by Jorlcrin » 14 Nov 2023, 3:23 pm
I bought a 7mm-08 in 2014; Tikka T3 Hunter Varmint Stainless Fluted.
22 7/16" Barrel.
Couple of years later, I had it machined and fitted with a brake.
[Found the recoil from it was a bit oppressive for me at the time - on blood thinners].
For my shooting, favorite projectile is a 120gn V-Max, departing at just over 3000.
It works really well for everything we get here, and very predictable.
Nailed a crow mid-peck(sitting on a dead wally) at 355 metres one day(from a bench-rest).
Dead-Center; likely some blind luck at work, but from what I recall(over 6 years ago), I gave the exact holdover that Strelok suggested, and the hole appeared dead-center.
I do have some 139gn(Supposed to be the ballistic 'sweet-spot') and some 150gn loads to test, but hard to beat the 120's for doing what I need.
Intended it to be eventually taken over by my brother; he'd expressed a desire to go the 7mm route.
My current sibling relationship suggests thats now looking highly unlikely.
If thats the way it goes, I cant see I'll keep it.
Projectiles and ammo were harder to source than the .308, so I ended up stockpiling a lot of projectiles to get around that.
Stole a heap of brass from the .308, which I was able to buy bulk ammo for.
Pretty easy to re-size and trim to suit.
Would I buy another one?
Probably not; cannot see that for my shooting, 7mm gives me anything stand-out over my .308s, or my CTR .223.
[I'm not shooting overly long-range - Max at ~450m - and nothing larger than a large pig. ]
Sorry to all the 7mm aficionados; All I can say is that I tried a 7mm-08, and it just didnt light up my world.