Opinions on a 10" 7mm-08 for deer and varmint

[handgunhuntr]

I am waiting for the arrival of a 10" Encore bbl in 7mm-08.  Anybody have one?  Opinions?

[yooper77]

I just sold mine, but I found 42.0 grs of IMR-4064 with 139 gr Hornady bullets gave me the best accuracy.

yooper77 

[Graybeard]

Yup I got one. Barrel is too short. If I'm gonna use a 10" it's gonna be a 7 TCU.

[SD Handgunner]

Not a 10" 7mm-08 but I worked up a couple loads for a buddies 12" T/C Custom Shop Encore in 7mm-08. I too thought it was too short for that much powder capacity for that bore diameter. I had a 10" 7-30 Waters and it almost did the same velocity as the 12" 7mm-08.

I was using both 120 & 140gr. Nosler Ballistic Tips in the 12" 7mm-08 loaded with H-4895. I was able to get good accuracy at around 2390 FPS with both bullets but the muzzle blast was horrible.

Larry

[poncaguy]

I shoot a 15" 7-08, great on deer.................

[yooper77]

10" short?  Sure, but mine provided me with MOA accuracy if I did my part.

Yes, the muzzle blast was big, but no differant then my 15" Encore 7mm-08 barrel.  I kept the 15" barrel instead of the 10" because my holster was able to carry the longer barrel, plus I am trying to slim down my barrel collection.

Being 10" long wasn't noticeable at all to me, the accuracy was there and recoil wasn't bad at all.

Velocities exceeded the 14" 7-30 Waters with the same 139 bullets, so that's not an issue.

yooper77

[SD Handgunner]

My current 14" 7-30 Waters Contender shoots 40 FPS faster than did the 12" 7mm-08 Encore, both with 120gr. Nosler Ballistic Tips loaded with H-4895 Powder. The Contender 7-30 Waters produces the same level of accuracy with much less recoil and muzzle blast. Maybe the 12" 7mm-08 Encore T/C Custom Shop Barrel I tested was a dog.

Larry

[yooper77]

I would not believe your 12" 7mm-08 Rem Encore is a dog, just too many variables can take place.  Depends on how each cartridge was reloaded, but 40 FPS is really splitting hairs since its so close.  My velocity difference was about 150 FPS, also splitting hairs.

If I were to reload the 7mm-08 Remington for a rifle barrel, I would choose 139/140 grain bullets but my powder would be IMR-4350, since I reload it for a pistol barrel, IMR-4064 powder is my favorite giving me better accuracy and velocity.  If people choose factory loaded ammo for the 7mm-08 Rem and shoot it in the pistol barrel they are not getting the most out of the cartridge.  Reloading is the only way to see the full potential of the 7mm-08 Rem in a pistol.  These are my beliefs from my actual findings.

yooper77

[banjoman]

Yooper  I don't agree with you here. My 15" 7mm-08 Encore does quite well with standard old off the shelf Remington 140 Core Lok ammo. From what I can see it's going to take some pretty good reloads to stay with them. Others here will atest to the sme findings. I reload because i don't want to use the 140gr core-lok bullet. I happen to like IMR 4064 and Hornady 139gr SST  but I am not going to say my loads perform that much better than the Remington Factory stuff.

[yooper77]

OK banjoman, if that's your findings.

My results were totally differant, my reloads surpassed the factory ammo I tried.

yooper77

[poncaguy]

My 15" 7-08 likes 139 grain Hornady Liite Mags.

[banjoman]

I have heard great things about the Hornady Light mag loads. I have not gotten around to trying any yet.

[Tony G]

I checked my log book on the 139 Hornady light mag loads in a 15" 7-08. I had checked the velocity on 2 different days to verify the findings. Over 2700 fps both times. This was over two yrs ago so there could be a difference with the current loading.

Tony G

[Lawdog613]

I shoot a 15" 7-08, great on deer.................

What load do you use? Also what bullet type have you found that works best on deer?

[poncaguy]

I haven't reloaded for that round yet, use Hornady 139 Lite Mags........deadly on deer.

[chiefs50]

A great caliber but I would have gone with a 15" barrel.

Mike