7mm-08 load question

[Honay]

I am looking for some premium bullets in 7mm, 120 grain. I would normally go with a heavier nosler partition but it is for my fiance and the lower the recoil the better. I was just trying out the hornady 120 gr soft points and they barely move the gongs at the range they basically disintegrate. I want something that hits hard and still shoots flat, but with low recoil. I have looked at the barnes triple x in 120 and was wondering how they work on deer sized game and black bears.


Thanks for any help!

[beemanbeme]

Barnes seems to be one of the latest "magic" bullets but I seriously doubt that any good 120gr bullet @2800-3000fps would have a problem doing for a deer or a black bear.  By good, I mean any standard bullet, ie, Hornady, Speer, Corelokt.  Whatever bullet shoots best in your rifle. You're not shooting at gongs and lets face it, a 100gr bullet @2800fps is supposed to be lightning in a bottle according to the .243 shooters.  
A 7-08 is one of the very best deer rifles going.  But its not a 7mag nor a .280 for that matter.  Trying to make it one will only cause you problems.

[Don Fischer]

Your post suggest's that you hand loader. I've no experience with the 7mm-08 but a good deal with the 7x57, 7mm Rem Mag and the 280 Rem.

The 120 gr bullet is better suited to varmit's and no way would I try it on a bear. The 140 gr class bullet's are fine game bullet's. Load them down a bit! Loaded down to about 2600 or 2700 fps they should be fine, much better than the 120, in my opinion. At that, they will also shoot flat enough for about 90% of hunting and for 100% of what you have to shoot at, which is nothing.

Now remember here that we're talking about the 7mm-08 and not the 7mm Rem Mag. At magnum velocities, I've experienced a horrible failure of the 140 gr class bullet on black bear. My failure was with Sierra 140 gr, I do not hunt big game with Sierra bullet's nor would I use any ballistic tip type's. Other's will tell you they're fine.

[PA-Joe]

Try a 139gr hornady and 36-39 grains of IMR 4064 over a CCI primer. That's what I use for most of my under 150 yard hunting. Max load is 42gr.

[beemanbeme]

I don't know about the 120 being a varmint bullet.  I guess it depends on which bullet you're talking about.  I'll admit the smallest bullet I've used in a 7-08 is a 139 hornady but that worked great for whitetails.  I find it hard to believe however that the 120gr Sierra Pro Hunter wouldn't do a good job for you.
There's a lot to be said however about using a good 140gr bullet and easing up a bit on the charge.

[lefty o]

consult with your manufacturer of choice, but its been my experience that 120gr bullets for the 7mm's are varmnit bullets. the 139-140 grainers are a better choice.

[Don Fischer]

My experience with bullet's under 140/139 gr in 7mm's has been that they are to explosive. Without a doubt even the old 115 gr Speer would do well 100% of the time on deer if you made 100% good bullet placement. I feel that in all cartridge's from 30 cal down there exists a bullet weight not to go under for game. That's kind of a hazy line sometime's as many thing's are possible that seem far fetched on the surface. If you only had one round of ammunition for your 7mm-08 and had to choose between the 120 gr load and the 139/140 gr load and your life depended on it, which would you choose? Both are equally accurate and the range will be within 200 yds somewhere.

[aceoky]

Check Hogdon's site for "Youth and Reduced loads"; there you'll find a load using a Hornady 120 gr SSP(single shot pistol) bullet(not an explosive bullet, and it's an "interlock" as well! That should get you what you're looking for, and it's good for about 200 yards also! Hope this helps. :grin: