[Jeff23]

Hi All--

I'll be using factory ammo in my new 7mm-08 mod 700 to hunt whiteails this year. What bullet types do you all recommend? I figure that it's light-skinned game, so I should be looking more for expansion than penetration. I'll need to be ready for both close in shots and longer shots out to about 200 yards. Advice much appreciated.

 

[Guest]

I handload, and have been happy with Sierra Game Kings in an '06 from the muzzle to 300+ yards. I don't know if the are available in a 7mm-08 from the factory, though.

The latest Shooting Times had a good article on bullet performance, testing several different bullets at both high-velocity and low-velocity impact with ballistic gelatin.... check it out.

 

[gwp4ever]

You would be hard pressed to find much better than Nosler. I prefer the Partition and have never seen one fail to perform. Also the Winchester Fail-Safe is awesome. Grand Slam, Bear-Claw, etc. are all top notch bullets.

 

[Aix Sponsa]

I would have to agree the Nosler patition hes never failed me and the tests Iv ran with them are consistant good luck and happy shooting. AIX

 

[Buffalo Newton]

Give the Hornady 139gr. SSTs a try. Ive had real good luck with them. Nosler 140gr. Ballistic Tips are also a fantastic choice if you are going for expansion over penetration. The Nosler Partitions are designed more for penetration.
In my 7x57mm Mauser I use Hornady 139 gr. flat nose that I hollow point with the Forester case trimmer and pistol hollow point cutter attachment. This bullet seems soft, which it should be since it was designed for the 7mm pistol rounds, and when hollow pointed, it expands like mad at 7x57 velocities

 

[CartridgeGuy]

I must agree with gwp, Nosler Partition is about the best one out there for most conditions. You can get really spendy and really exotic, but it's hard to beat the old stand-by.

 

[uglydog]

For whitetails with a 7mm/08, I've found soft point bullets bullets in the 140 gr range to work well. I use 140 gr Remington Core-Lokts and 140 gr Winchester Power Points in my guns while a nephew uses 139 gr Hornady's. I haven't seen a need for Partitions or other premium bullet as these standard bullets have exited nearly every time. The only eception so far was when my nephew shot a buck that field dressed at 278# which was at a slight quartering away angle. The bullet entered behind the last rib and was found under the skin after breaking a rib. Federal has a 150 gr load out but I have not used it on game. I picked up several boxes of 120 gr hollow points for a Striker pistol I bought and am giving them a whirl. I think they will work decently in the pistol but they may not hold together well enough at rifle velocities for big deer.

 

[12GA guy]

Hi All--

I figure that it's light-skinned game, so I should be looking more for expansion than penetration. I'll need to be ready for both close in shots and longer shots out to about 200 yards. Advice much appreciated.

I have had good luck with the Nosler Ballistic Tip Hunting bullet. It mushrooms well, even down range 250-350yds. Close up they can fragment, if they hit bone, but only after doing unbelievable damage, that will stop even moose in thier tracks. Some people don't like them because of the damage they do, but I don't like tracking wounded game, I want it to drop right there!

As you are not handloading, you may not be able to get these in a factory load... In that case you should be happy with the Norma Ball tip, if you can find them. They are a very good bullet. Any of the Federal Premium ammo is very good for factory loads, consistant, and should offer good groupings. You can get it loaded with the Nosler partition. The partitions may be more than you need in a bullet for deer, (in my opinion). They can tend to pencil through if a chest shot, at lower velocitys. Not a lot of frontal mushrooming, the tip usually shears off, and the front portion of the jacket peels back and lays alongside the rear portion of the bullet. Great penetration on large game, but will whistle through a smaller deer. Still, it will do a lot of damage, and if the animal dosen't drop on the spot, it will leave a good blood trail....

 

[Jeff23]

Thanks Actually there are a few factory loads with ballistic tips, one of them is a Hornady light magnum 139-grain that's very fast (like almost 3000 fps @ muzzle) and flat shooting. So I'm going to test out several loads and see what the rifle likes. I will start with the regular Remington core-lokt and take it from there; I'm sure the core-lokt would do the job on deer, but it will be fun to experiment a bit.

One nice thing about the 7mm-08 is that it's popular enough that all the major manufacturers load for it. Shooter's bible has about a page and a half of factory load ballistics. There's a definite overlap with the good old .270, meaning that the higher-end 7mm-08 loads perform on a par with or a bit better than the lower-middle .270's. Also, the Nosler partition is available from a couple of manufacturers. I'm thinking that's where I'll go if I ever graduate from deer to Elk or Caribou (unlikely in the next few years ).

Chuck Hawks says the 7mm-08 is among the top 25 most popular cartridges in sales figures, although I haven't been able to find out what his source for this comment is. It would be interesting to see a table of what cartridges are used most in what order--if anybody has one, let me know. I've tried a couple of google searches and don't find any sales data for rifle cartridges. There are three local gun stores that stock ammo for 7mm-08, but the specialized stuff (like Hornady and Winchester Supreme), I've had to order from the web.

 

[wwb]

It's only a matter of time.... you WILL be a handloader. Don't fight it... come to the power of the dark side....

 

[Jeff23]

LOL :lol: I'm sure you're right--I load shotshells now, mostly to save a few bucks, so it's just a matter of time and saving up some more money for the rifle stuff.

 

[8pointduck]

I don't see it as the dark side...... it's more like going to the light......... JJJJEEEFFFFF move to the light ...every thing is better in the light......

 

[Jeff23]

:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: