Why isn't the 7mm-08 more popular?

[eastbank]

I have several .260,s-7mm08,s and several .308,s and as I reload and have several thousand .308 match cases, I,m good to go for as long as I,ll be able to hunt. and to 400 yards all three shoot very close to each other and no animal shot will know the difference. eastbank.

 

[jmorris]

Only reason I have one is because I didn’t want to spend the money to have a custom 7mm BR rifle made and it was too hard to hunt hogs at night with my XP-100.

I suppose the same reason there are not 5 threads a week on the 30-30, you must be an old crusty codger if you think you can kill animals with something that old.

 

[bersaguy]

Now, here is where I have to show my ignorance on rifle calibers...but what would be the advantage of 7mm-08 over .270?

 

[BWS]

Short vs long action ,and possibly bullet selection.

Part of the issue as I see it,the 7-08 admittedly "sold" as kids/women gun vs the 7mm Rem mag.Then throw in interweeb fire fuel..... poof.I have both,the mag rarely gets out of the safe....the 7-08 is my EDC.

 

[MidRoad]

I think its because someone forgot to put magnum or creedmore in the name....I really like my 7mm-08. But now at my local walmart only one flavor of ammo is available, and theres 3-4 kinds of creedmore. Would hate to see 7mm-08 go to the wayside. Not saying the creed is a bad round by any means. But it is the latetst and greatest so every just has to have one I guess.

 

[SamT1]

Now, here is where I have to show my ignorance on rifle calibers...but what would be the advantage of 7mm-08 over .270?

Recoil and being a short action (I’m not a long action fan) .270 is superior to 7-08 for everything a guy would use either for besides youth. I believe you can get an AR10 in 7-08 too.
I’m not saying I’d grab my .270 over a 7-08 if I was going hunting, because I simply don’t need the extra power of the .270 for what I do and don’t really want the recoil for the fun of it.

Marketing companies are in our pockets on the calibers, they know most of us are never satisfied with what we have and we chase new chamberings for fun or to fill some tiny niche. If we were all sane people we could narrow long gun chamberings to around 6 cartridges to do everything. At on time I was loading for 45+ cartridges, I’ve really thinned my heard for financial reasons as well as time. There was a point in my life where it took longer to pick a gun to take hunting than it did to hunt. And usually I’d end up with 3 in the pickup trying to be perfect for all scenarios!
I try to restrain myself now. Buy only .308, 223, 300blk, 45acp, 12 gauge, 22LR. Slowly parting with everything else, but I’m still attached to some and of course have sentimental stuff that will never go

 

[Stevenvalleyky]

7mm-08 is a great round, I like it. But as an above poster mentioned, there is now just 1 flavor of 7mm-08 at his Wal-Mart.
To the poster that asked about why use a 270 vs 7mm-08. 1 is the 270 is a long action and uses more powder, thus has more recoil. While these dimensions are not exact, you can think of the 7mm-08 as a 7mm bullet in a 308 case and think of the 270 as a 7mm bullet in a 30-06 case. BUT.. 270 does NOT shoot a 7mm bullet. 270 uses a .277 bullet, 7mm-08 uses a .284 bullet. Both can be very effective but the 7mm-08 suffers from being too similar to other short action medium calibers plus less availability.

 

[.308 Norma]

and think of the 270 as a 7mm bullet in a 30-06 case

No, "a 7mm bullet in a 30-06 case" is called a 280 Remington (aka 7mm Remington Express) - yet another fine hunting cartridge that suffers from the same unpopularity as the 7mm-08, and probably for some of the same, or similar reasons.

 

[.308 Norma]

Have you heard about our lord and saviour 6.5 screedmoor?

 

[Stevenvalleyky]

No, "a 7mm bullet in a 30-06 case" is called a 280 Remington (aka 7mm Remington Express) - yet another fine hunting cartridge that suffers from the same unpopularity as the 7mm-08, and probably for some of the same, or similar reasons.

Yessir, I realized that. That was for bersaguy since he said he was ignorant of rifle calibers. That was the reason I said while it' not the exact dimensions, you can think of them that way. It was more to illustrate that the 270 was long action, 7mm-08 short action. I realize that it is based off the .303 and is a bit longer than 30-06. That comparison was just for bersaguy.

