So, what`s wrong with the 7/mm-08 rem???

N

Nitescout

New member
I still shoot a couple of .308`s...but I keep seeing a lot of interest in the 260 rem or the 6.5 Creedmore...

I can remember Visiting the NRA whittington center out at Raton, NM. back in 1980, or 1981....the hot new thing was the 7/08 Rem built on a Savage 110.

I think it was a championship match...as I remember...probably 40 or 50 shooters. They were shooting the Metallic Silhouette course out to 485 yard Rams...

the 7/08 was more popular than the 308 win because of the high BC of 7/mm bullets...Still having enough energy to knock the ram over.

I came home from that vacation and ordered a new 700BDL in 7/mm-08...I`ve always liked the Rem better than the savage...don`t know why...

so what`s wrong with the 7/mm08???
 
when I bought the rifle, all I could find was new brass from Remington...Dealers hadn`t heard of the new round yet...I also made ammo from Lake City Match cases...I had to use a fluted reamer/pilot in my forester
case trimmer...GI brass was much thicker than the rem stuff...I guess it still is'

that`s another rifle I should have kept.
 
I think the 7mm-08 would make a fine hunting round, and so do bullet manufacturers. There's an abundance of hunting ammo, but match ammo and bullets are not nearly as popular. Nothing wrong with it.

The 6.5 creedmoor was designed to be produced and sold affordable and be match grade ammo. It's basically cheap enough that it's difficult to justify reloading on its price. After components and time spent reloading ammo as or slightly more accurate, you'd be money ahead just buying the factory ammo.

.260, well you have options on which high BC match grade bullets to try and see what your rifle likes the best. If you enjoy reloading this one gives you options.

Personally I want a 6.5x47 lapua but I'll have to get into reloading. Basically a shortened .308 based cartridge with a small primer in 6.5mm. Designed to be the most inherently accurate low recoil cartridge for 300-1000 meter competition lapua could design. Plenty of energy to hunt anything I hunt at the ranges I hunt but able to reach out much farther and do it accurately. With a well made rifle shooting tuned in loads and capable shooter it should be able to make groups not a lot larger than the bullet at 100 yards.
 
If I could find a heavy barrel 7mm-08 at a decent price I would buy it just for fun. Wring it out to 800-1000 yards. 7mm bullets have come a long way as far as BC's. I bet it would give the 308 a run for its money. ;)

Remington produced a heavy barrel 7-08 years ago but they dropped it. :(
 
It's a good, modern cartridge for a shooter that also reloads and couldn't care less about nostalgic appeal. Otherwise, one would probably be better served by a 270 Winchester or several other cartridges that will do as much or more for less money and better availability. Why anyone would have a 7mm08 in a model 70 Winchester is beyond me; it's just wrong. But my brother has one and it shoots just fine and would probably come very close to my 270 for all purposes.
 
Nothing, but, like hordes of other cartridges, it doesn't do anything nothing else doesn't do just as well.
At 800-1000 yards its ballistics are not good. Heavy bullets like 175's run really slow too. 2300ishto about 2600ish with max loads. Under 2500 with a 180. Drops like a brick past 300, as well.
 
ammo here is not hard to find for the 7mm-08 and try a 130gr BTSP with a BC of .424 with a stiff load of varget or imr 4550, it runs right at 3000fps out of a rem short action rifle with syn stock. zeroed at 200yds its about 6-7" low at 300 with 2400fps-1800fpe and about 22 'low at 400 with 2200fps-1500fpe and 38-40" low at 500 yrds with 2000fps-1300fpe. i use a 4.5x14 leupold scope with the CDS turret system and this is out of a rifle thats lighter by 3/4-1lb. than a longer actioned rifle and will kill all animals in north america with the exception of big bears with the right bullet placement out to 500 yrds with ease. i,m a reloader and use 308-243 cases that are every where. if you must shoot big bears use a magnum if not a 7mm-08 with do. eastbank.
 
eastbank, THANK YOU!!!

I knew there had to be someone out there that also likes this round...I`ve been thinking about getting another one...I`m retired, so I have time to spend at the loading bench. My loading notebook is out in the garage, but if I can remember correctly, I used to shoot 139 gr. Hornadys with IMR 4064.

I killed a few coyotes with it.

I`ve noticed here lately, that 7/mm-08 factory ammo is more available now than it has ever been.

I`ve also been thinking about getting another .243 Win, in a Remington
700.

not sure why it seems ok to have that one, but I agree...7/mm-08 in a model 70 Winchester just sounds wrong.

Thanks for all the input guys...I appreciate.
 
I came home from that vacation and ordered a new 700BDL in 7/mm-08...I`ve always liked the Rem better than the savage...don`t know why...

so what`s wrong with the 7/mm08???
Click to expand...

Not a damn thing...

One of my LR rifles is a custom 7-08 Savage, with the 162 A-Max VLD having a .625 BC

This surpasses even the venerable 6.5's, I shoot the 140 A-Max from the .260 (soon to be replaced with the 140 ELD when I run out) and the BC on the 6.5 is "only" .610.

Now, we all know the lighter 140 can be pushed faster, but- at the cost of shorter barrel life (not that the .260 is a slouch here, but the 7-08 is a bit better).

