7mm-08 Bullet Choice for Stone Sheep inside of 500 yards

[ofbandg]

My favourite 7mm sheep bullet is the 140 Nosler Partition, never had a failure and took rams out to 350 yards, which is about as long a shot as I would take with most mountain rifles. This guy was at that range with that bullet. If I was to choose among only those you have listed I would go with the hot core.

 

[GA Sheephunter]

You have a lot of good input already and I can only speek to my personal experience, I have used all the bullet designs you are considering on a wide variety of game, not in 7mm but in .264. They all work within their envelope of performance but sheep, older rams, can be quite muscular and there is. Lot of work and effort put into the hunt when you pull the trigger. I'll share with you my experience although not with a 7mm-08 or the bullets you listed you may glean some useful information.
I killed my first sheep in 1977 on the Reims range of Alaska with a .243 Winchester Model 70 shooting Factory Ammo, Remington 100 grain Core-Lokt. I had to shoot that ram five times and he was a bloody mess. The first four were in the shoulder and failed to get into the vitals, the fifth was through the ribs and finally got the job done.

My Desert Bighorn was on the Kofa range in Arizona and I was shooting a Steyr Model M 30-06 with my hand loaded Nosler 165 grain partition. Again it took me five shots to get this ram down. The range was 567 yards on the first shot and he walked about 50 yards before laying down and dying. All five shots were through the lungs and all five exited with no indication of expansion.

My Rocky was in the White Mountains on the Arizona side of the border with New Mexico with my Prarie Gun Works 18ti in 6.5 STW using my hand loaded Nosler 140 grain Partition. This was my biggest and most heavily muscled ram, well over 300 pounds. The shot was at 165 yards at about sixty degree downward angle. This time, one shot was all it took he didn't even wiggle. The bullet went through both lungs entering high behind his right shoulder and exiting through his left foreleg.

My Stone's was in BC between the Toad River and Alaska Border. This is the only one that was guided, and only so because required by law as a US not Canadian citizen. I shot this ram with the same rifle and load as the Rocky, my 6.5 STW and with the same results dead right there with no flight attempt.
The shot was 360ish yards at a heavy raking angle, the bullet entered just in front of his right back leg and exited in front of his left shoulder with enough retained velocity to destroy both lungs as it passed through.
I couldn't find a pic of my desert handy but here are some of the others. Note the Dall was before modern cameras but the selfie was taken at the kill site, maybe a very early selfie.
View attachment 480019View attachment 480019View attachment 480020View attachment 480022View attachment 480024View attachment 480025

Congratulations on some old warriors!

 

[GA Sheephunter]

Thanks for all the feedback, Gentlemen. After all of this, when I took my 7mm-08 to the range with a variety of loads, it didn't love any of these. The best the 7mm-08 did does not compete with what my old faithful Browning .270 A-Bolt does with 140 gr Ballistic Tips over a mild 51 gr load of RL 19. MV is 2700 which carries me to 500 @ 1797 fps (3 fps short of 1800 expansion) at sea level. Just got back from the range confirming my drops for the .270 (.5 mil @ 200 yds, 1.3 mil @ 300 yds), and have plugged into my Leica Ballistic app and fed over to the 2800.com rangefinder. At this point all the fiddling and tinkering and second guessing my shooting setup is done. Now I just hope to be worthy of this hunt and my guide's efforts, and give all I have mentally and physically. I'll be sure to loop back when I return and let you all know how it went. All the best,
GA

 

[Clyde M]

120TTSX

 

[fire814]

There you go, Jack O'Connor would approve that choice! .270

 

[Nipper]

Yep. Agree.
Those have a need for speed.
I have since developed a load with 150 ABLR.
Haven't shot game yet but I'll know this winter.
I'm hoping I'll get the best of both expansion and penetration out of my 284 Win.

One not on the list but a tough lil' MF'r is the 120 BT going fast!
500 may be a bit far for it though...(wind and drop)

Couldn't agree more with what you said about 120BT bullets, there's only one problem here, WHERE ARE THEY! I haven't seen or heard of any for sale anywhere, if anyone knows where I can find them. Please.
I know that I'm not the only one who is looking for these. But. In the years that I've been searching for these, just seems to be unobtainable!

 

[Ronald W Schaefer]

Between these, what would be your pick for shots 500 yards and in, out of a 7mm-08?

