7mm-08, whats a good bullet/grain/powder for accuracy

[SARuger]

I'm shopping for a 7mm-08 and its a new to me caliber. I'm set up to reload for it, I just got in my RCBS precision dies, I also have the LEE FCD and neck sizer die.

I have about any kind of powder you all might recommend, no worries there.

Whats a good projectile for this caliber? I prefer Hornady/Sierra/Speer but would consider other brands if the give good results.

What grain bullet gives the best results for this caliber?

My plan is punching paper and some hunting.

I load for the following rifle calibers now;

30-06
308
30-30
.243
.223

 

[horsey300]

I'm shopping for a 7mm-08 and its a new to me caliber. I'm set up to reload for it, I just got in my RCBS precision dies, I also have the LEE FCD and neck sizer die.

I have about any kind of powder you all might recommend, no worries there.

Whats a good projectile for this caliber? I prefer Hornady/Sierra/Speer but would consider other brands if the give good results.

What grain bullet gives the best results for this caliber?

My plan is punching paper and some hunting.

I load for the following rifle calibers now;

30-06
308
30-30
.243
.223

You say punching paper, how far? Hunting, what game?

 

[SARuger]

You say punching paper, how far? Hunting, what game?

Right now I'm limited to 300yrds. Game would be whitetail deer and smaller to maybe coyote but I have better suited rifles for the smaller critters.

 

[SARuger]

Also, recommend a rifle but keep in mind, I'm a Ruger guy. I like Savage as well. Not a fan of rifles made places other than the USA, even if they shoot better out of the box.

 

[VThillman]

What grain bullet gives the best results for this caliber?

On paper? On deer?

You'll have to work up loads for your gun, to find best accuracy, best reach, etc. That's a big reason why we reload y'know.

 

[klausman]

Sierra has been my choice for rifle bullets for a long time. They just seem to shoot with the greatest consistency in my rifles. For the 7mm-08, for paper or deer, I like the 150 grain SPBT #1913 with H4350 powder. This is not necessarily the best powder for velocity, but accuracy (consistency) sure is. Winchester M70.

 

[horsey300]

Right now I'm limited to 300yrds. Game would be whitetail deer and smaller to maybe coyote but I have better suited rifles for the smaller critters.

300 yards isn't much of a challenge for anything in the .308 family as I'm sure you already know. So with that in mind, the Sierra prohunter in 120 or 140 weight will do what you're wanting to, the flat base will give you some superb accuracy and will hammer deer into the ground easily. I wouldn't even worry about the higher bc contrasts till you get past 400 yds. Varget for the 120 imr 4350 for the 140gr. You'll have to work up your own charge weights. You don't give a budget really, so based on my experience with your preferences, savage ANYTHING and ruger American unless you're wanting to spend more.....

 

[SARuger]

On paper? On deer?

You'll have to work up loads for your gun, to find best accuracy, best reach, etc. That's a big reason why we reload y'know.

Yes, just trying to find a baseline for bullet, bullet weight, and favorite powder. I will do my load work up from there

 

[SARuger]

300 yards isn't much of a challenge for anything in the .308 family as I'm sure you already know. So with that in mind, the Sierra prohunter in 120 or 140 weight will do what you're wanting to, the flat base will give you some superb accuracy and will hammer deer into the ground easily. I wouldn't even worry about the higher bc contrasts till you get past 400 yds. Varget for the 120 imr 4350 for the 140gr. You'll have to work up your own charge weights. You don't give a budget really, so based on my experience with your preferences, savage ANYTHING and ruger American unless you're wanting to spend more.....

Im looking at the Savage 111 or Ruger Hawkeye. Did some shopping today

 

[Ifishsum]

I shoot the 139gr Hornady SSTs in my Savage (11?), it seems to be a very accurate bullet in many cartridges I shoot and performance on game has been excellent. I'm using Varget but really didn't experiment with other powders in it as it's mainly a hunting rifle and I found an acceptable load quickly with Varget. If/when I try something different it will likely be RE15

 

[SARuger]

I shoot the 139gr Hornady SSTs in my Savage (11?), it seems to be a very accurate bullet in many cartridges I shoot and performance on game has been excellent. I'm using Varget but really didn't experiment with other powders in it as it's mainly a hunting rifle and I found an acceptable load quickly with Varget. If/when I try something different it will likely be RE15

111 is a stainless model 11

I love RL15 in my 30-06 and 30-30 bolt gun

 

[bluetopper]

I like BLC2 powder behind Speer 120gr bullets for this 7/08 rig. The barrel is 1'' diameter at the muzzle and helps tame the recoil quite nicely.

 

[horsey300]

111 is a stainless model 11

I love RL15 in my 30-06 and 30-30 bolt gun

111 is a long action, 11 is a short action, 16 is stainless as is 116

 

[CptnAwesome]

I like Sierra Pro Hunters on top of H4895 for my 7mm-08.

From reduced recoil to full loads this combo has performed very well for me. Not hard to get MOA groups or better from my Ruger American.

 

[SARuger]

111 is a long action, 11 is a short action, 16 is stainless as is 116

Your right, i stand corrected!

 

[SARuger]

View attachment 625591 I like BLC2 powder behind Speer 120gr bullets for this 7/08 rig. The barrel is 1'' diameter at the muzzle and helps tame the recoil quite nicely.

BLC2 is a favorite powder of mine. I use it in most of my .223 loads and a few .243 loads

 

[Bull Nutria]

I use 4064 and 140 g Remington coreloct. but the coreloct are hard to find and expensive. I found flat base bullets more accurate in My TC Venture 7mm08. so I plan to go to the 140 g Sierra Pro hunters flat based.

 

[JackSprat]

I bought a couple boxes of 139gr Hornady Interlocks on sale from Midway when I first got my 7 mm08 a couple years ago,and I'm still on the first box..I also use IMR4064...I just use mine for hunting..I recently bought 250 pulled 7mm Fusions,because they were so cheap,and from what I understand they are a good hunting bullet..If I was going to shoot much volume at mostly paper,I would say buying a bunch of pulled Fusions,or something similar would be a good Idea,but I'm a titewad.LOL.

 

[.308 Norma]

My wife, our oldest daughter, and our grandson have taken more mule deer than I can remember with a couple of 7mm-08s loaded with 139gr Hornady SPs over charges of Win 760. Both rifles, one a Ruger 77, and the other, a Winchester 70 Featherweight actually belong to my wife. But our oldest daughter kind of laid claim to the Winchester, and our oldest grandson did the same to the Ruger after Mrs. .308 Norma had a Winchester 70, 7mm Rem Mag customized for herself 10 or 12 years back.

At any rate, we’ve found that either of my “wife’s” 7mm-08s will easily put 3 of those Hornady 139gr SPs in an inch at a hundred yards. And with the charge of Win 760 we’re using, which is a half grain below max listed in the Hornady manual, the bullets leave the muzzle of either rifle at just over 2800fps (chronographed, not conjecture). It’s a deadly combination for mule deer at reasonable ranges.

On the other hand, we've found that my "wife's" Ruger (her first) 7mm-08 doesn't like Hornady 139gr SPBTs. I'm talking 4" groups at 100 yards no matter what combination of seating depth, powder type, or powder charge weight we tried. So after going though a box of 100, Hornady 139gr SPBTs, we gave up on them. I don't figure the small ballistic coefficient gain of boat-tailed bullets over flat based bullets means very much under 300 yards anyway.