For those of you that shoot 7MM-08, what are the most accurate 7MM-08 loads you have found for your gun(s) (bullet, powder type & charge, brass, primer)

Now I fully realize that every gun is different and therefore could like different loads, however, I also believe that there are some inherently accurate loads that work well in many different rifles.

With that said, I'd be Particularly interested in hearing from those that have developed an "accurate" load that works in more than one rifle.

Thanks

firstshot
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Make your first shot count!

I have a Rem 700 Classic in the 7mm-08.
I can get MOA at 100yrds w/a 139gr Hornady SST bullet, Remington case, CCI primer, and Varget powder.
Start w/the minimum load and work your way up. Got my load data from Hornady manual.

39grs. RE15 with 150MK, 9 1/2 primer, Rem. brass, .010" off the lands. 39.5grs. Varget, 150 Ballistic tip, same components, shoots in the 4s for 5 shots, 3 of the 5 shots are generally in the same ragged hole. Jay

Someone gave me a 'pet load' when I first started relaoding my 7mm-08.

40.5 grains of IMR4895/CCI 200/Winchester brass/any 139-140 grain bullet. With SST's it's a .5 MOA load or better, shot just 3 rounds of the same load with 140 TSX and they shot just as well. Chronographed 2675 fps (I think).
Killed my first buck (via 7mm-08) with that load (135B&C 9pt).

Why I kept developing new loads is beyond me

I own a Remington 700VLS chambered in 7-08 that I shoot rifle silhouette with.

I have had very good results with IMR 4064 and Varget in this cartridge.

I use Remington cases and a Fed 210M primer. A load of 39.5 grains of IMR 4064 or Varget will both shoot great with either the 150 Sierra Matchking or the 168 grain Matchking.

Any of the above combinations will shoot 1/2 inch five shot groups in my gun at 100 yards most any time.

For a fun, cheap load try the same Remington case, the same Fed 210M primer, 21.5 grains of H 4198 and a good 150 grain cast bullet with a gas check. In my rifle this shoots quite well. Use a Lyman "M" die to open the neck before seating and seat the cast bullets into the lands. The accuracy is pretty darned amazing.

If you take a notion to shoot varmints with the 7-08 try a load of 45 grains of IMR 4064 behind a Speer 115HP. This gives me over 3000 fps and the same 1/2 inch groups. This bullet has a HUGE hollow point and blows varmints up big time!

The 7-08 is pretty easy to find an accurate load for in my experience.

Have fun!

Try ~42 gr Varget with a Rem 9 1/2 primer Rem case and either a 140 gr Nosler BT or Hornady 139 gr SP.
I also have had very good accuracy with a 140 gr Nosler BT and 45-47 gr IMR4350 and the Rem 9 1/2 primer with slightly slow vel then the Varget load. This load has been very accurate in three differant 708s.

quote:

Originally posted by First Shot:
... I also believe that there are some inherently accurate loads that work well in many different rifles....

It is always amazing to me that a whole lot of people believe that too.

Perhaps by "inherently accurate and work well" they simply mean it will have acceptable accuracy for my use.
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For all the Beginners reading this thread, there is no such thing as a Magic Load that provides the best possible accuracy in all rifles of the same chambering. If you want the best possible accuracy using a Load you can have confidence in to remain accurate, the only way to get it is to develop it for your specific rifle with your specific components.

And the best method to use is the never improved upon "Creighton Audette Load Development Method".

quote:

Originally posted by Hot Core:
Perhaps by "inherently accurate and work well" they simply mean it will have acceptable accuracy for my use.

Well, that's not exactly what I ment. What I ment was, if someone has developed a load that has proven to be accurate in more than one rifle of the same caliber, like Ol' Joe did, then maybe that load combination would be a good starting point for me to work up a load for my rifle.

I also said:

quote:

Originally posted by First Shot:
Now I fully realize that every gun is different and therefore could like different loads

The above comment says that even though Ol' Joe's load was accurate in three different 7mm-08's, it does not mean that his load will be accurate in my gun.

