7mm08 Short Barrel Deer Loads

[Tophernj]

Hi all.
Thank you all for your help on another thread.
I purchased a Remington Mod. 7 in 7mm08. The barrel is, I believe, 18.5”.
I am going to run the 150gn Berger Classic Hunter bullets and have H4350, Varget, and CFE 223 available.
I looking to find a suitable load with any one of these powders. Rifle will be for woods hunting whitetail in the northeast. Longest shot will be 200 but in all honesty, 100 is probably about as far as I would want to go.
Thanks a bunch for any help in advance.

 

[troy fairweather]

The 7-08 does well with short barrels, may help to look at pistol data.

 

[George P]

Mine prefers 140 gr bullets. Win760 and a Nosler 140 BT give me 3 shots inside an inch at 100 yds. It also likes 120s. I found 150's accuracy to be only so-so

 

[22250Rem]

Sweet rifle in a sweet chambering. I would consult the reloading manuals and try a few combinations based on the powders & bullets you have available. Any load within book limits should be good to your maximum predetermined range. Troy Fairweather is correct on short barreled 7mm-08's. I have an Encore handgun with a 15" 7mm-08 barrel. The go-to load is a 139 gr. Hornady Spire Point fueled by IMR-4064; running a full grain below the Hornady maximum it still launches 139 gr. bullets at an average of 2417 FPS which is very nice, IMHO, for a 15" barrel. Could get a bit more velocity with a bit more powder but this one is so accurate I stick with it. An 18.5" barrel should work great for that usage, and as an added bonus that cartridge won't blind you with muzzle flash or muzzle blast. The 15" barrel I use isn't even bad.

 

[jmr40]

The same load that gives best velocity from a 28" barrel will be the same load that gives best velocity from an 18" barrel. It will obviously be slower from an 18" barrel, but you don't need to work up any special loads just because the barrel is shorter. And as others have said 7-08 doesn't lose as much from shorter barrels as some.

 

[gotboostvr]

The same load that gives best velocity from a 28" barrel will be the same load that gives best velocity from an 18" barrel

Yup. This.

"Short barrel" Loads usually just mean "low flash"

 

[horsemen61]

Ttrl

 

[Ks5shooter]

Hornady139 gr SST 37.6 grains IMR4064 Winchester large rifle primer

 

[GooseGestapo]

My Mod-7 in 7mm08 has a 20”bbl.
It gets more velocity than most 24” barrels. It has a “fast” barrel.
I originally planned to rebarrel it to 6.5-284 but after chronographing some PMC factory 139’s at 3,000fps decided to keep it as-is....

It is at its best with 150gr bullets. IMR4350 @ 45.0gr is splendid. It almost reaches 2,800fps.
RL17 is my favorite. 47.5gr gets over 2,800fps.

I’d start with 43.0gr of H4350 and work up to 45.4gr (Hodgdon’s max). They claim 2,740fps. (24”bbl).

My rifle has a short, tight throat. It’s most accurate with bullets lightly touching throat. This is usually around 2.830”. Short enough to still fit the magazine.

The 37.6 load of 4064 with a 139gr SST likely won’t break 2,400fps from a 18.5”bbl. Hodgdons lists 40.0gr as starting load for 2,682 FPS. My rifle tops 3,000 with 48.0 of RL17.

It’s astonishing what a 150gr .284” Winchester Power Point does to a 150lb buck at 2,700fps... makes a bigger mess than my .300RUM w/180gr CorLokt @3,300fps...

Besides being decently accurate, my “7” is a lucky rifle. I just seem to see,shoot, and kill game when I use it.
My best friend killed a, 800lb 6x6 elk with it in ‘06 in Colorado. He was using 140gr Nosler Partitions over 46.5gr of IMR4350. Outfitter and three guides tried to buy the rifle from him.... it wears a brown/tan laminate stock and a Leupold 2.5-8x VariX II scope in low Leupold 2pc bases/rings.View attachment 959462 View attachment 959462

 

[Tophernj]

The same load that gives best velocity from a 28" barrel will be the same load that gives best velocity from an 18" barrel. It will obviously be slower from an 18" barrel, but you don't need to work up any special loads just because the barrel is shorter. And as others have said 7-08 doesn't lose as much from shorter barrels as some.

Completely understood.
I guess I was hoping that someone could send me a box of "voodoo chicken bones" to shake over my reloading press and help me quickly and easily identify an awesome load. I guess I'll just have to do the work. Blah.

