7mm-08 just as good as 308???

[burntmuch]

 Been readin  the thread on the 308 for elk. Well Ive got a rem model 7 in 7mm-08. Im wondering if its as good for elk out to 300 yard?. I know i cant shoot the heavier bullets, butI can shoot te 140 & 150s. So Im thinking with 140 grain nosler partitions or accubonds or maybe even the Barnes triple shocks, will this work for elk.  I know ,another one of those questions. Thanks.

[Coyote Hunter]

A lot of elk have fallen to 7mm-08s.  A TTSX, North Fork, A-Frame or Trophy Bonded woud be my first choices, not necessarily in that order.

Nothing wrong with the Partition, either, or Grand Slams.  (I used the Grand Slams for 20 years in my 7mm RM and it took me that long to recover one.  When I did it had ruined both shoulder joints of a 5x5 bull.)  I would stick with 140-150g bullets.

A 7mm-08 is also one of the best deer cartridges.

[jeepmann1948]

This is just like comparing a 270 to a 30-06, just a newer version
Having all of them I can honestly say my favorite of them all is the one I have in my hands! All of them are great cartridges for deer and elk hunting. I agree on a 139 or 140 gr bullet for the 7-08, applied in the right spot, the fun stops and the work begins
Good luck & happy trails

[Luckyducker]

I have a friend that has  hunted elk for close to forty years and a fellow from his elk camp shot a bull elk at a 888 yds. measured with a Leica laser rangefinder.  It dropped from a single well placed shot.  Steve (my friend) said this guy routinely practices long range shooting but the point is that this cartridge did it's job also, though I don't know what bullet he was shooting.  BTW, I traded into a model 7CDL Rem in 7-08 for my daughter and that is one accurate and sweet handling little rifle.  I almost told her no way!  I bought an Encore rifle barrel for myself in this cartridge but haven't got handload worked out for it yet.  Go hunting and don't worry about having enough fire power.

[cole k]

I'd load 150 gr partition and go huntin' with your 7-08.

[Screwbolts]

The 7-08 is a great cartridge, I believe that it will Harvest any game that a 308 will.   IMHO even the Game king bullets will work well for you.  But the Game king bullets won't satisfy someone with "Magnumitus"  .  But the old reliable Game King, or Rem Cor-locks will work fine for you.  IMHO, all the Bonded, partition, an basic what is called "premium bullet" is primarily designed to remove Money from your pocket. Why else would it be marketed?

Guote from Jeepman1:   This is just like comparing a 270 to a 30-06, just a newer version


No this is just like comparing a 280 to a 30-06, just a newer version of the same old conversation.

Ken

Central NY

PS   "Best of the west" Kills a lot of animals including Elk at long rang with the 6.5x284.   the 7x08 will work fine for you.

[vabowhntr]

Let me first say, I killed a nice bull with a 300 win mag this year and shot him 3 times in about 8-10 seconds, all in the chest cavity.  I like to shoot until they drop on the big animals, and this one dropped on the 3rd shot.  He was dead after the first, he just didn't know it, but neither did I .  I also saw a bull on that hunt that absorbed 5 shots from a 338 Rem Ultra mag, all inside of 150 yards (about 15K ft lbs if we did the math right) before going down.  These animals can be tough.

I would look at the partition or trophy bonded in that round, the tsx may not open up very well on the longer shots as it will have shed velocity.  I would keep shooting it until it goes down or is out of sight. It is on the light side with 140-150 gr bullets, but will get the job done inside of 300 yards if you do yours.
 
How long is the barrel on yours?  Mine was 18.5 and was not shooting nearly as fast as I thought.  If you have one of the newer 20" barrels it might be better.  

BTW the Mod 7 will be a dream to carry on the hunt.  I wish I never sold mine.

[burntmuch]

Guys thanks for the replys. The reason Im asking is My model 7 is about 2 lbs lighter than my 700 7 mag. I just picked up a Leupold 3X9 compact for my model 7 & will be replacing the wood stock with a synthetic. "when I find one" Its got the 18 inch barrel.    It is gonna be superlight.  My brother & I will be doing a do it yourself hunt on state land Our plan is pack in light. Basicly food & sleeping bag for 2-3 days. If we dont find elk, we move down the road. Im thinking my little model 7 would be nice to carry out there. But Im having a hard time convincing my self to leave my 7 mag or even my 35 whelen at home. My brother will be using a 308. So I got to thinking about my 7mm-08.

