7mm-08

[Who Dat]

The 7mm-08 was the cartridge for steel competitions for knocking down steel rams at a distance, it had the speed and the energy for getting the job done. It fell to the way side when the 6.5s took over the scene. My wife hunts with one, I originally got her a Browning BLR but she did not like the lever action and wanted a bolt so the BLR became mine. So I got her a Remington 700 ADL and then converted it to a BDL from extra parts I had from builds and dropped it in a better synthetic stock. She loves it, light in weight, compact and no issues with knocking and elk down.

 

[30cal user]

My late father built this 7-08 as his comp rifle and also hunted South Africa with it, taking 50+ animals with 162 amax on cull hunt.
139 super performance is good also
This is a 22" gain twist 9.2-8.5, GA Precision Templar, manners t5

 

[30cal user]

I just started to shoot it recently, it's pretty awesome

 

[30cal user]

This works well also

 

[Sendero_Man]

My late father built this 7-08 as his comp rifle and also hunted South Africa with it, taking 50+ animals with 162 amax on cull hunt.
139 super performance is good also
This is a 22" gain twist 9.2-8.5, GA Precision Templar, manners t5

Sharp rig !!!

like to see that in person, luv the 7-08

 

[Sendero_Man]

Gotta love a 7-08 for a hunting rig... My son loves his !

 

[Who Dat]

Very Nice! Hope he has a good summer job or you are going to spend a fortune keeping him in weapons,,,lol

 

[fmsniper]

2 I built so far
7mm08 1-10 twist
I decided to go with 19.5 inch barrel for starters on this one, I just dropped a 11 degree crown on it, now I have to figure out when I can shoot it


builds are mostly done, only thing left is duracoat and thread the barrel for flash hider.
scopes are Viper PST top 2 and bottom is PFI 2-600

 

[Sendero_Man]

Very Nice! Hope he has a good summer job or you are going to spend a fortune keeping him in weapons,,,lol

He already has laid claim to half my rifles

 

[LEROYRECCE]

Need a little advice/opinions on a setup I am considering for AZ stalking/long range mule/white tail/javelina. I am considering doing a Tikka T3 Lite Stainless 7mm-08 rifle with a Zeiss Conquest 3x12-56. Any thoughts or concerns?

 

[Xshot]

I finished my 7mm-08 AI and successfully hunted with it this season. Chambering was done by Bugholes here on the hide. Spec:

Stiller Predator SA w/20 MOA picatinny rail
Rock Creek SS 5R barrel (23 inches, 8.7 twist, fluted & threaded)
B & C Alaskan II (bedded, Wyatt extended mag box & Remington bottom metal)
Old Remington trigger tuned to 2.5 lbs.
Leupold 3-9x40 VX-R Patrol w/TMR

My pet load is 49 grains of CFE-223, BR2 primer and Nosler 120 grain BT. Average MV is 3223 FPS. This combo is absolutely devastating on Wisconsin whitetail. Accuracy is superb - better than .5 MOA at 100 yards. I found CFE-223 to be a great powder! It's not overly temp sensitive, unless you let a round cook in a hot chamber. I'm also very impressed with terminal performance of Nosler's 120gr BT.

Lastly, this rifle consistently shoots Winchester 140gr PP factory loads under MOA.

 

[6.5BR]

What contour? Sounds nice, pics if you want. What is your COL? Thanks.

 

[Xshot]

What contour? Sounds nice, pics if you want. What is your COL? Thanks.

You can go to the Rock Creek website for actual dimensions. Their #4 sporter is sometimes called a heavy sport barrel. I don't like skinny barrels!

COL is 2.820 inches. I'll post pictures soon. I subscribe to this thread, because I'm interested in this caliber.

 

[DrewinTejas]

Got my hunting 708 done this year and finally made it out in the field. I shoot 168 berger classic with it and have been impressed. Dropped a big hog and head shot a doe and blew a heart out of a spike.

 

[Xshot]

Need a little advice/opinions on a setup I am considering for AZ stalking/long range mule/white tail/javelina. I am considering doing a Tikka T3 Lite Stainless 7mm-08 rifle with a Zeiss Conquest 3x12-56. Any thoughts or concerns?

3-12 power is nice, but a 56mm objective is really big -IMHO. I picked up my lightly use VX-R Patrol here on the hide for a great price. My intent was to eventually put it on one of my hunting 5.56 AR's. When it arrived, I was really impressed by its light weight (16 oz. on my scale) and clear optics. However, I wasn't sure about the TMR reticle for hunting. Well that all changed when I took a running buck standing offhand @207 yards. Scope was dialed in at 5x and it was a snap shot. POA/POI was where the bucks neck and chest met. The VX-R Patrol is staying on this rifle for the foreseeable future - it just plain works well on this rifle. Oh, I have other high end scopes with more magnification and features, but they're heavy and bulkier.

