 7mm-08.
Bear in mind that my rifle has a "fast" barrel with a tight and short throat. My velocities are often equal to the data barrels in most of the manuals with equal charge weights. My maximums are usually a tad under, as well.
I was able to get a top velocity of 2,740fps @ 25' with a 150gr bullet, over a max load of H4350. I was just starting to get a little drag on the bolt lift, and very slight cratering of the primers. Just about what I see from most factory ammo.
2,650 is do-able with the 160gr bullets,and is not exactly tossing Nerf balls. A gunsmith friend who built my custom .257 Roberts back in the early '80's had a rifle he had built on a German G33-40 action in 7x57mm. It had a 20" bbl and a Birdseye Maple Mannlicher stock. He had to send back a Ruger m77 in .338 back to Ruger because of a bad barrel, a week before he was scheduled to go to Alaska for a Moose and Bear hunt. The little "7" got the nod to go.
He subsitiuted the 160gr Nosler Part. for his usual 160gr Sierra over a stout load of H4831. (The OLD stuff, he bought about a ton of it when it was ~2.00lb). We speculated he was getting a tad over 2,600fps then. Now I'm fairly sure he was, but not 2,700fps.
He shot both a nice Bull Moose and a fair grizzly with the "dandy" little 7mm. He got complete penetration on both, and got DRT kills.
With the "little" 7's, bullet selection is the key. Even with the Nosler 140 Part., you're going to usually get complete penetration on broadside shots. My brother has killed 4 elk in past 6yrs with a .308 shooting 150gr Noslers. He has yet to recover a bullet.
I debated for 6 years whether to get either a .260 or the 7mm-08 I'd been wanting since 1980. When I had the money and opportunity, it was a 7mm that "popped up". So far, 6 deer have fallen to it during "bullet testing" for next years elk hunt. Softest 140gr bullet I've seen is the Sierra, followed by the Remington Cor-lokt. The Hornady 139gr SPt. seems a bit "harder".
With a little luck I'll find out what the Nosler 150gr B.T. is like, in E. Alabama later this week.
I plan on using either the Nosler 140gr Part. @2,850fps, or the 150gr Part. at 2,750fps for the elk trip. However I'm "bugged" by the 140gr Barnes 140gr Triple-shok. But I just can't bring myself to buy 80cent bullets and shoot most of them into dirt in loading development.
If I was going to be hunting thick timber, I believe I'd have to suffer and lug the .338 with 250gr Noslers! But walking 12-14mi. a day at ~7,000-10,000', I'll go with the "little" 7lb 7mm-08!
BTW; the #1 cartridge in Norway for Moose "taken", is with the 6.5x55. Number of one shot kills is only exceeded by the .300 WinMag, and then, only slightly.
Shot placement is much more important than diameter or ft/lbs.
You'll need to go up to the .280 Rem and a 24" bbl to get that velocity. The 7mm RemMag was developed to get 3,000fps with a 160gr bullet, and usually "just does, barely" from 24" bbls. Many lot#'s of factory ammo I've chrono'd for friends haven't broken 2,900fps. Most in past 5yrs have though, largely due to the ammo makers having to be more honest with cheap chrono's in abundance!
Just this afternoon, I was tinkering with some 150gr Nosler Bal.Tips in my 20" bbl'd Rem Mod-7 in 7mm-08.
Bear in mind that my rifle has a "fast" barrel with a tight and short throat. My velocities are often equal to the data barrels in most of the manuals with equal charge weights. My maximums are usually a tad under, as well.
I was able to get a top velocity of 2,740fps @ 25' with a 150gr bullet, over a max load of H4350. I was just starting to get a little drag on the bolt lift, and very slight cratering of the primers. Just about what I see from most factory ammo.
2,650 is do-able with the 160gr bullets,and is not exactly tossing Nerf balls. A gunsmith friend who built my custom .257 Roberts back in the early '80's had a rifle he had built on a German G33-40 action in 7x57mm. It had a 20" bbl and a Birdseye Maple Mannlicher stock. He had to send back a Ruger m77 in .338 back to Ruger because of a bad barrel, a week before he was scheduled to go to Alaska for a Moose and Bear hunt. The little "7" got the nod to go.
