7-08 Interest/opinions

[Intheshop]

Saving the ole,"lunch money" routine for a Rem SPS SS in 7-08.Filling a gap in our rifle/calibers.

.....to be fed with....

RCBS 7mm-145-SILH 531

Looking for 2000-2400 fps and coke can @150 yd accuracy.Does this seem realistic.....or,"that'll never work"?

TIA for your consideration,BW

 

[Rick]

I've got a Rem 700 in 7-08. I picked it up not long before the search for a house and move cross country began and haven't done a lot with it. Early testing indicated that the RCBS 168 SP and FP with 4759 had good promise. The RCBS 145 did quite well in the 7 BR in a 15" XP. Can't be much more help than that.

 

[fiver]

the only 7-08 I ever messed with like the LEE soup can pretty well.
it wasn't near 2-K fps, but it was accurate.

 

[Ian]

Got a shot-out Savage sporter barrel going pretty well once, minute of the bottom end of a coke can at 100 all day long at just over 2600 fps with the regular Lee bullet and H414 powder with reformed/trimmed/turned to fit '06 brass and just the right amount of compacting shot buffer. It was my "200K rpm challenge" choice of rifle and while I only got down to a little under 3MOA for consistent, ten shot groups, I did get over 200K rpm without the bullets going off into the stratosphere. 2200 fps is a walk in the park.

Recently I saw a really nice design for modern 7mm rifles, it must have been NOE but it wasn't the "Thor" bullet Edd and Mike were working on. It looked like the MP 30 Silhouette bullet shrunk down. I'd probably go that direction if I got the modern 7mm bug again, I really like the 7mm-08 for shooting targets and varmints out to 300 yards but it's too small for deer and too short-range for much of anything else in my opinion.

 

[Rick]

Too small for deer? Been a whole lot of deer taken with much smaller calibers than the 7-08. How many deer have fallen to the 30-30 at far less velocity. Too short range? The rifle silhouette shooters will probably be quite surprised to hear that since it's been very successful in that sport to 500 meters for many years. The 7-08 is an excellent all around 7mm.

 

[Brad]

I would prefer larger than 7 mm for deer with cast. With jacketed the 7-08 is an awesome deer cartridge. With cast I prefer more diameter and more weight.

 

[Rick]

168 gr bullets in a 7 isn't good for Bambi? .024" smaller than a 30 caliber and 170 gr is common in the 30-30. You could have a case with 4-500 yard shots perhaps but not once have I personally had the chance to shoot deer at anything close to that range, don't think most people do.

 

[Chris]

I don't want to argue about what constitutes a proper deer caliber, but for me it starts at .35 caliber and gains considerably with greater diameter. There is collective experience on game that supports this concept. However, shoot what you got, it's your deal.

 

[Rick]

Chris, no arguing. Just folks expressing their own views just as you did. Nothing wrong in that.

 

[fiver]

too small? it's the 'high pressure' version of the 7 mauser.
I shoot the Ackley version and have taken several cow Elk and even a Moose with it.
the wife shot lengthwise through two 225+ lb deer, in and out, and in and out, chest to ribs and ribs to chest again, with her not so hopped up 2750fps version.
I think pretty highly of the round for all kinds of game if the shots are within 250 yds.
with jacketed of course.

with cast such as I believe Ian was talking about I agree.
at that point it is downgraded to yotes and fox, and a larger varmint round.

 

[Chris]

I have no experience with 7-08 but have shot quite a few bucks with a .280 and jacketed. However I assumed we were talking cast in this 7-08 conversation and that's what my comment refers to. I never shot anything with the .280 in cast although I did shoot it a lot with various molds on paper.

PS I'm not arguing at all, just my view of caliber/diameter in cast vs. game. Let's not let this diminish or sidetrack the conversation... just my view on something to keep in mind.

 

[Ian]

with cast such as I believe Ian was talking about I agree.
at that point it is downgraded to yotes and fox, and a larger varmint round.

Bingo.

Intheshop was asking for opinions and he got mine, sorry I didn't clarify that my opinion was ONLY for cast bullets.