Assume all have equal accuracy out of the rifle

My family and I all shoot 145 gr Barnes LRX in our 7mm-08. This load is tested all over the world on plains game in Africa, South Texas, New Mexico and Colorado. I recently took a nice mule buck at 475 yds in NM across a canyon off the sticks, a Field and stream shot I really enjoyed. All animals taken were one-shot, DRT kills--Elk, Mule deer, Sable Antelope, Gemsbok, Blue Wildebeest, numerous White Tail deer and a truck bed full of hogs. Four different people shoot this load in four different rifles--range from .7 MOA to about 1.1 but very decent in all rifles. Not uber precision but very consistent. It is:

145 gr Barnes LRX bullet--seated to forward most friction band.
46 grs RL-17 powder (this is a tad warm so work up)
CCI BR-2 primer
Lapua brass
Trim length: 2.027
COAL: 2.89
Performance:
Fierce Custom CT Edge w 22" Bbl. - MV 2820, group .449
Weatherby Camilla w 20" Bbl.- MV 2688, group .850
Browning A-Bolt Micro Medallion w 20" Bbl.- MV 2767, group .750
Rem 700 Mountain Sporter Stainless - 24" Bbl. - MV 2844, group avg. 1.1

Bottom line-should be great for goats and sheep...very good long-range performance.

 

[txaggie1]

I have loaded 130 scirocco's for my 270 weatherby, however nosler ballistic tips i'm sure will serve you well at those velocities. My fear was always at well over 3k they are a little fragile. Good luck on your hunt and report back, love me some sheep hunting!

 

[Roughrice]

Couldn't agree more with what you said about 120BT bullets, there's only one problem here, WHERE ARE THEY! I haven't seen or heard of any for sale anywhere, if anyone knows where I can find them. Please.
I know that I'm not the only one who is looking for these. But. In the years that I've been searching for these, just seems to be unobtainable!

I'll check my inventory. I'm not sure how many I have but I may have a box or two to spare. Like most people... I don't shoot them much for practice since they are hard to find.

 

[Marky_mark]

My experience with the 7mm-08 and the 140gr Accubond on double lung shots is not good, at the 7mm-08 velocities it does not do expand and cause the damage it would at higher velocities, more like a pencil through performance with lungs with little damage, and in turn a slow death. I can honestly say I will never use it again. Now the Ballistic Tip is a different story, and in my experience is a tougher bullet than most cup and core bullets out there, more than the SST, Interlock, Gameking, Core-Lokt, etc.

My opinion, there is no point of two holes in an animal when it's bleeding out slowly, and can run far. Now if you are going for a shoulder shot, then it might work, but not for a double lung shot.

Just my $0.02

The 140 gr accubonds would be far superior to the ballistic tip in regards to terminal performance. Driving them at 2800 fps muzzle velocity they will do what needs to be done under a wider range of scenarios. I wouldn't use ballistic tips on coyotes

 

[Marky_mark]

Accuracy trumps horsepower.

I think you'd be insane to bring that much recoil on such an expensive hunt. 7-08 is a perfect sheep cartridge. If you're really worried about that extra 100 yards 280ai.

7-08 is far from the ideal sheep cartridge.
It's beyond foolish to assume horsepower doesn't come with accuracy. He's bringing a 460 wby here. He's suggesting a 28 nosler or 300 rum. Both of these have exceptional accuracy
There's lots of wind in the mountains and if you can shoot a higher bc bullet at the same speed or higher. It is a huge advantage.

 

[KiwiIan]

My nephew is running the 150 ELDx in his 7mm08. It works really well on deer (red deer here in NZ). They've ranged in weight between 150 and 300+ pounds, at distances of 25 to 300 yards. Velocity out of his 20" Kimber is a shade over 2,700 fps.

 

[HNDLDR]

The 140 gr accubonds would be far superior to the ballistic tip in regards to terminal performance. Driving them at 2800 fps muzzle velocity they will do what needs to be done under a wider range of scenarios. I wouldn't use ballistic tips on coyotes

What do you think the ballistic tip is going to do to a sheep launched at 2800fps that's so horrible?

 

[std7mag]

@JuddL & @Marky_mark ,

I have never recovered a Ballistic Tip from any of the rifles I've taken deer with.
250Savage, 257 Roberts, 257 Roberts AI, 7mm-08, 7mm-08AI, 280 Rem, 284 Win, 7mm Rem Mag, 30-30, 30-06.
Distances from 20 feet to 413 yards.

The only bullets I've recovered from deer are the jacket from the Berger VLD, and whole bullet on two shot with Hornady SST.

Side note...
The 100gr Ballistic Tip from a 257 Roberts is NOT fur friendly on coyotes!
Accidentally grabbed them instead of the 90gr Sierra BlitzKings I had loaded up in the dark.
Hit mom front on at 200 yards.
Went through base of her neck & proceeded to split a channel along the spine till it punched through the hips & exited.

1 "pup" (they were almost old enough to leave their mother) hit through both front shoulders at 210 yards.
2nd "pup" through both front shoulders at 396 yards.