 

[bersaguy]

Got it, thanks for the responses. I know my personal experience and perception is, 30-06 from my old Remington 760 (150gr core-lock) felt like someone hauling off and punching me in the shoulder. My 7600 in .270 is much more pleasant to shoot, though I would not be much inclined to reduce the power much from there unless I become more recoil sensitive as time goes on. As far as action length, lock time and the like...not so much an issue. I suppose if I had a bolt gun or autoloader, it may be a consideration. After years of shotguns, the pump action rifle just feels natual.

 

[Steve S.]

.....because my rifle is a .308, all my factory ammo is .308 and my reloading components are for a .308. If I did not already have this stuff, it may be a 7-08; I just see no reason to trade good for good.

 

[1948CJ2A]

I prefer my 7x57 over a 7mm-08. The reloading manuals don't give it enough charge because of liability with old pre-98 Mausers that cock on close and couldn't handle modern pressures. If you look at cartridge capacity, the 7x57 can hold slightly more. It's essentially the same difference between the 243 Win and 6mm Rem. Does it really matter? Not really but I still prefer the old 7mm Mauser. I think it's one of the "prettiest" cartridges ever designed.

Don't listen to me though... I usually buck the trendy stuff. Walnut trumps plastic. Oh and get off my lawn!

 

[d2wing]

There isn't much practical difference between a .270 and a 7-08, but the 7-08 has a reputation for being very accurate and is used as a match round and the .270 has never been successful as a match round. Between the 7-08 and 308 to me there is less recoil and is handy in a compact rifle and has a little better long range ballistics. For hunting it is just a matter of preference. I happen to really like the 7-08, but all the 6.5 to .30 caliber non magnums have fans and are good choices for hunting at normal ranges, under 400 yards. I prefer 7MM and above but that is just my preference. I would like it to be more popular but in spite of glowing reviews it doesn't offer much difference between it and other popular cartridges. If the 308 wasn't a military cartridge maybe the tables would have been turned but that is not reality.

 

[GooseGestapo]

The 7mm08 is actually very popular in my area.
I have 4 .30/06, but only one 7-08. Guess which one has taken more deer in the last 2-months!
Likewise I have 2-..270's. But the "little" Remington M7 in 7-08 is SPECIAL!

It's light, handy, sufficiently accurate, and abundantly powerful.
Just because Walmart only has one selection in ammo means nothing. Means that one selection is probably sufficient. Most LGS in my area stock a good selection of 7mm08.
All the 7-08 owners I know (several) are reloaders, too. (Except one, they use same bullet/load I load for myself, 139gr Hornady BTSPT).
I killed two does Saturday was two weeks ago. Don't even recall if gun was loud or recoiled! I do remember bolting in second round, however...
My buddy said it sounded like I shot an auto-matic twice. Felt like 15sec. between shots to me...
But then, I'd been practicing with my Springfield 03/A3 and #4Mk1 Enfield getting ready for the Talladega 600 matches...
Poor little deer didn't stand a chance with the 7-08!!!

 

[Newtosavage]

I had a Tikka .243 that I was considering having rebarreled to a 7x57, but a friend talked me out of it. He really fell in love with that rifle at the range the other day, and is fine with the .243 chambering. So here I sit wondering if I'd pay money to have my 30-06 stainless T3x rebarreled to a .280 Rem just so I can use the same bullets between my 7mm-08 and my "big" gun. I do miss that convenience when I had both 7x57 and .280 Ruger 77's.

When you look at the numbers for hunting bullets, it's really hard not to like the 7mm.

.270's are great all-around rifles, but as was said, the 7mm-08 will do almost the exact same job with less powder and less recoil in a lighter gun.

 

[MrBorland]

So here I sit wondering if I'd pay money to have my 30-06 stainless T3x rebarreled to a .280 Rem just so I can use the same bullets between my 7mm-08 and my "big" gun.

The .280Rem can shoot heavier bullets faster, so would there be as much bullet overlap as you think? And if there were overlap, why not just use the .280Rem for everything? And if you weren't interested in heavier bullets, why go with a .280 in the first place? This is one of the existential questions I wrestle with when dreaming about a custom 7x57 while I've got a perfectly good 7mm-08.

As far as my 7mm-08, I'm a big fan of the cartridge, but right now, I love shooting my Tikka, and it happens to be chambered in .260Remington - another fine whitetail cartridge. If something bigger than whitetail where on the menu, I'd switch over to my 7mm-08.

 

[hdwhit]

Newtosavage wrote:
Why isn't the 7mm-08 more popular?

