7mm08 problems

[Times flies]

Hi to all,

Not sure what to do on a forum,so excuse me in advance if I get it wrong.Iam going on the trip of a lifetime to Darwin to hunt big boars .

I will be taking my 7mm08 Tikka, and have been testing various powders and projectiles.Not new to this ( been loading 45 years plus).any how I was wondering if any one had used 130 grain Speer bullets on pigs and if so how they went.

I have tried,Hornady,Outer Edge,TSXs and none of them shoot well at all.2 inches is unacceptable in my book

Any thoughts from any one please.would be appreciated.Rifle is pillar bedded Boyd stock lightened trigger Vx3 scope.thanks

[Lorgar]

Hey TF,

I might have some good stuff for you.

I have a Tikka T3 Stainless fluted barrel in the 'Forest' stock. This is 120gr Nosler Ballistic Tips with 43gr AR2208 and COAL of 2.820"



It is probably small for board hunting, but FYI for whatever in the future.

My other load is 140gr BT's with 42gr 2208, same COAL, which shoots 0.6" groups at 100m. That's my regular for deer hunting here in Victoria.

Nosler BT and Accubond have always been winners for me. (Though Accubond's are expensive AF these days , but, in the right weight they're not a bad option for big boar, I'm sure.)

Which barrel are you running? Sporter profile? Fluted? Heavy?

[Times flies]

Thanks for the advice Lorgar.Rifle has light barrel.Have just ordered some 120grn TXs, will see how they go.My Tikka light in 338 Federal shoots into an inch with 160 grn TX
s.

[mchughcb]

I generally don't shoot less than 140gr in my 7mm.

[Blr243]

130 weight speers in 308 are very popular and reliable proven performers.. I doubt u would go wrong if the 7 mm version is of similar design. Either way the projectile weight is easily adequate. You don’t need a fancy bullet

[bigrich]

i had a 7-08 T3 that was temperamental in what it liked. get a "M+" tikka magazine as it's 3" col for the creedmoor . case capacity is poor with heavies at 2.8" col . mine liked 130 speer boat tails with 2208 , super accurate , but it's a soft bullet . my tikka wouldn't shoot 139 sst's well at all . my go to bullet was 150 accubonds or ballistic tip noslers . 45.1gn of 2209 was all i could get into a lapua case at 2.8" col . crazy accurate at only 2625fps . killed well on large pigs , took out a large red stag with the 150 accubond . not a bad caliber , but i can get more speed/energy out of a 308

[Uyenner]

If those other projectiles aren't grouping well, maybe try different powder loads or seating depths with the Speers?

[Late_Starter]

Late to the party on this one. I have just completed my first round of testing with Speer 130grn SPBT part# 1624 this weekend.
Best group of three shots is 0.3" @100m with 40.45 grns of ADI AH2208 COAL 2.730"

Still more work to do but a promising start after changing from Hornady 139grn SST bullets where the best was a 1.0" group, but not consistent.

[bigrich]

Late to the party on this one. I have just completed my first round of testing with Speer 130grn SPBT part# 1624 this weekend.
Best group of three shots is 0.3" @100m with 40.45 grns of ADI AH2208 COAL 2.730"

Still more work to do but a promising start after changing from Hornady 139grn SST bullets where the best was a 1.0" group, but not consistent.

my t3 was the same , hated 139 sst's , shot the 130 speers into bug holes