Thread: Realistic range of 16" 708?

Originally Posted by Fred Fisherman

2640 out of my 7mm-08 17 inch barell running 150 ELDX and 2208.Attachment 246682Attachment 246684

That looks pretty good. I would like to get to 500 ideally. What are people's thoughts on a 154sst? How do the fit for hardness compared to the x. I'm quite familiar with the m as I shoot it in other calibres

Get gordons reloading tool and play around with it.

Generally a heavier,slower projectile will be more "efficient" with a short barrel.

Not quite the same, but I was loading 123 sst for a 16" 260rem and had kills past 530m - projectile was picked for low speed opening and was much more than adequately accurate.

For real world experience I have shot a fair few reds out of my old T3 with a 16" Suppressed barrel. 43.5gns of 2208 behind a 140gn ballistic tip. They kill well and was getting 2580 fps at the muzzle . Very reliable to 500ish then starting to get too many variables for my liking.

Whichever works the best in your rifle.

Have had several sessions of serious bullet research, only to buy said bullets and find they won't shoot acceptably in my rifle or with the powders I have access ro.



Then try it on game at sub 200m.
Also, make sure you have a 'proven' bullet loaded in the magazine after the first round of a new load.

If I read the original question right "realistic range of a 16"..." id say no more than 300m. Sure on paper the heavies will work but you need a lot of experience to accurately place them in the field. With the unavoidable low MV of a short barrel wind and ranging errors are gonna screw you, you know physics.... Now i'm not a hater on short barrels (love my 16" 308!) but if you want to reach out a bit further invest in a longer barrel and plenty of practice!

I would have thought the realistic range of a 16" 7mm-08 has very little to do with the actual cartridge and barrel length and instead is entirely dependent on the shooter. How much practice and verification of elevation and wind drift they have done, and their ability to dial (or not) a scope.
Some people shouldn't shoot past 100m, some are good to 300m, etc. etc. I've met the odd person that probably shouldn't shoot past 17" with a 16" barrel.
Know your gear and ability first and foremost. The projectile will kill way out there.

I don't think you'll have any issues with the 150gr eld X and a bit of 2208 of 2206H

I've confirmed my 7mm08( you're old 7mm08) to 475y using the holdover in strelock on the range but am yet to take a shot at animal that far

I just run 160gr TMK at 2413fps. Nothing special speed wise, have shot deer out to 255y(in the neck and it was a golf ball exit wound).

If you stepped upto a 162gr eld M I don't think you'll worry about it blowing up, last one I shot with my TMK load was in the neck at 33paces, hand sized entry wound and it dropped it, never lost a animal with this load. The other round I would look at is the 145gr speer BTSP

Originally Posted by Remmodel7

How far would you push this on game. Will be reloading and have the choice of 120gr speer, 139sst or 150 eldx.
Just wondering if it's worth making the change to a lighter rig at the cost of a shorter barrel.
Cheers

What I’ve done a few times over the years is work out what my maximum effective range is by actually testing it. An old door or plastic drum works well… prop it up with a decent sized cross painted / inked along the top and shoot at the cross from various ranges, without changing your point of aim (I.e. always aim at the centre of the cross). If you have a 100 meter zero then shoot at it from 300m, 400m.

Two variables will become immediately apparent.

First you will see what your drops really are compared to how they are calculated in your ballistic solver. This information will allow you to tune your MV (or BC if you are that way inclined) so that you have a really good understanding of your elevation adjustments. At least three data sets for this - 5 shot zero, then two groups of five shots at increasing range. It gets better the more groups you have but you have to be pragmatic.

Secondly you will see what your groups’ dispersion is like. This can be anything from really tight to quite alarming, but you really need to know before you go and shoot at animals. If you are getting a much wider dispersion then you are expecting at say 400m, then you need to work out why and get it under control. I think most of us older guys have seen some pretty funky stuff happening downrange that leads to much head scratching. Like if it’s on at 100 why is it like a shotgun at 400, etc.

Most of the suggestions of your realistic range are reasonable (some are probably a bit high) but entirely unproven with your setup of course. Believe me you will feel much much more confident shooting at range if you have proven to yourself that you are both accurate & precise at that range.