[mcwoodduck]

I think with Elk it is not so much about the caliber of the bullet, 257, 264, 270, 284, 308, 311, 318, 323, 338, .... You get the picture.
The different cases are going to determine how fast you can send that bullet.  (how Much powder and pressure you can use based on your action)
With Elk I think the better idea is how far away you can be and shoot the elk.
308 Based cases are 200 - 250 yards  (243, 260, 7-08, 308, 338 Fed, and 358 Win)
30-06 based cases are 250 -300 yards (25-06, 270, 280, 30-06, 338-06, 35 Wh)
Win Belted Mag case  300-400 yards (257 Wby, 264 WM, 7mm Rem Mag, 300 WM, 338 WM)
And the hot mags 400 - 600 yards (7mm Wby, 7mm RUM, 300 Wby, 300 RUM, 338 Wby, 338 RUM,.... You get the picture)
These are the ranges where the standard projectiles will carry enough energy to penitrate and open.  Can you shoot farther, probably.
Heck the world record elk is held by a guy who used 30-40 Krag in the same league as 308.
Many Elk have been taken with 30-30, 32 Win Spl, 44-40, 44 mag.  The 44 mag that is good out of a pistol is no where near the horse power of the 30-30.
The 7-08 is to the 308 what the 280 is to the 30-06.  Same case necked from 308 to 284.  .024 of an inch differance.  Or about 8%  the width.  If you only have a 7-08 and have the oppertunity to go elk hunting I would go.  I would just limit your shots to the 200- 250 yards.

[dpe.ahoy]

7mm-08 will work fine on an Elk, you have the right path chosen already with bullet weight.  Partitions, any of the Nosler, Hornady. Remington bonded or the lighter weight Barnes, 120 driven fast, will work out to 300+ yds.  Most people I know in Montana don't shoot that far for their animals, (even if they say they do ).  At the speed you will be reaching, even the standby's, Interlock, Corlock bullets will perform fine.  DP

[mcwoodduck]

DPE.Ahoy,
Are you saying we need to add a new term to the lexicon?
There is Kentucky Winfdage
and now we need to add Montana Yardage?   

[usherj]

Your post has got me thinking more about this whole issue. Is there a reason you can't use a heavier bullet such as the 175g partition? A rate of twist deal, perhaps? You are better off using a bullet with a higher ballistic coefficient (the 175 partition in 7mm is the king of the partitions in this category at .519), that way it will retain more velocity and energy downrange, and be less affected by wind and generally be much more predictable. For example with the new 338 225g accubond, which has a BC of .550, you don't need to push it that fast to still have over 2000 ft lbs of energy out to 500y. Look at the 300g 338 MK with a BC of over .700. It doesn't have to go fast to be effective. I was suprised to see those numbers that high up on the caliber scale.

[jeepmann1948]

Another thing to consider is how far do I want to carry a dead elk

[WyoStillhunter]

Responding to the OP: How well can you shoot it?  Put any of those bullets through the ribs and into the chest cavity and you will kill the elk. 

I have taken them with .280 Rem., '06, .35 Whelen, .444 Marlin, and 6.5x55.  All died nearby, all were found and retrieved.

The 7mm-08 will do  the deed with a good bullet placed correctly.

[burntmuch]

What Ive decided is Im gonna load some 150 Nosler partitions for my 7mm-08 & some 160 grain Accubonds for my 7 mag. & see whats , what. I havnt loaded for my 7 mag yet. So I ll start there.

[44 Man]

I found a quantity of 150 gr Rem core-loks at a bargain basement one time, and they shoot amazingly well in my 7-08.  I would not hesitate to use them on elk at reasonable ranges.  My personal shooting does well to about 250 yds, so that would be my 'self imposed' limit, which I know tends to go out the window under the excitement of the hunt.  To me, they always look farther away than they are, so that's not so much of an issue.  I also have a box of Federal factory with Trophy Bonded in them.  I would probably defer to those for an elk hunt, but I would not hesitate to use my 7-08.  
Wow, a 7-08 in a Rem 7, I can't think of a sweety combo!  I'm jealous!  44 Man

[ccc0mb0]

139gr Hornady SST

[vabowhntr]

Last night I was looking at an older Nosler reloading manual.  I couldn't believe what I was seeing when I looked at the 300 WM with the 180 partition protected point vs the 7mm-08 with the 150 gr partition.  There was only just over 100 ftlbs of energy difference at 300 yards.  The BC on the 7mm just made up the difference.  Now with a Partition spitzer, the 300 wm was a clear winner, but I have been using the protected point.  But, both were still over 1700 ftlbs at 300 yards, which should be enough to cleanly kill an elk.  These were both with 24" barrels, yours will be less given the barrel on the model 7.   I would really want to run the 7-08 over a chronograph and run a ballistic calc on the numbers before I started shooting at 300 yards.

[BBF]

OK, being an old fart I like mass, what is wrong with the Whelen??

[charles p]

You'll certainly appreciate that Mod 7 when you start climbing mountains in the dark.   

