7mm 08 loading question

[hammer111]

I'm not going to lie, I just picked the 7mm 08 to be different. Same with my 280, they found out they're great rounds.

I read good stuff on rl 17 too, and vargant, but I couldn't find vargant. Had to buy something. Ain't no way I'm paying 28 bucks to ship it. No made of money. What ever my store has is what I shoot.

Ill start looking now for vargant, thanks for the tip.

 

[santee116]

My 7-08 also loves Varget. It has a 22" Bartlein tube and is a sub 1/2 MOA gun with Varget and the 140 VLDs and 140 BTs.

I do have a good load with RL-17 and the 162 Amax though. I worked up to 45.0 grains running 2725, not bad for a 22" barrel.

However, my best accuracy node is around 44 grains of RL-17 running around 2650, still a good steel banging load. Its a solid 0.5-0.75 MOA load, but not as accurate as the Varget in my gun.

 

[TJAY]

My 7-08 shoots very well with Rl-15, H4350, Hunter, 4007 and Varget so finding a powder that works is not hard. Enjoy your new hobby..

 

[hammer111]

Where were you guys when I was looking for load data lightbulb .

Man you guys got wanting some vargant. Rl 17 I think is real new, not too many people have used it, it seems.

I'm really kinda anxious to shoot my nosler 140 grains ballistic tip, w/rl 17 @ 45 grs. Next weekend I hope.

 

[Firehawk]

My buddy uses RE17 almost exclusively in his 7-08. Loads it with 140 VLDs, 140 Ballistic Tips and Accubonds. All shoot sub MOA in two different rifles. All three of ours like Varget a lot. I am also testing RE17 in one of mine with the 150 ABLR.

Have fun and stay safe.

 

[HNDLDR]

All four of our 7mm-08s shoot the 140 Gr ballistic tip over Varget into less than an inch at 100 yards. One less than 1/2 inch and one around .3 inch. Even the semi auto AR-10 style is sub 1 inch.

 

[hammer111]

Man , I never got to shoot my tikka yet. With my hand loads. Hopefully alliant 17 , is at least equal to vargant.

My gun is brand new with 20 shots down the tube, cleaned and cooled every 3 shots.

How many shots before the barrel is broken in and able to shoot consistently.

 

[pods8]

Not sure, I started my tikka 7-08 with imr4350 before going varget. I have good to great loads with varget. I plink 139gr hornady btsp and hunt 145gr barnes LRX sub MOA at 200+, 1/2 or better at 100 (making sure the aim point is exactly the same at the longer ranges is part of the issue with groups growing some).

 

[hammer111]

Pod I'm not sure I understand what you meant about groups growing. It's not you it's me.
Boy how many times have I heard that line .

 

[pods8]

I run a 3.5-10 scope on that gun, depending on the target I am aiming at it can be harder to hold exactly the same spot. For instance a 1/2" dot makes a perfectly fine 100yd target, however at 200yd the reticle covers it completely, so it becomes a mater of trying to guess where it's centered under the reticle and that adds to group size. A 1/2moa load can quickly open towards 1moa at 200yd when adding 1/2" of slop in the aim point. I like diamond aim points more so farther out.

 

[hammer111]

Gotcha, great explanation pod.

Kinda makes aim small, miss small, easier said than done.

The diamond aim point allows you to see the dot. Right?

 

[pods8]

Hollow diamond targets of appropriate size I tend to find to be easier to center on but everyone has their preferences. Plus as you get past 200 it gets harder to spot your shots so the feedback loop is broken up. Colored sharpie on the bullets can help as they transfer some color to the paper when you finally get to look at it.

 

[hammer111]

I just saw that trick on YouTube, well off to the dollar store.