He subsitiuted the 160gr Nosler Part. for his usual 160gr Sierra over a stout load of H4831. (The OLD stuff, he bought about a ton of it when it was ~2.00lb). We speculated he was getting a tad over 2,600fps then. Now I'm fairly sure he was, but not 2,700fps.
He shot both a nice Bull Moose and a fair grizzly with the "dandy" little 7mm. He got complete penetration on both, and got DRT kills.
With the "little" 7's, bullet selection is the key. Even with the Nosler 140 Part., you're going to usually get complete penetration on broadside shots. My brother has killed 4 elk in past 6yrs with a .308 shooting 150gr Noslers. He has yet to recover a bullet.
I debated for 6 years whether to get either a .260 or the 7mm-08 I'd been wanting since 1980. When I had the money and opportunity, it was a 7mm that "popped up". So far, 6 deer have fallen to it during "bullet testing" for next years elk hunt. Softest 140gr bullet I've seen is the Sierra, followed by the Remington Cor-lokt. The Hornady 139gr SPt. seems a bit "harder".
With a little luck I'll find out what the Nosler 150gr B.T. is like, in E. Alabama later this week.
I plan on using either the Nosler 140gr Part. @2,850fps, or the 150gr Part. at 2,750fps for the elk trip. However I'm "bugged" by the 140gr Barnes 140gr Triple-shok. But I just can't bring myself to buy 80cent bullets and shoot most of them into dirt in loading development.
If I was going to be hunting thick timber, I believe I'd have to suffer and lug the .338 with 250gr Noslers! But walking 12-14mi. a day at ~7,000-10,000', I'll go with the "little" 7lb 7mm-08!
BTW; the #1 cartridge in Norway for Moose "taken", is with the 6.5x55. Number of one shot kills is only exceeded by the .300 WinMag, and then, only slightly.
Shot placement is much more important than diameter or ft/lbs.
ks_shooter
Member
Goose,
I would take 2650 w/ a 160 gr bullet. It wouldn't exactly be a laser beam, but it would have about a 230 yd. PBR with a 4" vital area (about like a 165 gr. .308).
Since you have a lot of experience with the 7mm, what load would you recommend for large (250 lb.) whitetailes? I would like a bullet that is capable of full penetration on a quartering shoulder shot. Would a 140 gr bullet like a Barnes X or Winchester Failsafe @ 2800 fps be able to do this? I thought that the 160 gr. bullet would be better for hard shots.
I would take 2650 w/ a 160 gr bullet. It wouldn't exactly be a laser beam, but it would have about a 230 yd. PBR with a 4" vital area (about like a 165 gr. .308).
Since you have a lot of experience with the 7mm, what load would you recommend for large (250 lb.) whitetailes? I would like a bullet that is capable of full penetration on a quartering shoulder shot. Would a 140 gr bullet like a Barnes X or Winchester Failsafe @ 2800 fps be able to do this? I thought that the 160 gr. bullet would be better for hard shots.
ks_shooter
Member
Grendelizer,
I thought I would post this back on this thread since you sounded interested in heavier factory loads. I found two small suppliers that offer a good selection of loaded ammunition using heavier bullets in the 7mm-08. I don't have any information on their respective reputations or histories, but maybe someone here does.
Conley Precision
Precision Crafted Ammunition
They aren't cheap, but it might be a good way to try some different loads without a lot of expense in components.
I thought I would post this back on this thread since you sounded interested in heavier factory loads. I found two small suppliers that offer a good selection of loaded ammunition using heavier bullets in the 7mm-08. I don't have any information on their respective reputations or histories, but maybe someone here does.
Conley Precision
Precision Crafted Ammunition
They aren't cheap, but it might be a good way to try some different loads without a lot of expense in components.
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