FWIW - the Nosler 120gr BT didn't exit. The buck instantly collapsed as if it was head shot. The heart was in little pieces and lungs were jellied. I was really shocked and impressed with its performance.

 

[Oregonmuley]

Gotta love a 7-08 for a hunting rig... My son loves his !

Both great pictures but I sure do like the rifle in that 1st one

 

[Sendero_Man]

I figured you be bias ...grin

fYI the bottom one is gone. Tyler likes the first one too

 

[Desert_Racer]

Tag for later

 

[Oregonmuley]

Never a bad thing when you are carrying a 7MM-08, in fact its a good idea to have several - just in case Here is my latest, started as a generic SPS stainless, sent to Karl @ Kampfeld Customs for some "improvements". Shoots most everything well, balances perfect, add the Montana sling and you're in high cotton!!

 

[XTREM HTR16]

He already has laid claim to half my rifles

So that's why you got the Extreme Hunter! grin

 

[XTREM HTR16]

Scott,
I remember seeing the specs on your rifle somewhere else, but couldn't remember - is that a Hunters Edge or a Classic Edge stock?

 

[Colcalcipherol]

mbp708, what sort of load are you using to get that velocity?

 

[firstshot425]

Hello everyone, I'm new to the hide and I am also in the middle of a 7mm-08 build. I was looking at various post on 7mm-08 vs. 7mm-08AI and stumbled across this thread.

Bottom line, I've decided to stick with 7mm-08. I've had this caliber in three different rifles so far, a Rem 700 Mtn LSS, a Rem 7600, and a Browning BAR ShortTrac Oil Finish. I do my own reloading and have taken a lot of deer and hogs with this caliber. I started out with the Mtn LSS but later converted it to a 243 youth version for my 12 year old son and bought me the 7600. I later traded the 7600 for the ShortTrac. All the 7mm-08's were sub-moa shooters using my reloads. Well.... my son hasn't used the 243 as much as I thought he would, and I'm tired of chasing brass at the range with the BAR so I decided to use the Rem 700 action as a donor and do a custom build 7mm-08.

I've got a Bartlein 1-9 twist #3 contour heavy sporter stainless barrel that will be mounted in a Boyd’s laminated Prairie Hunger stock and will be switching out the Rem stock trigger for a Kepplinger single set. It will be glass bedded and free-floated. Mark Phar of Tumbleweeds Rifles (Tumbleweeds Thousand Yard F-Class, Rimfire and High Power Silhouette, and High-Grade Hunting Rifles) in Round Rock, Texas will be putting it all together for me starting next Monday. (He's at the shot show this week).

Still haven't decided on barrel length. It's primarily going to be a hunting rifle so want to keep it 24" or less. Here in Texas we primarilly hunt from raised blinds so, to some degree, barrel length and weight are not a major concern. Any comments, suggestions, recommendations on barrel length?

Any other "build" considerations I should keep in mind?

Thanks
firstshot

 

[XTREM HTR16]

Congrats! 23" is where it's at...

 

[firstshot425]

Congrats! 23" is where it's at...

Gunsmith will be starting on it this coming Monday when he gets back from Shot Show.

firstshot

 

[Wannashootit]

7mm-08:

 

[Hootiewho]

If a man wanted to get a barrel for an AI AX to get the most as far as distance and ballistics from the 7-08 shooting the heavier bullets like the 162 AMAX, which would be the best barrel make, twist, and length to get? I have hunted with the 7-08 for years and IMHO it is one of the best deer rounds available. I shot a ton of deer with mine and not one single deer ever took a step after being hit with a Hornady SST.

 

[SporterII]

My late father built this 7-08 as his comp rifle and also hunted South Africa with it, taking 50+ animals with 162 amax on cull hunt.
139 super performance is good also
This is a 22" gain twist 9.2-8.5, GA Precision Templar, manners t5

Superb.

 

[Nortex]

If a man wanted to get a barrel for an AI AX to get the most as far as distance and ballistics from the 7-08 shooting the heavier bullets like the 162 AMAX, which would be the best barrel make, twist, and length to get? I have hunted with the 7-08 for years and IMHO it is one of the best deer rounds available. I shot a ton of deer with mine and not one single deer ever took a step after being hit with a Hornady SST.

