7mm-08 Advice

[bigmac_au85]

Got a new 30-30 Handi this year.  Took a nice doe with it first time out.  50 yards, open sights, DRT.

In my new hunting club, there are places where shots can be 250 yards.  So I'm thinking about getting a 7mm-08 barrel.

I'm not a reloader.  I use Remington Core-Lokt factory ammo.  Does the Handi 7mm-08 shoot pretty accurate with the Rem Core-Lokt, or other factory ammo?

Thanks.

[mitchell]

i love to reload and do it for every rifle i own but in the 7mm-08 that i had i used 140gr remmy corlokts . they shot just under a inch and every deer i killed with them only ran about 20 yards longest shot being 320 yards. so yeah i would have no prob using them and thats coming for somebody that hates corlokts .have fun !!! IMHO the 7mm-08 handi is one of the best handis made put a nice stocks set on that thing and you'll be in love

[handi243]

I have owned a 7mm08 handi if i had to buy another i would get a 308 if i was not loading for it. Not every place sells 7mm08 ammo you can find 308 ammo almost any where. The 7mm08 is a great round but ammo is a little higher.

[bishopgrandpa]

I had a 7mm-08 that patterned Remingtons and they stuck in the chamber. Factory decided to change the barrel. While it was there they fitted a 45LC to it. I took it (7mm-08) out last spring and fired 10 remingtons I had left and they were terrible. I tried handloads and saw a great improvment. I put on the 45LC and haven't taken it off. Accurate and great fun. Have a good shooting 30-30 and would gladly be rid of the 7mm-08. Some do, some don't. Good luck with your's.

[PartsMan]

Mine shoots 2" at 100yd with Rem Core lokts.
I have made some reloads but not shot them yet.

[Jimbo47]

I had been shooting Winchester super X power points, and they grouped about 1" to 1 1/2" at 100 yards.

I tried the Remington express core lokts last weekend at the range, and they shoot a consistent 1" group at 100 yards.

That same day in the evening I got up in the stand and took a buck at 150 yards, and the core lokts dropped the buck in his tracks, and lights out, the deer never kicked once it hit the ground.

What I liked the most was being able to watch through the scope as the deer hit the ground.

[coop2564]

With the new pointed soft tip ammo for the 30-30 you can make that 250 yd shot easy. But if you want a new cal I understand I have several barrels also.

[PartsMan]

I did drop two whitetail with mine this year and
have no intention of getting rid of it.

[Tackleberry]

I agree with the premise that if you are going to buy commerical ammo, I would go with the .308. Widely available and at ranges of 250 or less I'm not sure you would ever tell a difference between the two calibers. Now reloading is a whole different story. I just love the 7 mm's and the wide range of bullets available for them. If you are going to reload EITHER cartridge is great.

Dave

[mitchell]

hey man don't worry about finding ammo come on if your just going to site in and go hunting then how much ammo are you going to use??? 2 boxes maybe if none of you local stores have it buy it on midway .


and if your going to shoot alot then you need to reload anyway


get a 7mm-08 and blast away , my 7mm-08 is one of the handis i hate that i sold the most

[snmann]

I sold my 7mm-08 barrel & bought a 30-30 barrel because of the price of ammo.  I will usually put 3-4 boxes of ammo through my Handi before season.   I can buy Federal Blue Box ammo for $7.99 a box at Cabela's.  308 & 270 are $8.99.   You can't touch 7mm-08 ammo for under $20. 

If you are going to shoot a lot with factory loads, the .308 or .270 is the way to go.  If you are set-up to reload, it doesn't matter. 

[Jimbo47]

If you plan on doing a lot of shooting, with your 7mm-08, then you would surely save money if you reload.

Myself, I don't reload, and I don't do a lot of shooting with my deer rifles once I have them zeroed in!

Price of ammo isn't a factor if I like the round I'm shooting, and it's a caliber I have confidence in, and it's my primary hunting rifle.

I hunted for years with my sporterized British .303 and I paid nearly $30 a box once, and I never needed more than one box at a time, and one box of ammo 20 rounds, would last me a couple seasons, even after firing a couple shots at the range to make sure it still held zero.

So if your looking for a plinker, and hunting rifle combination, then yes you might want to look at something more economical, but even at almost $10 a box it might be better to choose a rimfire, or get into handloading.

Look around for the best deal on ammo, as I found 7mm-08 ammo just last week at one of the chain box stores (Academy sports & outdoors) here in my area that was $16 a box and some change, for Remington 140 grain core-lokts.