Some time ago, I put up a post asking for help deciding amongst several cartridges suitable for deer that Savage chambered the Axis in, specifically; 270, 7-08, 308 and 30-06. I handload everything I shoot, so availability in the stores was not an issue. The consensus from the numerous High Road members who contributed ended up being the 308.

Some of the considerations mentioned with regard to the 308 versus the 7-08 had to do with 1) availability of brass, 2) need to not have to form brass, 3) range of bullets available, 4) near universal availability of 308 components, and 5) near universal availability of factory ammunition should I run out of reloads and need to pick some up.

And, for me, the fact the 7-08 is sort of a niche cartridge was actually an attraction. Remember, I'm one of the few crazies out here trying to make the 5.7mm Johnson work.

 

[mgmorden]

6.5 Creedmoor is new and shiny at the moment - I have a feeling the excitement will wear off soon enough.

As to 7mm-08 - and for a lot of cartridges - the issue is that we have TONS of variety where not that much is really needed. There are probably 3 dozen cartridges that are plenty "good" for any medium to large sized game and we don't really need that much.

For except for maybe moose and such, for your average deer hunter almost everyone could get by with .243 and .308. Or .25-06 and .30-06. Or 6.5x55 and 8mm Mauser. Or 6mm Remington and 7.62x54R. Or a ton of other cartridges. The truth is we spend a whole lot of effort splitting hairs on what's the "best" on paper.

Not that that's not fun, and the only rifle I've hunted with for the past 2 years has been a 7mm-08, but in truth there will always be just a handful of "main" cartridges used even if a bazillion others would perform just as good.

 

[Mr. Hill]

Because a .270 Winchester can shoot 130-150 grain rounds very well with an excellent reputation for big game. That’s not to say it does it better than the 7-08, though.

 

[someguy2800]

Because it has no significant advantage at all to the general deer rifle buying public over several other already widely accepted cartridges. 90% of gun buyers don't know what ballistic coefficient means.

 

[Captcurt]

Although the 7mm-08 is a good round, I can think of a dozen rounds that are so similar in ballistics that there is nothing that special about it. I don't buy into the short action vs long action because I can't see that 1/4" of steel is going to make that much difference in weight, rigidity, or speed. It might make a difference in a bench rest gun but not for a hunting rifle.

I could own one and be happy with it, but can say the same about several other rounds.

 

[Newtosavage]

The .280Rem can shoot heavier bullets faster, so would there be as much bullet overlap as you think? And if there were overlap, why not just use the .280Rem for everything? And if you weren't interested in heavier bullets, why go with a .280 in the first place? This is one of the existential questions I wrestle with when dreaming about a custom 7x57 while I've got a perfectly good 7mm-08.

As far as my 7mm-08, I'm a big fan of the cartridge, but right now, I love shooting my Tikka, and it happens to be chambered in .260Remington - another fine whitetail cartridge. If something bigger than whitetail where on the menu, I'd switch over to my 7mm-08.

For a while, I had a 7x57 and a .280 Rem - both Ruger 77's. I really liked being able to use the same bullets in either if I wanted to. I had that once again with my '06 and a .308, but missed my 7's and eventually had to go back and get a 7mm-08. Not that I've given up on the 7x57, but I've put it on the back burner. In my view, the 7mm-08 is the ideal deer rifle. And if you're going to own a 7mm-08 or a 7x57, why not then also own a .280 for bigger critters? Makes perfect sense to me.

 

[Archie]

Honestly and realistically, it's because it has more than the metric measurement and parent case in common with the .260, REMINGTON, you want to kill a cartridge, stamp it REM and let them handle the marketing.

Hmmm. I've never considered this, but mostly as I tend to look at ability and results rather than hype.

My though is - like the .260 Remington - it (1) does not have a 'belt' and (2) does not send a bullet out of the muzzle at Mach 3 or better and shoot across two counties and a township.

As an additional bonus - no extra charge - no gun-writer ever killed six wildebeest and a Yeti on safari with one, either.

 

[horsey300]

Hmmm. I've never considered this, but mostly as I tend to look at ability and results rather than hype.

My though is - like the .260 Remington - it (1) does not have a 'belt' and (2) does not send a bullet out of the muzzle at Mach 3 or better and shoot across two counties and a township.

As an additional bonus - no extra charge - no gun-writer ever killed six wildebeest and a Yeti on safari with one, either.

Sure helps launching the better bullets when the barrel has the appropriate twist and throat. Put those in and the results beat the cm, launching an SD of .291 at 2700+ is no slouch. Savage thankfully offers the proper twist on their factory barrels.