Anyone reloading for the 7mm-08 ?

[TexMex247]

A few weeks ago, I picked up an Academy special, stevens 200 chambered in the 7mm-08. Since I already reload for the 280 remington, it seemed like the best choice for a back-up deer rifle. Out of the box, it performed decent(1.5" groups@100yds) with a lame simmons scope and some winchester silver box ammo. However, I can never leave well-enough alone so I have started to save my brass to churn out some reloads for it. My recipes with Varget for the 280 are some of the most accurate loads I have put through it but the 280 offers a lot more case capacity than the 7mm-08 and Varget ain't cheap. Anyhow, I am thinking IMR4064 and reloader 15 to start with under some 139gr Hornady SST bullets. If you reload for the 7mm-08, help me out here...thanks - Texmex

 

[shortround]

Have not yet found a hand-load more accurate than Remington factory ammo.

My newest recipe is:

37.6 grains IMR 4046, Hornady 139 grain #2825 BTSP.

Remington unfired cases (full-length re-sized); Remington 9 1/2 primers.

Crimped with a Lee Factory Crimp Die.

Have yet to shoot that load out of a Remington Model Seven -- but will when time avails.

It should prove to be potent medicine for deer & pigs once dialed in on paper at 100 yards.

Wish you luck in your load development & good luck.

Be well.

 

[TexMex247]

Thanks for the reply shortround. I just picked up both RL15 and IMR4064. It looks like your recipe is right at the minimum in most of the manuals I have looked through. I am also gonna produce a load very similar to yours, probably 38 and 39gr batches of 10 w/139gr SSTs. A friend of mine who also reloads for the 7mm-08 said he got his best accuracy out of his hottest loads. He said it was pretty common for it to blow out primers. That seemed dangerous to me but when I shot my first batch of reloads(AA230 @ 37gr w/139grSST), they grouped OK(1.5-2") but weren't even "on the paper" with factory loadings. I typically shoot at 5.5" pasters so "off the paper" may only be about 4". However, after I ran some Hornady Superformance through the rifle, all of the primers were blown out. Not completely but with a noticeable carbon ring around every primer. Luckily, IMR 4064 also shows to have significantly lower pressure throughout its load range when compared to other powders so I plan on working my way up to around 2750 or 2800 fps. Be sure and post your results a after you run those reloads through your rifle and I'll do the same.

 

[TexMex247]

Ok, the latest update....I batched out 2 -10rd lots of 139gr SST bullets over 38.5 and 39.5 gr of IMR4064. Both loads were moving just over 2450fps. Even at 39.5gr, I was barely pushing them over 2500 fps. Just for comparisons sake, I also put a few winchester 140gr silverbox rounds through it. They were consistently right at 2800 fps. That truly seems to be the magic number for accuracy and power in that bullet weight. On a positive note, I did get some decent groups(1.5"ish) but they all placed waaaayyy low compared to factory loads. So, back to the drawin' board so to speak. At least I've had no pressure signs, looks like it's time to bump it up another grain or two.

 

[JCHedj]

April 2009
7mm-08 loads info Remington Varminter 24" barrel ( Sendero ) Rifle twist 1 in 9 1/4
Vortex 3 ~9x40mm scope
( each load killed Texas white tail deer between 100 and 200 yds ) NO CRIMPED AMMO...Crimping increases pressure in the barrel

100 yd less than 1/2 " groups center to center on bench rest
CCI Standard Large Rifle Primers
AA 2520 ( 40 gr ) 140 grain Soft Point Boat tail bullet
AA2520 ( 37.9 gr ) 150 grain Comb Tech Silver Tip and Red Poly Tip Boat Tail
IMR 4895 ( 38.5 gr ) 150 gr Sierra Soft Point Boat Tail
AA 2520 ( 38.5 gr ) 165 Nosler Ballistic Tip Boat Tail
IMR 4895 (37 gr ) 165 grain Nosler ballistic Tip Boat Tail
AA 2520 ( 36.4 gr ) 162 grain Hornady A-Max
AA 2520 ( 35 gr ) 168 grain Berger Match

Best Overall Shot...100yds...AA 2520 ( 37.9 gr ) 150 grain Combined Technolgy Silver Tip Boat Tail .353" 3 shot group center to center

May 2010 = Playing with new Hodgdons H 414 powder loads Win Mag Primers and 162 grain A Max bullets.
Overall Cartridge length 2.817 "
So far best 5 shot group linear end to end .786 " best 3 shot center to center .516"
Best 200 yd group 162 grain A-Max and H 414 ( 44.5 gr ) .725 " 3 shot group

1000 yd steel target hit 9 out of 12 rounds ( H 414 44.8 gr ) , still learning how to read wind

 

[TexMex247]

Good stuff there JCHedj, just wish I had one of those powders to work with. I'll be sure to revisit these when I get some AA2520 or 4895. Have you ever put any of these loads through a chronograph ?

 

[dee]

The Stevens has a 1:11 twist in the 7mm you might want to stick with bullets under 135gr maybe even better around the 120's.Also keep in mind the if you like the solid cooper/Barnes type bullets to get their weight up they are longer so 120 is built more like a 140/150gr bullet and probally won't work.

 

[JCHedj]

I had a young man from my local grocery store edit and post this video for me. I thought I knew everything until I tried to document my shooting on video.

Hope this helps all those who didn't believe that a 7MM 08 is just a slim .308 but more accurate....Powder H 414 , win mag rilfe primers 162 AMAX and Sierra 160 match king bullets. Rifle twist 1 in 9"
YouTube - ‪1000 yd 7MM08 Movie.wmv‬‏


Thanks for your support atriot:

 

[JCHedj]

X in Red is the Aim Point at 200 yds...OAL is just .030 back from my rifle lands
Remember Your rifle may shoot differently. Please be very careful and load from lowest range to 10 % below max. Summer heat raises pressure. Next formal competition is Dec 2011 and we are once again shooting 1,000 yards Steel sillouette in Louisiana...hopefully another video will be posted

 

[woolleyworm]

I've got a ladder test loaded up for my A-Bolt. Using Benchmark and 139gn spitzer sp bt's; trying to get a good 150 -300yrd hunting load developed before Nov arrives. I will post up the results once I can get out to the range.

 

[woolleyworm]

Ugliest ladder target I've shot to date, but I will post regardless. I did still find that 39.7-39.9 range in powder is most likely ideal for this rifle, bullet, powder combination. Winds were gusting to 30+ and temps were low this morning. Shot at 200yrds. The vertical spacing between shots 7-11 were good, except for shot 9 which I didn't clean the bore. The max/near max shots were very high. Mid range+ range load is where I'm going to now start my load development; I'll start .050 off the lands and work my seating depth out in .005 increments til I find the sweetspot. Another 25 - 40 rounds and I should have a great 100-300 yrd deer gett'er.

For an indepth explaination of the Audette ladder test and why it's a great tool, read here:

http://www.desertsharpshooters.com/manuals/incredload.pdf Yes, this is a 20 page read, but very worth the time to read it through a couple of times.