Some say the 7mm Rem Mag is not a true magnum.  Lot's of elk hunters use it.   My 284 Ackley Improved will do the same and its not in a magnum case.  My last elk/deer combo trip ended with a nice whitetail.  I was carrying a M700 in 7mm-08.

[burntmuch]

nothing wrong with the Whelen or the 7 mag,, other than the nothing wrong with the Whelen or the 7 mag,, other than the weight of the rifle. This trip was going to be ultra light backpacking. The hunt got cancelled , lack of funds on my part. Its a great problem to have, trying to decide which gun to use. So it may work out that I use the 7mm-08 & the whelen this year, just on michigan whitetail instead of Colorado Elk. Ive got 139 grain Hornady SSTs loaded for the 08 & some , 200 grain corlocts for the whelen. I did just get a new  Leupold Vari X II for my 7mag though. HMMMM. Decisions , decisions.

Another problem was , I couldnt find a Synthetic stock for the model 7 7mm-08

[Huffmanite]

Last night I was looking at an older Nosler reloading manual.  I couldn't believe what I was seeing when I looked at the 300 WM with the 180 partition protected point vs the 7mm-08 with the 150 gr partition.  There was only just over 100 ftlbs of energy difference at 300 yards.  The BC on the 7mm just made up the difference.  Now with a Partition spitzer, the 300 wm was a clear winner, but I have been using the protected point.  But, both were still over 1700 ftlbs at 300 yards, which should be enough to cleanly kill an elk.  These were both with 24" barrels, yours will be less given the barrel on the model 7.   I would really want to run the 7-08 over a chronograph and run a ballistic calc on the numbers before I started shooting at 300 yards.

Found this interesting.....simply because a couple of weekends ago, sat close to a guy at our shooting range working on his 300 WM reloads for a new rifle he'd bought to hunt elk for the first time this coming season in N.M.  Guy told me he used a 7mm-08 to hunt whitetail deer here in Texas.   But, he had bought a Thompson Encore rifle for its light weight to lug around mtns in Northern N.M. and thought he needed a more potent cartridge for Elk.  Chuckle, Encore in 300WM thumped the guy pretty good.....after a few rounds he'd folded over a terry cloth towel several times and put it between his shoulder and rifle butt.

I suspected the 7mm-08 would have been OK for Elk hunting if the shots taken with it were kept within reason and proper bullet used, but didn't say anything to him.   Just suggested he think about a muzzle brake or slip-on recoil pad to tame the 300WM.     

[Coyote Hunter]

Another thing to consider is how far do I want to carry a dead elk

Ain't that the truth!!!  My hunting buddy and I were once dumb enough to put three on the ground, three miles from the truck.   Took us three days of backbreaking work to get them out.  Stupid!  (Thank goodness the temps were below freezing and we got the meat exposed and cooled quickly the first day.)

The last two elk I took I had to pack a total of 43 lasered yards.  Much better!  (One was a zero-yard deal, drove right up to it.  That was REALLY nice!)

[SHOOTALL]

An old guy named Bell killed over 1000 elephants with a 6.5 and a 7X57 mostly with FMJ bullets . The 708 is almost idenical to the 7X57 . nuff said.

[Sweet 6.5]

7mm-08 will work fine on an Elk, you have the right path chosen already with bullet weight.  Partitions, any of the Nosler, Hornady. Remington bonded or the lighter weight Barnes, 120 driven fast, will work out to 300+ yds.  Most people I know in Montana don't shoot that far for their animals, (even if they say they do ).  At the speed you will be reaching, even the standby's, Interlock, Corlock bullets will perform fine.  DP

I am sure at 300 yards the 140 will have more energy?

[Sweet 6.5]

139gr Hornady SST

And if you get your elk at 60 yards?

[burntmuch]

139gr Hornady SST

And if you get your elk at 60 yards?

Sweet 6.5. Are you Impying that the 139 SST will not hold together at that range ,, velocity. Ive got some loaded & they shoot real good. I was planning on using them for deer.  Average shot would be 60 -- 100 yards

[BBF]

An old guy named Bell killed over 1000 elephants with a 6.5 and a 7X57 mostly with FMJ bullets . The 708 is almost idenical to the 7X57 . nuff said.

With FMJ bullets to the brain I believe. Not something your average elk hunter is liable or legal to do.

[BBF]

139gr Hornady SST

And if you get your elk at 60 yards?

Sweet 6.5. Are you Impying that the 139 SST will not hold together at that range ,, velocity. Ive got some loaded & they shoot real good. I was planning on using them for deer.  Average shot would be 60 -- 100 yards

I don't know if he was implying it or not, however I would

[Swampman]

I really like the .308.  I have no use what so ever for the 7mm-08 or the .260 Remington.