Wanting to replace a barrel. 7mm08??

[JBM_DC]

Looking to replace a barrel on one of my Savage 10TR rifles and was looking to do so with 7mm08. This will be a short action rifle fed from AICS mags, so I am restricted to using the shorter mag lengths. Does this pose a problem when looking to use bullet weights 162 up to 180gr? Also from Hodgdon's online load center, I am looking at roughly 2500 fps with these weights. This seems a little low when I see people reporting 2750,2770 fps.

Is there something I am missing with this?

Rifle in question, the tan one. Savage 10TR .308 with an XLR chassis.

My intended uses are:

Local tactical matches (just having fun)
Steel at longer ranges (roughly 1000m)
Local 600y prone matches
followed by some pig / coyote hunting

Looking to use a 24" barrel maybe 26"

 

[billyburl2]

The 7-08 is a great round. And you might consider switching to Accurate mags, or removing the binder plates on your AICS mags. The heavies do like to be loaded long for velocity. But even when loaded down to shorter lengths and lower velocities, they will out-perform comparable weight 308 bullets by a lot.

 

[JBM_DC]

How much can you gain by switching to accurate mags? I have plenty AI 308 mags, is there any reliability issues after removing the binder plates?

 

[MoBoost]

6.5mm (Creed, SLR, 260 ... your pick) is what you want; 7mm-08 is good cartridge - 6.5 will do EVERYTHING better, other than shoot heavies, but then might as well stick with 308.

If you want to stick to 7mm - 284Win is a much better suited case.

 

[billyburl2]

Accurate mags can be bought without the binder plate, and are as long as the AICS with the binder plate removed. I have not heard of any reliability issues coming from removing the plates. I believe removing the plate, or running the Accurate mags, allows for .035" longer length.

 

[JBM_DC]

Running numbers in JBM, not sure how accurate my numbers are.

6.5 140gr Berger with a BC of .612 running 2800fps to 1k gives 8.2 mils drop and 1.9 wind adjustment (10mph)
7mm 162gr Amax with a BC of .625 running 2750fps to 1k gives 8.5 mils drop and 1.9 wind adjustment (10mph)

Is there something I am not doing right here? Are my numbers way off?

 

[Runamuk]

Listen to Billy

For your intended purpose the 7-08 is tough to beat.

No the 6.5's do not do "EVERYTHING" better.

I shoot both calibers pretty often and can tell you a lot depends on how you're loading for them. If you push them both it ends up being pretty much a wash with the 6.5 being a bit flatter while the 7mm is a small bit better in the wind way out there and generally easier on barrels. Both are good calibers but since screwing the 7-08 barrel on my AE I've decided to remove the .260 barrel on my other AE and go 6mm for a bump in performance for comps. The difference between a .260 and 7-08 are so close with my hand loads there really isn't a reason for me to own both.

If you're not getting a prefit barrel for your savage and instead going to a gunsmith, give Mark at SAC a call. I know he's done a lot of shooting with a 7mm creed, with it's longer neck that may allow you to keep using your AI mags without modifying them (I'm not sure). Also you might try dropping HODGDONEXTREME a pm, he's currently building an SLR 7mm I think and has a ton of info on the matter.

 

[Runamuk]

Running numbers in JBM, not sure how accurate my numbers are.

6.5 140gr Berger with a BC of .612 running 2800fps to 1k gives 8.2 mils drop and 1.9 wind adjustment (10mph)
7mm 162gr Amax with a BC of .625 running 2750fps to 1k gives 8.5 mils drop and 1.9 wind adjustment (10mph)

Is there something I am not doing right here? Are my numbers way off?

Nope, your numbers are reasonable.

 

[billyburl2]

And for hunting, 7mm has a much broader selection of bullets.

 

[JBM_DC]

Is 2750 obtainable with a 24" barrel and being fed from an AICS or Accurate Mag??

 

[Runamuk]

Not sure how much you would lose with a 24"barrel.

I run a 26" barrel and shoot 170ish grain bullets at 2770fps in accurate mags. I load my bullets out not for powder capacity but to get close to the lands.

 

[JBM_DC]

What types of powders should I be looking into. From what I can tell is that the 15+ cans of Varget I have laying around are pretty close to useless when trying to push the 7mm08. From what I could see in the Reloading section is that H4350 is pretty ideal, only bad thing is I have not been able to find any of it for the past year.

 

[Runamuk]

H4350 is all that I run in mine, can't help you there.

 

[HodgdonExtreme]

6.5mm (Creed, SLR, 260 ... your pick) is what you want; 7mm-08 is good cartridge - 6.5 will do EVERYTHING better, other than shoot heavies, but then might as well stick with 308.

If you want to stick to 7mm - 284Win is a much better suited case.

Everything??

 

[HodgdonExtreme]

What types of powders should I be looking into. From what I can tell is that the 15+ cans of Varget I have laying around are pretty close to useless when trying to push the 7mm08. From what I could see in the Reloading section is that H4350 is pretty ideal, only bad thing is I have not been able to find any of it for the past year.

Don't dismiss Varget! My experience has been it's about 6 of one and a half dozen of the other between Varget and H4350 in the 7mm08. Some barrels seem to run a little faster with one, some barrels the other. Either way they usually shoot very well, and will be within ~25fps of one another.