The short throats that keep turning up in commercial rifles are not ideal for anything over about 130-140-grains and still be fully in the neck and also in the magazine. 7mm is not a great cast bullet deer cartridge, says me. Neither is the 30-WCF. Adequate, yes, great, no. If all you make is brain shots at 40 yards or less then a .22 LR is adequate (though not legal anywhere I know of in the US). Sure the 7x57 is a great cast bullet cartridge and adequate for deer....IF you are close. and fill up the throat and magazine with a long, heavy bullet and shoot it faster than most people ever will figure out how with dependable accuracy. Lots of ifs.

Last critter I killed for the table was with a .35 and I sure wasn't wishing for a 7mm @ 2K fps when I pulled the trigger.

 

[Rick]

I think Fiver explained it pretty well. I wouldn't hesitate to shoot deer with cast in my 7-08 but where I would be hunting 50 yards is about the max shot I could get. Choose a FP bullet and after it comes out the other side of Bambi the only question left is how deep in the dirt do want to bury the bullet.

All that said the original post in this thread asked for enough accuracy and power to kill coke cans at 150 yards. He never mentioned Bambi. I can state with full confidence that the 7-08 is over kill on both counts.
.

 

[Ian]

True, and that bullet will sure do it. It will do it at hole-drilling 1700 fps easy-button velocity, too, provided the RCBS mould will drop them fat enough for the rifle.

 

[fiver]

I don't think he did either.

but when you talk about uses for a rifle I think hunting most always comes into it since we mostly deal with off the shelf hunting rifles in our daily trigger time.
some of them are ridiculously accurate, some are real pretty, but versatility and familiarity is what makes them great.

 

[freebullet]

0 experience with this one. I know one fella that shoots jax only in his. It is very accurate in his hands. I wondered what it might do with cast.

 

[Intheshop]

Coke can,stood up...not ends.Bambi can go pound sand.

The 6's(6mm Rem,243's) are fun.And plenty accurate.The 22's(22-250,223's)are a work in progress.I love the 30's...and got a bunch.

But,don't the 7mm bullets have better,hate to use BC....so how about balance and slippery'ness,compared to the 30's?Strictly for cast....isn't a "modern" 7-08 squarely right between a 6mm and 30 on "BC" downrange at 150?

The wind is a factor gentleman.I envision a,run what ya brung,cast....coke can gun.I'll be choosing a sporter.Let those who insist on big fat brrls and 500$ stocks have them.This is about riflecraft,more so than I spent more than you spent BS.

Got a 7 mag for killin.I'm after those pesky cans that "hold up" at 150,and can't count on bluebird conditions.

Edit; "ends" may be used for tie breakers,haha.

 

[fiver]

the rcbs 145 for the 7mm's is a clone copy of the rcbs 165 30 cal. silhouette bullet.
same length just smaller around.

the thing I have noticed with the 7-08 round is their bore diameter is usually a touch smaller than the mauser.
a .280 nose diameter is tight in the 0-8 but isn't gonna quite engrave on the mauser.
it's once again a game of .001's
for pure target work at a nominal velocity with something like 16grs of 2400 or 24grs of 4895 the 145 would be a tough boolit to beat.
you would of course want to play with the alloy for that nose fitment the boolit relies so much on.
and water dropping would be used from the start.
I would do some start stop casting and trial and error fitment of about 10 boolits at a time until I got that nose diameter just right.

I wouldn't get too concerned if I had to anneal the gas checks or whether I sized to 284 or 285 as long as I got that nose engraving down as tight as possible without pushing the boolit back in the case when chambered.

 

[RBHarter]

The value of the 7mm is in that it lies squarely be the 25 and 30 cal .
Nominally the 6mm goes 75-105 gr ,25 from 75-120 and 30 from 100-250 . The 7mm has just 130-175, the oldschool 130 jacket is nearly as slick as any of the 100 gr 245/257s . A pointed 175 matches the slickest 30s and case for case weight for weight does start slower by about 1-200 fps but is neck and neck at 300 yd and will actually beat the faster 30 to the 500 yd line .
Twist is the 7mm shot to the foot . You're going to leave to drop all but the hardest pushed 175 RN in a modern x57 or 280 with a 1-10 twist but the 105 Match/Game King is raggity in a 243 at 1-10 and 25 cal 120s in a Savage are barely inside the window bullet by bullet. Racing B/C short of the 300WM is a lost cause in 30 cal.

 

[Ian]

My Savage had a 9" ROT. Should be plenty for 7mm heavies.