Who likes the 7mm-08....

[TRguy]

Who likes the 7mm-08....

I definitely have enjoyed the round.



When the U.S. Military looked to replace the venerable 30-06 in its battle-rifles and machine guns, it came up with the 7.62×51 NATO, aka .308 Winchester in civilian guise. The .308 Win is a great cartridge, but, in some respects, the 7mm-08 is better. The 7mm-08 is a necked-down version of the .308 Win. With the exception of neck diameter, the 7mm-08 is virtually the same dimensionally. But when you compare heavy bullets, grain for grain, the 7mm-08 offers better ballistics. In other words a 168-grainer fired from a 7mm-08 will exhibit less drop and less windage than a 168gr bullet fired from a .308 Win. The 7mm-08 enjoys most of the advantages of the .308 (inherent accuracy, long barrel life, excellent terminal performance) while offering better ballistics grain for grain.

http://www.accurateshooter.com/cartridge-guides/7mm/#7mm08

 

[Kachok]

Like the 7-08, I thought I was going to get one of my own when I went shopping for my "all-weather-featherweight" but I found a steal on a stainless T3 6.5x55 instead. Still want either a 7-08 or 7x57 to keep it company, just in case I need two perfect deer rifles

 

[bigshark14]

It is, by all accounts, a great round. I just completed shopping for a new rifle. The price of a box of ammunition in 7mm-08 (v. .308Win) and the wider availability of .308Win ammunition made me go with the parent cartridge. Otherwise I think 7mm-08 is a perfect hunting round.

 

[TRguy]

It is, by all accounts, a great round. I just completed shopping for a new rifle. The price of a box of ammunition in 7mm-08 (v. .308Win) and the wider availability of .308Win ammunition made me go with the parent cartridge. Otherwise I think 7mm-08 is a perfect hunting round.

Definitely think it is a cartridge where you need to reload, not only for cost effectiveness of the ammo to also to be able to pull all the performance out of it. Factory to me just seems so vanilla one size fits all mentality.

 

[Skyshot]

Super round, but I like just about anything that is based on the .308 parent case

 

[BCRider]

With the wide variety of 7mm bullets out there it opens up a LOT of options for loads as well. Not that there's any lack of selection in .308 either. But as mentioned the better BC of the same weight 7mm lends a little less drop to equivalent weights at whatever distance.

Also all in all MOST of the 7mm bullets will tend to be a little lighter than the .308 options. This will tend to slightly reduce the recoil for those of us who care. Yet being lighter the same charge sends them downrange with more speed. Again a flatter trajectory being the outcome.

The only drawback is that like the rest I found factory options be be less than plentiful around my area. And in fact I ended up getting the supplies and reloading my first batch of them before I managed to find any in the local stores.

 

[Kachok]

Definitely think it is a cartridge where you need to reload, not only for cost effectiveness of the ammo to also to be able to pull all the performance out of it. Factory to me just seems so vanilla one size fits all mentality.

^ +1 they are really flooded with 140gr soft points, not much outside of that. I DO handload, and I can make a 7-08 do anything I would need a small caliber for. 120gr BTs @ 3,200fps performing much like a 130gr 270 win, 140s @ 2950fps as an all around deer hog load, and hefty 160gr Accubonds for game as large as elk/moose within reasonable ranges. Some calibers beg to be handloaded, 7-08, 6.5x55, 280rem, 25-06 and 260 Rem are great examples of that, others don't need it as much, if my 30-06 were my only hunting rifle I would probably have never started rolling my own.

 

[mnhntr]

If you think the ballistics of the 7mm-08 are better than the .308, than the .260 rem is better yet.

 

[wlewisiii]

The 7mm-08 is great and I liked the one I had but I am putting together a carbine length Mauser in 7x57 instead. I just like the older one a bit better. No good reason; their basically ballistic twins but I like it.

 

[sgtstryker]

This is an almost perfect whitetail round, IMO. Had an Encore in this chambering and it was deadly accurate and consistently put 'em down.

 

[Kachok]

The 7mm-08 is great and I liked the one I had but I am putting together a carbine length Mauser in 7x57 instead. I just like the older one a bit better. No good reason; their basically ballistic twins but I like it.

Two key differences. One is a short action, and the 7x57 is almost always a tighter twist to stabalize heavier bullets. 120gr-140gr advantage 7-08 150gr-188gr advantage 7x57. Technicly they will push bullets of the same weight at near identical speeds, with a slight advantage going to the higher perssure 7-08.
I chose the 6.5x55 over the 260, and would go 7x57 over the 7-08, I just like the old school rounds and really heavy bullets I guess.

 

[wlewisiii]

Yeah, I like 175's in my 7x57. I'm building my carbine on a VZ-24 action so the shorter length isn't a big deal for me.