If you don't have any intentions of going over the 168 gr class bullets then 1:9 twist will suffice.

 

[Engine 22]

Pics please!

 

[delixe]

That's sharp.
I had one of those March 3-24s, what a great scope.

 

[_shawn_]

will a 9 twist stabilize a 175 gr smk? building a savage 7-08 and all i can find are 9 twist barrels

 

[H_Talon]

here is my distance shooter .. in 7mm-08

still using a hunting scope till I can get the funds for a Nightforce 2.5-10x 42mm Scope,

some mods but cut factory varmint barrel for now ..

but my hunting guns are savage 99's ( I love 99's

and it's a meat provider

and a new one built for me by the wife ... the top one .. also a 99F rebarreled into 7mm-08

yep I love my 99's and 7mm-08 ..

 

[BoilerUP]

will a 9 twist stabilize a 175 gr smk? building a savage 7-08 and all i can find are 9 twist barrels

Easily.

 

[_shawn_]

ok cool. the box said it needed an 8.5 so wanted to make sure....thanks

 

[LoanHarvey]

tag

 

[Sendero_Man]

I'm mostly a hunter so am a huge fan of the 7mm-08. In fact I kinda feel naked unless I have a couple in the safe at all times. Here is my newest that just arrived about a month ago. A really handy rig that I hope sees lots of use this year.

That one can stay in Wyoming this Fall. ?

 

[Oregonmuley]

I'll be out about October 18th to chase antelopes so we will see

 

[Hennig]

Did some load dev with my 22" 7-08 last weekend. 5 different loads, 2x 5 shot groups with each load.

Average of the 10 groups came in at .43 moa - pretty happy with that actually.

Settled on 48gr 2209, 2758fps AV, SD of 8. 162 Amax, COAL of 2.935, 1:8tw Bart.

 

[HodgdonExtreme]

Did some load dev with my 22" 7-08 last weekend. 5 different loads, 2x 5 shot groups with each load.

Average of the 10 groups came in at .43 moa - pretty happy with that actually.

Settled on 48gr 2209, 2758fps AV, SD of 8. 162 Amax, COAL of 2.935, 1:8tw Bart.

2209 is ADI2209? That's H4350 to us Yankees?

 

[Hennig]

Yep, H4350. Got to remember where I'm posting!

 

[AKsarben]

Anyone ever put a 16" barrel on an AR10, like the DPMS LR308? And at that length of barrel, would there be any advante over the 7mm-08 over the .243? Back in Nebraska where I am from, there are a lot of white tail and mule deer shot with a regular bolt action .243 rifle every year. Pluse they use them on prairie dogs and other varmints as well. Ammo is pretty plentiful for the .243, so wondering how well it is for the 7mm-08 caliber?

 

[chopiesel]

7mm-08

I went with 708 cause it's not that popular. Here is Aus anyway.
I liked the idea of trying to work it all out myself without a great wealth of info available. Although in reality there us still plenty of info available in this day and age.


Edit- my tikka heavy barrel doesn't like ar2209 with anything.

39.5 of 2208 (varget?) with 168 smk is the only combo I've found to work.

 

[Nortex]

I went with 708 cause it's not that popular. Here is Aus anyway.
I liked the idea of trying to work it all out myself without a great wealth of info available. Although in reality there us still plenty of info available in this day and age.


Edit- my tikka heavy barrel doesn't like ar2209 with anything.

39.5 of 2208 (varget?) with 168 smk is the only combo I've found to work.

I've just switched over to the 168gr matchking and have to say I like them a good bit. The bc is not as good as the 162gr Amax but it's a good bit higher than advertised too also not as oal sensitive in my rifle.

 

[parkj5]

My new 7mm-08. Have not fired it yet due to work but will soon after August.

 

[mdesign]

Some nice pics of your rifles.....great thread.

 

[dmike]

Great thread

 

[chopiesel]

7mm-08

I've just switched over to the 168gr matchking and have to say I like them a good bit. The bc is not as good as the 162gr Amax but it's a good bit higher than advertised too also not as oal sensitive in my rifle.

I've not been able to find any amax in aus. Hopefully they start coming back soon as I'd love to try them. I did find 1 box of 162 hpbt and found them to work well, I've not shot it over 500 metres yet though.

Here is mine with her new w3

 

[Nortex]

I've taken the 168gr matchking to 1000 yards with great results even in 15mph full value winds.

 

[chopiesel]

I had some good results with the 162 SST on the weekend using adi 2209 powder.