Thread: Q: 7-08 Ammo

Yes, I think .308 with a light load would be the way to go.

Mate, get a 7-08.
It's not as common as muck like the .308 buts it's a good thing.
It's not that common here but you gotta look or reload.

Everything is hard to get. I was under the impression the 7mm-08 is pretty popular with Kiwi's

Hi @Aussie

You get the dies and cases, and i'll reload for you (i'm just north of Timaru)

BB.

thanks for the input.
I think I'll grab a few different easily obtained flavours and try them out.

Originally Posted by Basenjiboy

Hi @Aussie

You get the dies and cases, and i'll reload for you (i'm just north of Timaru)

BB.

Mate, you sound like a good bastard as mentioned on page 1.
May someone help you when they can.

My Tikka loves the Belmont Ammo 7mm08, it’s cheap too. They look to be out of stock, but get in touch with them if you’re interested, they may be doing another batch soon. I have a couple of friends that shoot it also so we buy 250 rounds at a time.

I’ve also got plenty that I could loan or sell you, Belmont and some others, I’m in chch

7mm08 has been crazy popular in NZ as it is slightly flatter shooting than 308 and more powerful than the 260 which was all that was below it a decade ago. Apparently not so popular and just a minor cartridge in USA. Possibly due to deer sizes ?

Ive had better luck with european manufacturers. Used Norma and essentially duplicated their factory load to reload with nosler ballistic tips. This year there have been good supplies of Sako 7mm08, possibly a bit depleted now. Try phoning a few H&F stores. Beretta brought in stocks to sell with their new Sako and Tikka rifles. That manufacturer makes 7 08 rifles and is slow to change its lineup, so paradoxically european supplies might be most stable for factory ammo. Perhaps its a better alternative to their highly regarded 7x57 and 6.5x 55 which need a longer action.

Try outdoor supplies in carterton to pre order ballistic tip projectiles for reloading.

6.5 Creedmore (puff) seems to have cemented a firm place in target tactical and so in in the USA and is said to be more amenable to reloading than the 260 ( what do you think @grandpamac ?)so that would be the main alternative for a new rifle this decade ( not 243 which is totally different with much lower bullet weight)

Originally Posted by Bagheera

7mm08 has been crazy popular in NZ as it is slightly flatter shooting than 308 and more powerful than the 260 which was all that was below it a decade ago. Apparently not so popular and just a minor cartridge in USA. Possibly due to deer sizes ?

Ive had better luck with european manufacturers. Used Norma and essentially duplicated their factory load to reload with nosler ballistic tips. This year there have been good supplies of Sako 7mm08, possibly a bit depleted now. Try phoning a few H&F stores. Beretta brought in stocks to sell with their new Sako and Tikka rifles. That manufacturer makes 7 08 rifles and is slow to change its lineup, so paradoxically european supplies might be most stable for factory ammo. Perhaps its a better alternative to their highly regarded 7x57 and 6.5x 55 which need a longer action.

Try outdoor supplies in carterton to pre order ballistic tip projectiles for reloading.

6.5 Creedmore (puff) seems to have cemented a firm place in target tactical and so in in the USA and is said to be more amenable to reloading than the 260 ( what do you think @grandpamac ?)so that would be the main alternative for a new rifle this decade ( not 243 which is totally different with much lower bullet weight)

Attachment 202560

Greetings @Bagheara,
The 6.5 Creedmoor is the cartridge that the .260 Rem should have been but Remington saddled it with a slow rifling twist and a case that was too long to allow seating the ogive of High BC projectiles outside the case in a short action. I expect that the .260 Rem will fade away gradually with fewer and fewer manufacturers chamber for it. The 7mm-08 is a different matter. It has replaced the 7x57 for most manufacturers which still chamber it including Tikka, Sako, Bergarra and Ruger etc. I don't see it dissapearing any time soon.
One thing I did note is the number of manufacturers that offer the 6.5x55 these days. The round shades the Creedmoor when loaded to the same pressure but needs a long action.
Regards Grandpamac.

I’ve heard from a few distributors same as Ryan that a lot of the American manufacturers are disincentivised in this environment to make 7mm08 ammo at the moment.

I had to drive from Waipawa to Morrinsville to get a box of factory ammo off a forum member a few months back. There wasn’t a single box of the ammo my rifle likes in NZ for a long time. I eventually managed to suss out a few boxes as soon as a shipment came in but if I was using it more I’d be looking to handload.

I shoot 7mm-08 and my stock is running low. Rifle likes the nice cheap PPU, which I am now out of and is not available at present.
Keen to give the Belmont stuff a go as it supports local and is hopefully a more reliable supply source moving forward.
I will be emailing Belmont soon to ask if they are looking to produce any more soon.
I am in CHCH this weekend and will be visiting ammo stores to see what I can plunder.

7mm 08 is too big to die, but it is hugely over represented here in NZ compared to the rest of the world. The US manufactures are flat out loading and cannot keep up with demand, so for them, down tooling to swap to do a run of 7mm08 just doesn’t make sense. They would sell 200 x more 308 and 6.5 creed, so they produce what they know is going to sell.
This of course puts strain on the supply coming out of Europe as demand goes through the roof compared to what they could produce. This is magnified by the fact that a lot of European ammo brands use components produced in the USA (mainly projectiles) which are not making their way out.
I know when we landed our last Sako ammo shipment, we received a mere 150 packets of 7mm08 against a back order list of 3000+ packets.
It sounds terrible, but we tend to think we are a big market and the factories will do what we want, when we want, but that is unfortunately not the case.
Everything is hard to get, and as people showed when COVID hit with toilet paper, they bought way more than needed. So, people will be sitting very very quietly on a lot of ammo. Ive seen a lot of it being in the industry.

As written in the Lyman big game hunting book in the 90s , it will be the first of the modern calibres to become obsolete.
As for ammo supplies there are containers of Winchester in Australia waiting for a ship , so we are told.

Originally Posted by MB

Yes, I think .308 with a light load would be the way to go.

if you already have a suppressed 300blk run some supers thru it

my 30m zero with subs is the 150m zero with supers
so basically aim at out to 175m

saves me trying to run two zeros on a non CDS set up

the two types of supers did basically the same thing within tolerances

Originally Posted by Happy Jack

Just been looking online, not much factory 7mm08 around but there is some. If you were not going with that calibre what would you go with other than a cream puff. Not getting a man bun for anyone. But then I'm set on the 7mm anyway

a set of reloading dies in the appropriate calibre and if you ever see a whackamole set in it GRAB IT QUICK..... you can buy 7mm cast projectiles,so as long as you have some primers and some powder you will be able to keep freezer fill. the single BIGGEST ISSUE with shortages is the continued percieved need for 5-600 of them thats a lot of HUNTING, even if out shooting wallabies every weekend it would last for some time,yip we used that many rounds of .22lr or shotgun each n every night on rabbits...but 7mm-08 you arent likely to be out doing pest control with it.... lots of cheaper effective options.

Originally Posted by Bill999

if you already have a suppressed 300blk run some supers thru it

my 30m zero with subs is the 150m zero with supers
so basically aim at out to 175m

saves me trying to run two zeros on a non CDS set up

the two types of supers did basically the same thing within tolerances

Cheers Bill. I'm pretty much only using supers in my 300BLK now. Hornady FTX punch well above their weight. I prefer the 300BLK gun (Bergara BA13) to my Tikka 7mm08 which means that the latter hardly gets used.