As for the 6.5x55, I really need to find a nice swede

 

[greenlion]

In other words a 168-grainer fired from a 7mm-08 will exhibit less drop and less windage than a 168gr bullet fired from a .308 Win.

The load data that I see on websites like Hodgdon has the heavier weight bullets (168gr, 175gr) in .308 winchester going somewhere between 100 and 200 fps faster than the same weights in 7mm-08, so how can that be true? Please explain.

 

[Freedom_fighter_in_IL]

The load data that I see on websites like Hodgdon has the heavier weight bullets (168gr, 175gr) in .308 winchester going somewhere between 100 and 200 fps faster than the same weights in 7mm-08, so how can that be true? Please explain.

Muzzle speeds may be a smidge faster, but the ballistic coefficient of the .284 bullets (7mm) are better which gives them better down range performance.

 

[Kachok]

308 runs at higher pressure and has a greater cross section to push aginst. It can be pushed faster, but with the same weight the 7mm will (usualy) retain energy better and penatrate deeper. That is the magic of 6.5 and 7mm projectiles, they are not the fastest at the muzzle, but they are faster downrange and through the target, that is where it really matters. Other calibers have heavy high SD/BC bullets available, but they are usualy less popular. 200gr 30 cals, and 250-300gr 338 cals can be fantastic as well, but the recoil tends to be on the heavy side so people don't use them as much. Recoil on a 140gr 6.5 or 160gr 7mm is very managable even for novice shooters. Calibers smaller the 6.5mm would have to have a crazy high twist rate to stabalize very heavy for caliber bullets, that is why you don't see any 140gr quarterbores or 130gr 6mms.

 

[TwoEyedJack]

I got my son a Weatherby Vanguard youth model in 7MM-08. It came with two stocks instead of the funky but plate spacer they use now. Very nice rifle. I have experimented with some handloads, mainly 140 gr. ballistic tips and H4350. It feel like it wants to shoot but the best I have been able to get is around 1" to 1.5" for 3 shots out of a cold barrel at 100 yards. I have also tried the 120 gr. Vmax with similar results. It would be fun to find a load that makes it into a real tack driver.

 

[moxie]

I love the round too, but fail to see how it is better in terms of windage than the .308.

 

[kimbernut]

Who likes 7mm08

I became the second owner of a Remington model7 LSS in 2001 and scoped it with a Leupold VX2 3-9x40. It has been my deer/hog rifle since then. I've handloaded 950 rounds for it with a 130 gr. Speer SPBT at 2800 fps average that will shoot cloverleaf groups on my good days. I think I'll keep it.
I've tried to like the .308 Win. and just cannot seem to make it happen.

 

[rbernie]

It is, by all accounts, a great round. I just completed shopping for a new rifle. The price of a box of ammunition in 7mm-08 (v. .308Win) and the wider availability of .308Win ammunition made me go with the parent cartridge. Otherwise I think 7mm-08 is a perfect hunting round.

This pretty much covers it for me.

On paper, it's a great round. In practice, I find that 308 is simply more accessible and affordable (and field practice is more important to me than paper ballistics).

 

[docsleepy]

It's my favorite, but then I reload for it. Price of ammunition is higher, probably due to lower demand. Reloading makes it a great round.

 

[adelbridge]

It is too similar to the .270 unless you have to have a short action.

 

[rbernie]

One of my disappointments has been the lack of 7mm08 offerings for AR10-style platforms. It seems like you can find 243 and 260 and 308 barrels all day long, but very few 7mm08 barrels for the big AR platform.....

 

[CheckFire]

I love my 7-08 in a Browning micro-medallion, for far-back mountain hardwoods hunting--- the WT's hanging over my fireplace hated it. Go figure.

 

[Freedom_fighter_in_IL]

One of my disappointments has been the lack of 7mm08 offerings for AR10-style platforms. It seems like you can find 243 and 260 and 308 barrels all day long, but very few 7mm08 barrels for the big AR platform

Accuracy Systems has them rbernie. I just got mine not long ago and to put it mildly, It's fast becoming one of my favorites in the rack. It was by no means cheap but I've always said, you get what you pay for. Here is the site if you wish to check them out for yourself. http://www.ar-10-rifles.com/index.php

 

[greenlion]

Muzzle speeds may be a smidge faster, but the ballistic coefficient of the .284 bullets (7mm) are better which gives them better down range performance.

Hmm. Had to look that up in the ballistic tables to prove it to myself, but you are correct. I would have thought that of the 7mm magnum, but not the 7mm-08.

Then again they are using a 24 inch test barrel for the 7mm-08 and a 22 inch barrel for the .308 win, so the difference may not be as much as it looks in those tables.