Thread: School me on 7mm08

Thinking of getting 7mm barrel for me AI AW rifle , so what brass & bullets & powder do you guys use & reccomend etc .


Cheers Chris

What do you use your rile for?

Long range gong shoots and thinning goats on a farm , at 400-600m , was looking at 162gr amax If i could get them ?
Barrel will be long , ie 26-28 inches ?

Do you need it that long for a little 7 08?

Originally Posted by ChrisF

Long range gong shoots and thinning goats on a farm , at 400-600m , was looking at 162gr amax If i could get them ?
Barrel will be long , ie 26-28 inches ?

I have plenty of 162s Chris.

Use 308 or 260 Lapua brass, throat the chamber to seat them as long as your mag will allow.

Surprising the performance you can get with a decent length barrel combined with intelligent component choices

Originally Posted by ChrisF

Long range gong shoots and thinning goats on a farm , at 400-600m , was looking at 162gr amax If i could get them ?
Barrel will be long , ie 26-28 inches ?

To 600m is easy, the 140g Nosler Ballistic Tip from a 7mm08 @ 2900fps is supersonic until 1100yrds.

Long range gongs no problem

Long range goats no problem

Deer to 600yrds no problem.

The 162 amax in a short action is far more usable when pushed by a saum or wsm case.

My standard 7mmsaum in a Model 7 pushes the 140g nbt @3200fps so gongs and goats to 1300 yrds are covered. And the model 7 can be made into a featherweight if need be.

That should work nicely Chris. I would expect 2600 with the 162 from a 24' barrel, so you should get a bit more than that. 2209 would probably be the powder or an equivalent. If you could get the chamber long throated to seat the amax right out there you would pick up a bit more too. Barrel life wouldn't be too bad either.
162 amax seem to be abit easier to get right now. 162 sst would be good too, but the BC isn't quite as good as the amax.

Chris, I have plenty 162 Amaxes for you. Long barrel will be good for those. Struggling to make them go fast enough in my 20 inch tube.

Alternatively try Berger 140 vld hunting.

Running norma brass in mine, thin neck from factory. Got them from Julian at workshop innovation.

Powder wise 2208, rl17 if you can find it, 7mmsaum reckons 2213sc worth having a look at for longer barrels.

I would want more than 2600fps , as I get 2700fps with 175gr in my 308 , looking for a little more slippery bullet ( BC ) , and longer supersonic flight than my current 308 load which is dropping into the subsonic range around 925-950m , and so I think its getting a little unstable slightly before that range .

Thanks for the info guys .

What twist barrel and projectiles you using for 308 ?

Chris, you need better 308 projectiles

Going subsonic at 1100yds with HBC / Lapua Scenar 155gr (3000fps), and 1200 yds with.Berger 185 Juggernaut (2740 fps), but that is singleshot seating depth, and 28" tube. Both those projectiles are very forgiving once you get into trans-sonic range. The Nosler Custom Competitions are awesome for shorts, but get real unstable for trans-sonic.

Like everthing , I like balance , I have used the 155gr Scenar at close to 3k , I think it was 2950fps from my 26 inche std AW barrel , 1-12 twist , just felt that they did not handle the wind that well at 1000yds , and in Taranaki , you always have wind , and it was a hot load for me , using VV powder .
The 175gr I use is the SMK , just seems to let me down at plus 800m , which is surprising given that they shot 16 inche barrel ARs to 1000+ , and its easy to hit with .
Getting Berger bullets for me has been hit and miss , and I also try to stick to ADI powders as they are usually more reliable to source when you want it .
I am also thinking of the 260 as well , just like the heavier payload of 7mm over 6.5mm .

Originally Posted by ChrisF

Like everthing , I like balance , I have used the 155gr Scenar at close to 3k , I think it was 2950fps from my 26 inche std AW barrel , 1-12 twist , just felt that they did not handle the wind that well at 1000yds , and in Taranaki , you always have wind , and it was a hot load for me , using VV powder .
The 175gr I use is the SMK , just seems to let me down at plus 800m , which is surprising given that they shot 16 inche barrel ARs to 1000+ , and its easy to hit with .
Getting Berger bullets for me has been hit and miss , and I also try to stick to ADI powders as they are usually more reliable to source when you want it .
I am also thinking of the 260 as well , just like the heavier payload of 7mm over 6.5mm .

That is farken hot. I was getting 2997 from a 30" on my target rifle.

Lapua do 7mm08 brass now - Workshop Innovation and Belmont have it

1:12 will be good for 185 jugs, adi 2208. Seating depth is likely to be the only issue.

The 185 hybrid likes faster twist, but the jugs are ridiculously easy to get going well, not like the "normal" VLD's at all.