Just got a really good buy on a Remingotn 7 SS in a 308. I was looking for a nice light rifle to carry in the woods all day. The only thing that makes me cringe is the barrel length only being 20", I dont no why, but it just does. I'm a velocity freak so I like atleast a 22" barrel. I topped it off with a leupold VX1 2-7X33 matte, beutiful set up! I'm in search of good whitetail loads for this rife. The prior owner told me the rifle did not shoot 150's real well, but the 165's shot alright and 125's shot the best. What kind of velocity should I expect from a 150gr load(What I would really like to load it with)I'm thinking 150gr ballistic tips over a healthy dose of IMR4064 will do the trick. Any comments on the 125's? Thanx for the help
Ryan

7mm, You should have no problem getting 2800fps with 47grs. IMR4064 and a 150BT, my Speer manual gets 2882 from a 22" barrel, that's the load I used in my 308 Rem S/S 24in. barrel. Figure about 15-20fps loss per inch with your 20incher. Jay

My blued Seven has a 18.5" barrel and I've chronographed 165 grain Speers SP at 2700 using IMR4064. I did back off to 2675fps for accuracy. I also have used lots of 150 grain bullet using IMR3031 and Varget with excellent accuracy. Haven't chrony them yet (busy developing hunting loads) but I expect I should be able to do 2800. I have lots of Speer and Sierra 150 RN I got on closeout when Gander Mountain move to their new store and so far have show excellent accuracy.

don't loose any sleep over 2", contrary to myth bullets going less than 2900 fps do not bounce off deer & try R15 for excellent velocity for this round. the previous owner may or may not have a clue, see what works for you.

My wife and I have hunted quite a bit with Rem Mod 7's in 308. mostly with the 18"bbls. I use IMR 3031 for my 308 loads because I have a lot of it on hand. I usually use 39.5gr of IMR 3031 with 165 gr Sierra HPBT Gamekings but I have used 165 gr Nosler Ballistic Tips and 165 Nosler Partitions with the same powder charge with excellent results.
With 150 grain Nosler Solid Base bullets [discontinued] I used 42 gr. of IMR 3031.
I have used the 39.5 gr of IMR 3031 and 165 grain bullets with such excellent results in quite a lot of 308's from bolt to semi-auto to lever, that if a particular 308 did not shoot that load I would get rid of it as something must be wrong with it.
It is an excellent deer, antelope, and pig load.

My Tikka 308 win with 22" barrel pushes Hornady 150gr SST's at 2905fps without any signs of pressure and will do 1/4 MOA easily with 45.0gr ADI (mulwex)AR2206H. with a 45.5gr max load which is still safe (no signs of pressure) the load does 2960fps but groups are about 1/3". With a 20" barrel you would probably lose 40-60fps

Sounds like a real sweetheart of a rifle and should be a joy to carry afield especially when you get caught in bad weather with the peace of mind stainless/synthetic gives.



The velocity thing is purely psychological when you're talking 100fps or less with that shorter barrel. Don't give it any further concern, enjoy it as a light and handy little rifle for a classic cartridge. If you just can't get past it then try the High Energy factory ammo that gives you about an 100fps in some excellent loadings - this might make up for your slight loss in that 20" bbl v 22" or 24". Personally I think velocity is generally over-rated for those who think they just have to eek-out that last 50-100fps. It's bullet construction and placement that drops game far more so than that 100fps.



I recently added a stainless/synthetic Ruger M77/MkII in 30-06 (slim 22" bbl w/o sights) to my battery of sporting rifles. I mounted a fixed 4x Burris compact on it and it's delightfully light and handy. Fully loaded and with sling, mounts and scope she's exactly 8 pounds ready to go. She's now dialed-in with factory W-W 180gr RN Power-Points (someone gave me about 600rds of this ammo years ago, so might as well put it to use!). I've quickly fallen in love with this rifle and plan to have it as my "go to" rifle for a general-purpose tool. It now resides behind the seat of my truck with a pack of 180's.

Re The Tikka .308

Older Tikka's feature quite a bit of freebore.

I have a .243 and a 7mm Rem. Mag. and can seat the bullets wayyyy out if you know what I mean, the mag. length is also quite long so this is no problem.

My huntin partner had a .308 that we both shot quite a bit and it happily digested pretty well any thing we fed it, sub min. groups usually. Anyway if you seat them down you will get the freebore effect like the Weatherby rifles do.

So you will see velocities you prolly could not safely reach in most like lth. barrels.

One of the great things about the Tikka's I own is that they seem to be totally happy with every bullet I have tried in them. And did I mention they are insanely accurate!



Re- Reloading the .308, I would say 2800 fps is great for your rifle and with a quality 150 gr will do a fine job.

My personal pref. for that load is Win. 760 Ball powder a Federal magnum primer, and 150 gr. Hornady Interlock SPFB. If a pemium bullet is called for I use Nosler 150 gr. Partitions.

The only powder that I have not seen mentioned here to try with the 150 gr. bullets is VithaVouri N140 or N540. Both work very well. Having said that I have shot more IMR 4064 using 150 to 155 gr. bullets than all the rest of suitable powders combined. A consistently accurate load in several different 308's that I own is 46.5 gr. of IMR 4064 in Winchester brass using a CCI BR-2 primer. Velocity will average 2850 to 2875 in my barrels. The barrel lenghts of my rifles vary from 22 to 24". Accuracy is generally in the .5 MOA range or less from my match grade barrels. I found this load years ago working with an old 788 Rem. that old rifle would shoot that load well under .75 MOA. So will an old Rem. 700 that I have.



I forgot to include any information about the 125 gr. bullets. I have found WW 748 to be the best powder with both the 125 Nosler B.T. with a B.C. of .366 or 125 Speer TNT with a B.C. of .330 accuracy will run .5 MOA or a little better out a good rifle. Velocity will run from 3100 to near 3200 fps depending on the barrel (some barrels are just faster than others). Both of those bullets shoot surprising flat out 300 or a little better. Assuming a muzzle velocity of 3150 fps and 2" high zero at 100 yards it is only 5" low at 300 yards. I have verified that load on paper at 300 yards. Again brass is Winchester, the primer that has given consistently the best results is the Federal 210M behind somewhere between 51.5 and 52 gr. of WW 748 I have used that load on coyotes to a little over 300 yards with DRT results with solid hits. It is not easy on pelts.....leaves big holes! I have some good luck with IMR 3031 as well but the accuracy is not as consistently good although it is sub 1 MOA. The velocity is not quite what the 748 has produced. Velocity topped out at just under 3100 and pressure showed up there as well. I have never had any pressure issues with the 748 in any ( 8 or 9 total) of the rifles I have tried it in.



Hope this helps some......



RiverRat