Very short 7mm08

I got an old ruger frontier in 7mm08 afew years ago, was cheap and obviously ridden hard and put away wet by previous owner. The last few inches of the 16” barrel were badly pitted. The plan has always been to rebarrel but I have decided in the meantime to shorten it, thread it and have a play. So as it sits today the barrel is 12.25” Long and threaded for a can (yes it’s well above legal OAL).
I’m aware of the ‘pistol’ 7mm08 load data that’s printed around a 15” barrel length and obviously I will start there, my question for someone who may have played with a short 7mm08 is around projectile selection, this will be used for tight bush stalking on sambar, probably 150m max(usually well under 50m). Any suggestions on projectile selection would be much appreciated.

Sierra Gameking 140g

I chopped one of my 708 barrels to 14 inches.

162 Amax no longer worked, ended up using 120 grain

120gr nosler BT or 130gr speer hot cor

Thanks guys, I was thinking lighter bullets may be the way to go. In the 14” barrel mentioned above did you use a slightly faster powder than what you normally would with a 20” barrel?

2206h and 2208 would still work well.

Cool thanks mate, I’ll start with good old 2208 as I have plenty. Cheers!

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Originally Posted by Dodgymopar

Thanks guys, I was thinking lighter bullets may be the way to go. In the 14” barrel mentioned above did you use a slightly faster powder than what you normally would with a 20” barrel?

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I stuck with 2208 for both 162 and 120, needed couple more grains of powder for the light pills.