Darn near every member of the US F-Class team uses 7mm, with the .284 Win in the lead.

I sure like the .260 as well- but there's NO reason to not hold yer head high with the 7-08.
 
Nitescout said:
so what`s wrong with the 7/mm08???
Click to expand...

That gun writers and the interweb seem to insist that it's a good cartridge "for women and children". While that may (or may not) be true, it's a darned fine general purpose cartridge, period.
 
I not a long range shooter but for hunting there is nothing wrong with the 7-08. Mine is in a Rem mdl 7 stainless synthetic. 3x9 leupold scope, it is a nice light, well balanced package that is fast and accurate. Does it provide ballistics that others don't not really. But it is the second most boring rifle I own, right behind its big brother a Rem 700 in .280. Goes bang and stuff dies.
 
I have had the short, blue version of Rem's Model 7 for decades. After trying a wide variety of bullets, mine likes the 140s from Sierra, while my 7mag prefers the 160s. 4064, 3031 and 760 all do well in mine.
 
Nothing at all wrong with a 7-08, but it just isn't enough different than 308 to matter. A 308 will shoot 155 gr bullets with a BC of .439 to 3000 fps and match almost exactly the trajectory and energy of the 7mm load Eastbank noted.

As a hunting round anything a 308 will do anything 7-08 will do equally well. It is just a matter of preference between 28 and 30 caliber. I could be happy with either, but chose 308 simply because I have other 30 caliber rifles and it keeps reloading simpler.

As a target round the 260 and especially the 6.5 Creedmoor is proving to win more matches than either 7-08 or 308.

Here is a good article explaining why the 6.5's are doing better than 308. No mention of 7-08 in this article.

http://precisionrifleblog.com/2015/04/25/how-much-does-cartridge-matter/
 
I had a 700 BDL Varmint special about 20 years ago. It would shoot groups 3/4 to 1 moa consistently. Not bad, but not any better than my 700 ADL sporter in 6mm Remington.
 
Hmmm, it drops like a brick after 300yds. The 150gr load I shoot in mine has better ballistics to 600 than my .308 with 165gr bullets. I have one of the old Remington SPS Varmints with a barrel cut to 20" and quite a few upgrades and mods. Shoots dime sized groups at 100 and has accounted for a dump truck load of deer and close to that on pigs. I don't think about shots to 350. Knocking the cartridge then turning around and saying a 6.5 flavor of the week or a .308 is superior is asinine. If you do it right, the 7mm08 is more than capable of doing the job.
 
Nothing at all wrong with a 7mm08 for me. I picked up a model 7 chambered in it and I was hooked.

All the "internet lore" of ammo being hard to find I'd heard for years prior to buying one I found to be total crap.
Well, that is unless you are someone who never buys more than one box at a time or expect to find it at the wally world or corner store.

There are more 7mm08 hunting loads out there right now than ever before.
Ammo cost is also something you hear a lot of whining about from people but again, cant prove that by me when I can find it on sale for $13-17 a box a few times every year.

To me its a good all around caliber with easy recoil and kills stuff nicely.
 
after reading through all the posts, I realized we have been comparing apples to oranges...post #7, and post #8 got me to thinking...I`m not a long range shooter, but I think the rifles used for PRS are shooting at PAPER, and the reference in my original post was in reference to The steel ram at 485 yards...It had to be knocked over ...spinning it around or just ringing the gong counted as a miss...I think that is why we didn`t see 243 win or 6.5 something...the bullet had to have enough energy to knock 50# of hard 1/2" steel over...not just through paper. One other thing, the silhouette game was all shot offhand...no crutches or bypods...

I don't know if they still have any silhouette matches; it was a game anyone could play...you didn't have to have a new rifle built and spend a fortune on a stock, and scope.

I guess it just comes down to which game you want to play.
 
I'm with you, 7-08 is a fine round. It has good trajectory, good retained energy at a given range due to higher bullet weight, and is a good all-around hunting and target round.

The 6.5mm has gained a following mainly from the target shooting community due to good BC for bullet weight, which translates quite nicely into shoots flat and doesn't kick hard. No, 6.5mm bullets do not always have the mass to clean a row of rams, but they fly nicely and poke holes in paper very nicely. 7mm bullets have high BCs as well, but you have to shoot a heavier bullet to get a BC to match a 6.5mm, and many target shooters like lighter bullets because they take less of a toll on the shooter by the end of a match.

This is the same argument the 30-cal shooters were having about 7mms 25 years ago: 30s hit harder and you can get a great BC with a 250gr bullet. But yes, it kicks harder. Long range shooters are moving in the opposite direction now, going to .338s, .375s, .416s and .50s because they have the energy to make it to 1,600 meters and beyond.
 
I have 3 X 7mm08(20" carbine, 22" rifle, and 24" HB long range rifle) and use one of them most every year for deer season. Are they better than a .308? For me, not really but I find it has slightly less perceived recoil especially in the carbine. Primarily, I have/use the 7mm08 because I have a very large stock pile of 7mm bullets and brass.
I suppose one day, the 7mm08's will be handed down to the Grandkids and I'll keep my old dependable 7x57's and life will go on.
 
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