Happy new year to you all,
I'm building a 7-08 for hunting deer in New Zealand, predominately in heavy bush and with a 22" barrel and 140 grain handloads. What barrel twist would you all recommend? For heavier game I'm building a 280 AI.
Many thanks

Rod

I believe Remington uses 1 in 9" twist for the Mountain Rifle in 7mm-08.

I have one that will shoot .500" @ 100yds when I do my part.

It absolutely loves Federal "Premium" loads with 140gr Balistic Tips.

I load the same bullet over 43gr IMR 4064 for 2850fps in the 22" barrel. (This is a "warm" load!)

This is from Doug Shilen's website:

9" For bullets heavier than 140 gr.
11" For bullets up to 140 gr.

Glenn Bevin

Thanks for that, it seems that I can only get 1 in 9 barels here at the moment, how much difference is there between 1/9 and 1/11 for 120 & 130 grain projectiles?

Rod, If your primary bullet wgt will be the 140grs I`d go with the 1/9". I have had three 708 with this twist that all shot 120- 154 gr bullets with acceptable results. My present 708 has a 1/9 Lothar Walther barrel and shoots 120 V-Max and 130gr Sierra HPMKs VERY well.

Sorry guys I could not let this one pass. The optimum twist for a 7-08 shooting 140gr bullets is an 11 twist. I own and have loaded for many 7-08s and the 11 twist will handle up to 150gr bullets. The faster twists will give good accuracy out to 250yds, but the 11 twist is even better when it comes to 300+yd shots. Several factory 7-08s come in a 10 twist which means someone is paying attention to proper bullets in the 7-08. Steve Timm and Darrell Holland both advocate 11 twists in the 7-08 for 120-140gr bullets. MtnHtr

A 1-11 twist will shoot 175 gr Round Nose suberbly and any pointed bullet up to 160 gr.
If you shot nothing but 140g a 1-12" would be the best and most acccurate. The 1-11 is by far the most versatile and accurate for the 7mm-08 and the 7mm-08AI 280 Rem 7x61 7x57 ect., excluding the Barns-x bullet. Fred M.

My 7-08 Ackley Improved wears a 22" Shilen 11 twist. I don't see how you could do any better than that. If I need a heavier bullet than the 11 twist will stabilize, I'll go to a bigger bore. Since you specifically mentioned that it would be for 140gr bullets, and a 280AI would handle heavier game, go with the 11 twist.

[ 01-13-2003, 04:34: Message edited by: SST ]