Favorite 7mm-08 loads?

[Kachok]

I recently bought a Browning A-Bolt II 7mm-08 and have been trying to stroke some accuracy out of it, factory loads have been shooting 2" or more and for me that is a long way from acceptable accuracy. I know the Browning is capable of some impressive groups and would like some feedback on what loads should shoot well in that rifle. These will be deer hunting loads so 120-160gr is my target weight, I will be doing some hunting over open peanut field so good speed and ballistics is a plus.

 

[sniper58]

Sierra 140 gr BTSP and IMR 4064 works great out of my Remington XHR

average group size of under 3/4" and just over 2900 fps

 

[41wheelgun]

I have a TC Encore and been working my own loads on and off for a couple years to dial in the right load. I've been using Varget and IMR 4350 but could not get it to shoot right. Latley I've regrouped and bought a pound of Big Game and WOW. So far I am very impressed, the last range sesson i had before hunting season opened I was working up some loads and before I reached my max load I was pushing a 140gr Rem Corlok in the upper 2900 fps range, of course that's out of a 24" barrel, and also the recoil was a good bit heavy. I have found a load of 46.6 gr that's moving about 2840 fps on avg that's given my some good results so far. If you are using comm brass that load will work, but if you resize 7.62 military brass it will fill the case. I'm going to restart my developement using mil bras since I have alot of them.

 

[Kachok]

Sierra 140 gr BTSP and IMR 4064 works great out of my Remington XHR

average group size of under 3/4" and just over 2900 fps

What charge? Serria BTSP you mean Game Kings?

 

[119er]

I am shooting a 26" Remington 700 SPS Varmint in 7mm-08 and so far I'm still working up the best load yet. My rifle has always shot better than it deserves to, but Reloader 15 behind a 150gr SMK w/ Fed 210 primer is doing great. I loaded in .5gr increments from 37.5 to 39.0 with data from the Sierra book. The max. load in their data is 39.5gr @ 2700fps. I got Avg. 2545, SD 7, ES 20 at the 39.0 charge in 80 degree weather. This is well under the published data, especially in a 26" barrel. The target shows the groups from lowest charge to highest starting center and moving clockwise from top left to bottom right @39.0gr. This was at 100yds. and I'm sure the Game King would produce similar results at this range.

Win 760, Hornady 154gr SP, WLR did well too.

 

[Kachok]

I have a TC Encore and been working my own loads on and off for a couple years to dial in the right load. I've been using Varget and IMR 4350 but could not get it to shoot right. Latley I've regrouped and bought a pound of Big Game and WOW. So far I am very impressed, the last range sesson i had before hunting season opened I was working up some loads and before I reached my max load I was pushing a 140gr Rem Corlok in the upper 2900 fps range, of course that's out of a 24" barrel, and also the recoil was a good bit heavy. I have found a load of 46.6 gr that's moving about 2840 fps on avg that's given my some good results so far. If you are using comm brass that load will work, but if you resize 7.62 military brass it will fill the case. I'm going to restart my developement using mil bras since I have alot of them.

I am not too worried about a little kick, I shoot 100+rd of 308/30-06 in a given range day so despite the fact that I prefer my sissy kickers I can handle a little recoil if need be
I have some Big Game powder, I might have to give that a try, where did you start showing pressure signs?

 

[41wheelgun]

Let me correct myself, the load I've settled on is 46.4 NOT 46.6. I stopped at 47gr and noticed pressure signs at that weight. I use the load data from the Nosler #6 load book, which 47.5 is the listed max.

 

[interlock]

i have a pretty short barrelled remmy model 7 my most accurate loads are remmy brass. hornady 139 gr interlocks sp. 42 grains of viht n140. cci primers. They are accurate and kill well, the bullets seem to expand just right.
I have also used 120 gr pro hunter... 46 gr of n140... they were just a bit quick and explosive...
I try and stay around the 140 gr area. you are right in the middle of the rifles performance envelope. it has a high BC and reasonabls SD.

its a great round. i will always have one in my safe

 

[Kachok]

N140 is one of the few rifle powders I don't have, people don't carry them locally and I hate to pay the outrageous shipping for powders.

