Deer rifle..

[Sawin]

For what it's worth, and forgive my tardiness, but 7mm-08 is flatter and faster than .308... and a touch larger than 6.5creedmoor. Think .308 necked down to 7mm... that's what 7mm-08 is. (.284 caliber) - lots of bullet options out there and will take deer and elk wonderfully. I like the Barnes TTSX solid copper bullets for elk.

[Little Dutch]

For what it's worth, and forgive my tardiness, but 7mm-08 is flatter and faster than .308... and a touch larger than 6.5creedmoor. Think .308 necked down to 7mm... that's what 7mm-08 is. (.284 caliber) - lots of bullet options out there and will take deer and elk wonderfully. I like the Barnes TTSX solid copper bullets for elk.

Are you sure the 7mm-08 is faster than the .308? My Lyman 48'th manual (closest one within reach) is showing .308 a touch faster than 7mm-08 with comparable bullet weights.
168 grain with RX15 max load is listed as 2628 fps for 7mm-08 and 2724 fps for .308.
154 grain on 7mm, max load with IMR-4064, is listed as 2702 fps. 155 grain on .308, max load with IMR-4064, is listed as 2885 fps.

I picked the powders based on the 7mm-08 recommended accuracy load in the manual, but the trend appears to be consistent. Do the hunting loads buck the trend?


To be clear, there's nothing wrong with the 7mm-08, it's a fine hunting cartridge. I was under the impression that it has less felt recoil than .308.

[ray1970]

Are you sure the 7mm-08 is faster than the .308? My Lyman 48'th manual (closest one within reach) is showing .308 a touch faster than 7mm-08 with comparable bullet weights.
168 grain with RX15 max load is listed as 2628 fps for 7mm-08 and 2724 fps for .308.
154 grain on 7mm, max load with IMR-4064, is listed as 2702 fps. 155 grain on .308, max load with IMR-4064, is listed as 2885 fps.

I picked the powders based on the 7mm-08 recommended accuracy load in the manual, but the trend appears to be consistent. Do the hunting loads buck the trend?


To be clear, there's nothing wrong with the 7mm-08, it's a fine hunting cartridge. I was under the impression that it has less felt recoil than .308.

What are the test barrel lengths for each caliber?

Also, if you?re comparing comparable bullet weights the 7mm could be a little slower than the 308 because the 7mm projectile is going to have a longer bearing surface.

I imagine where the 7mm-08 shines is in the lower weights. Probably around 140 gr or so.

[Sawin]

Are you sure the 7mm-08 is faster than the .308? My Lyman 48'th manual (closest one within reach) is showing .308 a touch faster than 7mm-08 with comparable bullet weights.
168 grain with RX15 max load is listed as 2628 fps for 7mm-08 and 2724 fps for .308.
154 grain on 7mm, max load with IMR-4064, is listed as 2702 fps. 155 grain on .308, max load with IMR-4064, is listed as 2885 fps.

I picked the powders based on the 7mm-08 recommended accuracy load in the manual, but the trend appears to be consistent. Do the hunting loads buck the trend?


To be clear, there's nothing wrong with the 7mm-08, it's a fine hunting cartridge. I was under the impression that it has less felt recoil than .308.

Yes, I am sure. Well at least with 38.3gr of IMR4895 and 39.0gr of Varget, that is. Those are the two charges I'm using for highpower silhouette, so certainly aren't top-end loads either... You're definitely right on about the felt recoil being less, and when shooting 100rds offhand, I want them to be soft

For these two loads, when using the same primers (CCI 200), powder charge and bullet weights, I get faster velocities with 7-08 than with .308 at Colorado elevations.

In addition to what Ray pointed out about "bearing surface" (unknown to me), a couple other variables that I can think of that differ besides elevation that could matter are the rifle's barrel length, twist rate, brass (case capacity), difference in my RCBS (7-08) and Hornady Dies (.308) if they're set to impart any crimp or not... Reloading can be a really fun experiment, can't it?!
All of that aside, interestingly my two reloading manuals echo my experiences, contradictory to what your manual is showing, but I do stick with the lighter side (130-168gr) bullets and less than full capacity charges so the top end could totally change things also.

For example in Hornady's 9th Edition:
7-08:
154gr - IMR4064 with 38.9gr produces 2600fps &
154gr - Varget with 39gr produces 2600fps

.308:
150-155gr -IMR4064 with the same 38.9gr would be less than 2500fps (roughly 2480fps) &
150-155gr - Varget with 39gr would be ~2450fps.

Nosler's Reloading Guide 8 isn't very far off from the Hornady figures either, but offers a few different powder examples.

In any case, I've really grown to like the 7-08 the last 5 years and think it's a very good compromise for "flatter than a .308" without going all the way down to a 6.5creedmoor.

[Little Dutch]

Yes, I am sure. Well at least with 38.3gr of IMR4895 and 39.0gr of Varget, that is. Those are the two charges I'm using for highpower silhouette, so certainly aren't top-end loads either... You're definitely right on about the felt recoil being less, and when shooting 100rds offhand, I want them to be soft

For these two loads, when using the same primers (CCI 200), powder charge and bullet weights, I get faster velocities with 7-08 than with .308 at Colorado elevations.

In addition to what Ray pointed out about "bearing surface" (unknown to me), a couple other variables that I can think of that differ besides elevation that could matter are the rifle's barrel length, twist rate, brass (case capacity), difference in my RCBS (7-08) and Hornady Dies (.308) if they're set to impart any crimp or not... Reloading can be a really fun experiment, can't it?!
All of that aside, interestingly my two reloading manuals echo my experiences, contradictory to what your manual is showing, but I do stick with the lighter side (130-168gr) bullets and less than full capacity charges so the top end could totally change things also.

For example in Hornady's 9th Edition:
7-08:
154gr - IMR4064 with 38.9gr produces 2600fps &
154gr - Varget with 39gr produces 2600fps

.308:
150-155gr -IMR4064 with the same 38.9gr would be less than 2500fps (roughly 2480fps) &
150-155gr - Varget with 39gr would be ~2450fps.

Nosler's Reloading Guide 8 isn't very far off from the Hornady figures either, but offers a few different powder examples.

In any case, I've really grown to like the 7-08 the last 5 years and think it's a very good compromise for "flatter than a .308" without going all the way down to a 6.5creedmoor.

I see what you are saying. With identical powder charges and bullet weights the 7mm-08 is pushed out faster. It also follows that if you want the bullet to be traveling at 2500 FPS, the 7mm-08 does it with less powder and less recoil.

What I saw is that the .308 can be pushed faster than the 7mm-08 at the top end with every bullet weight I checked. It has the potential for higher velocities in each bullet weight listed.