Let me ask for deer sized game out to say 250yards what is your favorite load and Bullet for a 7mm-o8? preferably in a 150 or 140 Nosler but..

I did get my son the 7mm-08 in the Savage left hand 22 inch barrel and now it is time to get to the reloading store since he decided to quit soccer (40 weeks wasted a year) and get serious on hunting.

We had talked 140 grain bullets earlier but I got to looking and have a good store of 7mm 150's for my 7 mag.

Since I have to change powder why not bullets if the 140 act better than the 150's.
Now that we may have the chance to hunt and fish more.
Any help appreciated.
I was digging thru an old closet looking for some old 4064 gone and ran across 3 or 4 boxes of the old Nosler Machined partation bullets in the old yellow box. Funny how they used to look being machined.

Thanks,

Jim

DrJim, My son and I just shot my 7mm08 this past week @300yds. with a load of 39.5grs. of Varget and 150NBTs, 5 shots at about 2.5", though my favorite 708 powder is RL15, Varget, or 4064 will also do a super job in the 708 with 150gr Noslers, also shot 3 shots @300yds. with 39grs. RL15 and 150MKs, same POI, same size group. I really don't think you'll notice a difference between the 140 & 150 gr. bullets, I once shot a fork buck @110 paces with a load that was coming out of the barrel at a mere 2300fps,(150NBT, 41grs. 760) so the shot was like a 350yd shot(with a 2700fps. load), the deer didn't take one step, the only thing is, the 140 will shoot a little flatter, my current load is zero'd @200 and is about 9" low at 300yds., a 140 will be only 1/2" higher. Jay

Glad to hear your son gave up soccer, (silly ass game anyway !). 7mm08 load that worked for me were Varget under a 140 gain nosler balistic tip. never ried RL-15 in it but I shoot RL15 in a 308 ad it is great ! I like the new 140 grain acubonds too and if you decide to use the 7mm08 on any thing larger than deer, get a box of the 140 grain Barnes tripple shock, If by chance you are not happy with Varget or RL-15, I have a feeling H-414 would be a good powder, its great in my 7X57 mauser. You have a nice rifle and a nice cartridge. enjoy ...tj3006

Deer out to 250 yards? Save a buck or two and try the plain old Hornady 139 gr SP. Very accurate and work just perfect at 7mm-08 speeds. Other advice above on powders is spot on RE15, Varget or 4350.

My I never tried Varget or Rl-15 in my 7mm-08, but it shoots really well with Imr 4064 and Nosler 140 ballistic tips..

I can't remember the charge weight without referring to my log, but it was a max load from one of the manuals..It runs about 2800 through my Chrony and groups under an inch at 100 yards from my 700 Mountain Rifle...

Son shot a mulie at 287 long paces using H4895 and a Speer Grand Slam 145gr bullet. One shot. I also like 140gr NP's. I have to agree with the poster that said the Horn 139gr bullets will cover about 99.9% of your deer hunting needs. If your shots are 150 yards and under, the Horn 154gr ROUND NOSED bullet makes an awesome deer slayer. There is no shortage of good "deer" bullets in 7mm. And, at 7-08 velocities, (@2800fps+/-)you don't have to get done up in the super bullet craze.

Jim,

Listed below are my favorite deer loads for the 7mm08:

139gr.Hornady SST 40.5gr IMR4895 @ 2670 fps-very accurate
139gr.Hornady SST 40.5gr H4895 @2760 fps-accurate/faster
140gr.Nosler Partition 47.0 gr H414 @ 2815-accurate max load
140gr.Barnes TSX 47.7 H414 @ 2889 -EXTREME ACCURACY-MAX LOAD

The two 4895's performed great at lower velosity, cannot get them to group well at max or near max loads.

I have not had any luck with Varget or H4350. In all fairness, I was trying Varget when I first started reloading so it could be me (maybe I'll try again-still have some)and I couldn't get the H4350 above 2600 fps without going into compressed loads and I didn't feel comfortable with doing that.

H414 has been my best performing powder in all my loads. I can safely get in the mid 2900 fps range with the 139 gr SST bullets but accuracy suffers (to a degree). 48.6 grains of H414 will push the 139gr SST to 2960 with better than 2" MOA at 100 yards, back off a bit and sub MOA is achievable. Hope this helps.

DrJim,

I hunted last year with those old 150 gr Nosler Partitions in a Kimber 7mm-08. The load using IMR 4350 was extremely accurate.

Now I have given that rifle to my son as well and we will hunt whitetails here in CT together.

Since rifles vary I am sure you can find data for that powder & bullet combination.

I have taken a few deer with the 7-08 using 140 Sierra Game Kings and 139 Hornady I-locks from 10 to 250 yards. Both bullets worked well but the Hornady is a little tougher and allways provided a nice quarter sized exit on broadside shots, even if one shoulder was hit, never taken out both shoulders so don't know for sure how it would do then.

As for powder choice, I've found H-414 to give outstanding accuracy and velocity with 140 grain bullets but I can't remember a powder that I have tried from 4895 to 4350 that didn't perform reasonably well in two different 7-08's so far.

Me thinks your likely to find this to be one easy cartrige to load for!

I use the 139 Hornady SP over 42 gr Varget in my 7-08. Very accurate and drops deer as well as any bullet I`ve hit one with. I load the same charge with 140 Nosler BTs and find it extreemly accurate, but have never used it on game.

I use 43 grains of varget or 49 grains of W760 behind 139 Hornady sst's(both are max loads so use caution),both loads shoot MOA .5 groups in my rifle, however the W760 will almost fill the case & may be slightly compressed.

I find W760 to be one of the best powders in my 7-08 & use it with 139,154 & 168 grain bullets

I have read before that H414 and W760 are the same powder. I know identical loads are very close when chronographed. Ken Waters who wrote for Handloader did a very nice article on the 7mm-08 and he found that the factory loads for it were based on W760, which gave the best combination of velocity and accuracy.

Hey Doc,

Like Jay, I like RL-15 with the 140 gr. Partitions. I use 41.5 grs. in my 7mm-08.

Bob

Someone wanna tell me how hornady get's 3000 fps with their light magnum load in this cal? I shoot 130 flat base with 45 gr IMR 4064. works well in my gun.

I use 140 grain nosler balistic tips with 4320 39.5 grains works like magic on deer. Bruce

49 grains of W760 with the 139 gr Hornady SP is very accurate at 2950 fps and 50 gr with the 120 B-Tip is also very good.

47.7gr W760 with either Rem 140gr PSPCL or Speer 145 G.S. in Rem Ni cases adn WLR primers. Average about 2750fps from a 20" barrel. Accurate enough for deer and ground squirrels from my Browning Micro Medallion.
Bill

Bump

quote:

Ol` Joe
I use the 139 Hornady SP over 42 gr Varget in my 7-08. Very accurate and drops deer as well as any bullet I`ve hit one with. I load the same charge with 140 Nosler BTs and find it extreemly accurate, but have never used it on game.

yep. I also load this. rem. and win. brass..
I also load 42.0 of RL-15 and 42.0 of IMR4064 with SIERRA SPBT