 

[oneounceload]

The 7-08, at least in my 18" Model 7 really shines with 140 bullets - either Sierra or Nosler BT. 4064, among others has given me good accuracy

 

[sniper58]

I guess the bullets are called "Game Kings"............it was an old box of bullets that I picked up cheaply. The part number on the box is 1905 if that helps.

Powder charge is 44.0 grains (IMR 4064), bullets seated .010 off the lands.

 

[Bull Nutria]

My TC venture 7mm08 likes 42.5 g of imr 4064 and 140 g rem corelocts.tried 139 hornady interlocts and they are a close second to the corelocts.--the corelocts expand well and kill deer!!groups off the bench at 100yds about .75to 1.25 inch consistently at 200 yds about 2-3inch groups.
Bull

 

[primape]

My Remington 20" Mod 7 likes IMR 4895 the best so far. I have only loaded 140g bullets at 2.80". I will be working on Varget, 4064, and RL15 loads soon.

IMR 4350 matches factory Remington ammo elevation and a little left.
IMR 4895 shoots approx 2" low and 2" left of the factory ammo.

Noticable more kick using 4350 over the lighter 4895 loads.
IMR 4350 groups are tighter at the top end of the load range.

Every gun is different so keep experimenting.

The 7-08 is great on deer and hog .I have a couple of pics of deer taken with 140g Nosler BT's I will look for to post.

 

[Kachok]

Anyone load 150gr Nosler Ballistic Tips, 145gr Speer, 154gr SSTs or 160gr Game Kings? I would imagine that I would not NEED anything over the 140gr class for deer, but I am constantly drawn to heavier higher BC bullets in 7mm, much like the 6.5mms the 7mms are good at heavy for caliber bullets and my Browning has a tight 1:9.5" twist.

 

[119er]

My Remington 700 Varmint in 7mm-08 stabilizes the 162 A-MAX to at least 200 yards where I shot them, although I'm not sure of the twist rate of my barrel. I would assume it's not super fast given it's Varmint (hence thin jacketed lightweight bullets) designation. The loads were not mine so I don't know that data or chrony data but they seemed pretty warm.

150gr SMK and 154gr Hornady SPBT do great as well. I too lean toward heavy for caliber bullets in most situations.

 

[Kachok]

While I know some people use A-Max for hunting I prefer bullets designed for the task with enough penetration for even some off angle shots, my 7mm-08 is strictly a deer rifle, I have larger and smaller calibers for varmint and larger then deer game.

 

[119er]

Sorry if I wasn't clear on that. I was just giving a point of reference to the heavier bullets doing well in the 7mm-08. Mine is just a range rifle and I use it occasionally on hogs.
Also I checked my twist rate with a cleaning rod and brush. It is also around 9.5

 

[Skyshot]

150 grn bt's with a near max load of H380. Start at 43. grns and work up.

 

[Kachok]

What about the 160gr Game Kings? Anyone hunt with anything that heavy or am I just kidding myself? Looking at the SD figures I know the hefty Serria might be a bit of a penatration overkill but too much is way better then not enough. Do they expand reliably shot at sub 2800fps speeds? I use 165gr SGK in my 30-06 (about 2900fps) to devastating effect on deer, maybe too much in fact.

 

[oneounceload]

Anyone load 150gr Nosler Ballistic Tips, 145gr Speer, 154gr SSTs or 160gr Game Kings? I would imagine that I would not NEED anything over the 140gr class for deer, but I am constantly drawn to heavier higher BC bullets in 7mm, much like the 6.5mms the 7mms are good at heavy for caliber bullets and my Browning has a tight 1:9.5" twist.

Since I have a 7mag as well, I tried the heavier bullets, but I didn't get decent accuracy from my gun with any of them. 120's came in a close second to the 140 Sierra and Nosler for me

 

[DanTheFarmer]

Hi All,

Here's a few loads that have worked for me.

All these bullets are the flat based variety. All the usual disclaimers about it working in my rifle but use safe work up procedures in yours if you wish to try apply.