 

[Tophernj]

My Mod-7 in 7mm08 has a 20”bbl.
It gets more velocity than most 24” barrels. It has a “fast” barrel.
I originally planned to rebarrel it to 6.5-284 but after chronographing some PMC factory 139’s at 3,000fps decided to keep it as-is....

It is at its best with 150gr bullets. IMR4350 @ 45.0gr is splendid. It almost reaches 2,800fps.
RL17 is my favorite. 47.5gr gets over 2,800fps.

I’d start with 43.0gr of H4350 and work up to 45.4gr (Hodgdon’s max). They claim 2,740fps. (24”bbl).

My rifle has a short, tight throat. It’s most accurate with bullets lightly touching throat. This is usually around 2.830”. Short enough to still fit the magazine.

Thank you sir.
My Mod7 probably has a 20" barrel but it's lovingly used and has been threaded and brake-d. I don't want the brake and don't trust the threading as I have no idea who did the work. So, I'm gonna cut it off. I'll recrown it myself.
I'll then find out where the lands are and go from there. I'm using the "Classic Hunter's" as they are less jump sensitive than, say a VLD.
Thanks for the advice on starting load. Much appreciated.

 

[jmorris]

I have killed a number of deer and hogs with a 14.5” barreled 7mm BR, my favorite bullet it the 140gn partition.

I have used the same bullet in my 7-08 model seven with less than max loads, on lots of hogs over the years, using 748.

Of the powders you have, CFE would be my pick, if I were using a powder measure and varget if I were weighing them. Would still shoot both to see what the rifle preferred.

 

[jmr40]

My Mod-7 in 7mm08 has a 20”bbl.
It gets more velocity than most 24” barrels. It has a “fast” barrel.

This sort of thing happens more than we realize. When we see numbers stating that a certain cartridge will lose 10, 20 or 30 fps for each 1 inch shorter barrel that information is only relevant to a single barrel. If we start with a long barrel, measure velocity and then start cutting it 1" shorter and measuring velocity at each length those numbers are pretty accurate. Generally speaking cartridges that hold more powder lose more speed as the barrel is cut. Smaller capacity cases like 7-08 and 308 will be closer to the 10-20 fps/inch range. The big magnums will be closer to 30-40 fps/inch range.

But the difference between individual barrels will often be much greater than 2"-4" of barrel makes. I don't shoot 7-08, but I have several rifles in 308 with barrels ranging from 18"-22". The fastest one is 20" Tikka CTR. It shoots about 50 fps faster than my 22" Kimber and about 30 fps faster than my 22" Winchester. The Ruger with the 18" barrel is nearly 100 fps slower than the 20" Tikka, but only about 50 fps slower than the 22" Kimber.

I have 2 rifles chambered in 30-06. A Winchester and Remington, both with 22" barrels. The Winchester is consistently 60-90 fps faster than the Remington. It depends on the load. I could cut the Winchester down to 20" and it would still be faster than the Remington.

 

[Tophernj]

I have killed a number of deer and hogs with a 14.5” barreled 7mm BR, my favorite bullet it the 140gn partition.

I have used the same bullet in my 7-08 model seven with less than max loads, on lots of hogs over the years, using 748.

Of the powders you have, CFE would be my pick, if I were using a powder measure and varget if I were weighing them. Would still shoot both to see what the rifle preferred.

Hmmmmmm... I wonder if we're related...
Anyway, thanks. I will for sure be trying everything.

 

[GooseGestapo]

I’d just remove the brake and install a thread protector.
Cost about $15, maybe...
If crown is otherwise good...

 

[Tophernj]

I’d just remove the brake and install a thread protector.
Cost about $15, maybe...
If crown is otherwise good...

Cut and crown won’t cost me anything...

 

[Varminterror]

Varget under 140 NAB’s out of a Savage Stryker pistol has been my favorite 7-08 firearm and load combination for a long time. I don’t load for low flash or blast, I load for velocity and performance in the field.

 

[DustyGmt]

I found my 18" 7mm-08 likes 120 NBT Nosler factory ammunition. I dont reload but I shot a nice cloverleaf pattern last week and the other day I put 3 more down the pipe just to double check and the 3rd shot I pulled a lil but that's not a bad group @100yards off a bag shooting at a 6" target paster.

This is one of the better groups I've got with this rifle, I wont even show you the targets shot with 140's.