I fully realize that I will have to work up loads for my gun and that the loads being recommended here may or may not be accurate in my gun. I'm just looking for good starting points.

With that said, I would still like to hear from those that have worked up accurate loads for their 7MM-08s.

Thanks
firstshot
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Make your first shot count!

I use:

41 Gr. Varget
Remington or Winchester brass (Rem is better)
140 Gr. Sierra SPT flat base
CCI Primers

This shoots great in all of my 7mm-08's

I've tried other bullets, including the Noslers, none shoot groups as tight as the Sierras. I'm using Speer hot-Cor 130's for hunting, groups are a little larger.

Hey First Shot, Good for you. We had a Rookie on here at one time that actually thought there were Optimum Charge Weight(OCW) loads, "Magic Loads", that would work "well" in any rifle chambered for that cartridge. Didn't matter what any of the Bore, Chamber or Barrel dimensions were, the Magic Loads would work "well" in anything.

So, that was the thrust of my post.
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My 7mm-08 is one of those rare rifles that shoots just about anything at all you put in it "well". It likes lots of Powders and Bullets.

It does like H-414 across the range of 115gr - 150gr bullets and that is what I usually use in it. But, there are a lot of excellent Powders that work well in this cartridge as you can see from the responses you are getting.

Best of luck to you.

If you are interested in a 120 grain load you may want to try the new Barnes 120 TSX.I think I have posted this before,but this is some loads that I tested with the TSX.

Hot Core,

Don't know how much temperature variation you've personally experienced with your 7-08 loads, but have you had any problems with the H414 that you directly attribute to temperature sensitivity?

I recently (the last month or so)started using H414 for .22-250 and 7-08 and am still refining loads for the 7-08, but I like the metering qualities of the ball powder better than the stick powders I've previously used. I haven't had the chance to test it in much different temperatures, though. Honestly, I haven't refined a load yet with which to do that sort of testing. Just wondering what your experiences are.

Tim

quote:

Originally posted by tmoore4627:
Hot Core, Don't know how much temperature variation you've personally experienced with your 7-08 loads, but have you had any problems with the H414 that you directly attribute to temperature sensitivity?...

Hey Tim, My experiences with it have been limited to fairly warm weather conditions.

I normally develop loads when the temperature is between 50deg-90deg, so a 40deg range isn't much variation. And my hunting begins when it has the potential to be around 100-115deg in the South Carolina Low Country mid-August afternoons. Typically though it is in the 90degs with 90% Relative Humidity.

Then during December, I've hunted "near" freezing, but not real interested in doing that. We typically do some Dog Hunting or Man Drives then so we aren't just sitting out in the cold. And that switches us over to Shotguns. But I have done some (what I call) cold weather hunting and had no problems at all with it. Granted though, my "cold weather" is nothing at all as cold as some of you all hunt in.

So the range I've used H414 hunting would be from maybe 35deg-112deg and actually taken shots. I know for sure they were all kills, but the distances varied from nearly straight down to off a considerable ways. The reason I mention it is because the Point-of-Impact could have been off some and I just didn't notice it.

It would have had to of been at least 3" from where I'd aimed before I would have really questioned what was going on. That much could easily have been due to shooting position, wind or even concentration. I'm sure that my 7mm-08 has never done that - yet.

During that same 15Aug-1Jan time period, I just don't go to the Range. And the only way to really answer your question is with a broader range of temps than the 50-90deg I've worked with it on the Range.

I think you have an excellent question, but I don't think my experience-base is what you need to base a decision on due to the temperature extremes being so limited when I was at the Range. Might be a good idea to do a look back at some of the older threads, or try a new one concerning Temp Sensitive Powders.

Best of luck to you.

Thanks Hot Core. I did a search and didn't find much in the way of a definitive answer. I live in MD, and we don't have drastic temp. variations here either, but since I do most of my loading and testing in spring/summer/fall and most of my hunting in the end of fall/winter I guess I'll just have to wait to test it out. Thanks anyway.