154 gr Hornady Inter-Lock, 46.8 gr H414, WLR primer - not super fast, approx 2730 fps
154 gr Hornady Inter-Lock, 49.0 gr Hunter, Rem 91/2 primer - approx 2760 fps
130 gr Speer Hot-Cor, 48.8 H414, CCI 250 primer - approx 2850 fps
120 gr Sierra Pro-Hunter, 46.3 gr BL-C(2), Fed 210 primer - approx 3050 fps

Once I think I've got a good group I shoot another 3 shot group at 100 yards. If I can cover the group with a quarter and reach my velocity target it's a keeper. All the above do so except the 130 gr Speer load. It was just larger than the quarter but I figured if it was less than an inch from the POA that was good enough for hunting.

Good Luck.

Dan

--------

I had to rush off before I could finish my answer:
Kachok,

I haven't hunted with the 160+ bullets yet but I'm experimenting with 160, 162, and 175's. If I get anything good I'll post results.
The SD on the 154's is quite high at .273. According to "internet experts" that should be good for almost anything short of dangerous game. If I get a bonded 154 to work I'll post that as well but my gut feeling is that at these, non-ultra-magnum, velocities a good standard cup and core (Inter-Lock, Cor-Lockt, Pro-Hunter, GameKing, etc.) should work just fine.

 

[Kachok]

^ I have some 154gr SSTs (basically a boat tail tipped interlock), might give them a shot with 414 and hunter, I don't think the deer will complain too much about the speed SSTs have a nasty impact. Were those your max loads or could you go higher before pressure signs started to show?

 

[DanTheFarmer]

Kachok,

Our answers are overlapping!

The Hunter load was max per Scott at Ramshot. Their data available on-line lists only 160 and 175 grain bullets so I called and asked about 154's. He gave me a safe max load and it turned out to be the most accurate and had no pressure signs in my rifle.

The other loads are slightly under max (by a few tenths of grains) but do be warned that a max load in the Hornady manual may be different than the Hodgdon data and different still from Speer or someone else. The loads I listed weren't showing pressure signs in my rifle.

My loads are less than some reputable source's max load but perhaps not the source you trust the most.

Again, work up safely and good luck.

Dan

 

[GooseGestapo]

Wow, I really don't know where to start....
I shot/hunted my 7mm08 extensively for several years back in '04-'08. Too many other
"projects" since then....

My rifle prefers 150gr bullets to 140 and lighter...
My rifle MUCH prefers slower burning powders to faster ones. IMR4350 and RL17 are the best. RL17 has best velocities and equals accuracy of IMR4350. It's "ambivalent" about H4350....
My rifle typically abhors spherical powders but "tolerates" BLC2/Win748.

My favorite load is a 139gr BtSpt Hornady over 48.0gr of RL17. This gets 2,900fps from my 20"bbl and is a close to MOA as this rifle gets... Not an MOA shooter, but a deer-elk slayer supreme...

For an "accuracy" load that does well on deer, use 46.0gr of IMR4350 for ~2,700fps and is most accurate load from my rifle (ditto 46.0gr of RL17 for 2,800fps) and most any 139-140gr bullet. Mine "prefers" the Sierra's for accuracy.

My second favorite load is either IMR4350 or RL17; with 150gr bullet at 45.0gr. This gets 2,650fps w/IMR4350 and 2,750fps w/RL17. I can't imagine a better elk load than the 150gr Nosler Partiton or Accubond over 45.0gr of RL17 for my gun...

I've not shot enough 160gr or 170gr (I have some old discontinued Sierra RN's), to really have a recommendation or opinion.

A Gunsmith friend used to use IMR4350 and a 160gr Sierra BtSpt from a 7x57 for everything from whitetail deer to grizzly bears.... he took both moose and bear on an Alaskan hunt in 1983. Both with a single shot... Worked for him!!! (I think he too, used 45.0gr of IMR4350).
But his rifle, a Military Mauser M98 sporter with a 20" Mannlicher style stock from birdseye maple and E.R.Shaw barrel shot as good as it looked... Three shots touching at 100yds, typically... He built my M98 in .257Roberts... He also had one of those, but "seldom used it" as he said...

 

[Kachok]

Yeah those Serrias tend to hold together REALLY well if you don't push them to crazy fast magnum speeds, if my experience with Game Kings in other calibers carries over those 160s should shoot through a deer anyway but lengthwise....maybe 140s seem to be the across the board favorite so I bought a variety of those too. ( BT, SST, SGK, Speer,)