7mm08 or 8.6 blackout
- Thread starter bodhisafa
- Start date
I'd go 8.6 Blackout...but I have a bias (my 8.6 SBR with Q Porq Chop can is an absolute HAMMER out to ~100yds; but with only an 8" barrel, it won't get the distance that a 12" or 16" barreled 8.6 would). The 342gr "pork shredder" round is an absolute beast...though mine prefers 300gr BTHP subsonic...until I get my custom barrel made. Current barrel [Faxon] doesn't load the 342gr or 350gr rounds very well, so I am going to buy a Mos-Tek 8" barrel to resolve the issue once and for all.
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Id likely avoid the 1/3 twist.... they can be hmmm tempermental and give issues for sure if you ever run cast or even some softer non mono bullets...
I like the variety something like a 5 or 6 twist offers. Should ill do fine with big copper expanders, slow cast bullets and typical jacketed stuff. You can even play supersonic with all the extra case volume they stuck in there.
if youre suppressing, id go 8.6 blk all day. Maybe a .458 socom or .450 bush even if you havent got a can yet and are open to handloads.
I like the variety something like a 5 or 6 twist offers. Should ill do fine with big copper expanders, slow cast bullets and typical jacketed stuff. You can even play supersonic with all the extra case volume they stuck in there.
if youre suppressing, id go 8.6 blk all day. Maybe a .458 socom or .450 bush even if you havent got a can yet and are open to handloads.
I don't have any personal experience with 8.6 blackout, but everything I've read about it seems to be very positive. It basically outperforms 300 blackout in every measurable category even in subsonic configuration from the reviews I've seen.
7-08 all day, everyday. *** This is assuming that you are hunting at night, out in the open, and not in a blind over bait.
8.6 has some cool aspects to it. However, one of the things you'll find hunting out in the open at night is that true range estimation is a bitch, especially when the pigs start running and the LRF capabilities of your equipment are useless due to time. These big and heavy cartridges all have one thing in common - a lot of drop. Whereas a standard .308-based cartridge with a medium-weight bullet is going to be significantly flatter in trajectory. Not only will you get an extra ~50-75 yards of range estimation buffer with the 7-08, but your lead times will be significantly less, and faster cartridges are MUCH easier to hit running animals with.
^ Especially if you're comparing 7-08 supersonic to 8.6 subsonic. And don't believe the myth that the other animals stay put when you shoot one with a suppressed subsonic. Make a pig scream - they all run. If they've ever been subjected to gunfire (regardless of how quiet your rifle is) - they all run. I've had multiple times on video where I've killed one with a 3-chamber brake before and only had the others start to walk off or mill around before like nothing happened.
Add in the cost of components, and the fact that a cheap 120 - 140gr hunting bullet is more than adequate in the 7-08, and it wins by a large margin in practicality. I killed hogs more effectively with a .30 cent, 150gr Hornady Interlock, or .40 cent SST out of a .308, than I did with a 6.5 Grendel or 6.8 SPC and all fancy bullets (>.80 cents per) combined. It wasn't a wide margin, but it was still better and cost me $.40 less per round when I was spraying and praying.
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Obviously, if you are in a blind hunting only one pig at exactly ___ yards over a feeder, then the external ballistic advantages of the 7-08 are moot.
And never count out the fact that if you want to kill a hog with ____ chambering in ___ rifle, that you should build it that way and enjoy it. I'm not against any rifle, or how a dude wants to spend his money. I'm merely stating the often-overlooked advantages of the classic and less 'currently cool' options... simply because of marketing and occasionally because of misinformation.
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