7mm-08 Rem with H4350 or RL17?

[LVJ76]

Yeah, my summer has been busy, stupid hot, and humid, so I dont shoot as often as I wish. Buts starting to cool alittle, and deer seasons around the corner.
I too like RL17, it shoots well, and the speed is up there. Gotta watch the fire cracking though. It will shoot the whole bullet weight range, from 100-168 no problem. The RL16 is very similar , not temp sensitive, and is said to have copper fouling resistance as well. Mine loves it with 150 grain bullets.

It has been a very hot summer and with everything going one it just been odd. This last Sunday was my first time at the range in 3 or 4 months.

We do need to get ready for deer season so now that the mornings are cooler its time to hit the range.

 

[LVJ76]

I'm using the 139 BTSP in my 7-08 tikka . I've got a decent load using IMR4064 @ 43.2 grains . I haven't tried it with RL17 yet , I have a bunch or IMR4064 I'm trying to use up .if you have IMR4064 give it a try .

4064 has always worked well for me with bullets between 120gr and 140gr. Like you I still have a few pounds left to go through, after that then we'll see but for now don't need to fix what isn't broken.

 

[fremont]

Varget is almost impossible to beat.

This is my 7-08 experience. 140 SPH

 

[7stw]

This is my 7-08 experience. 140 SPH

You better buy up as much Varget as you can because I have a feeling that pretty soon it's going to be hard to find again

 

[LVJ76]

Varget is almost impossible to beat. In short action, theres probably nothing better. The 139 is a deer hammer!⚒

I was looking on the Sierra App and it shows that RL16 might be give a bit more speed than Varget with the 140gr bullets, and RL17 beats both but not as temp stable.

Curious if ypu have you tried RL16 with the 140gr bullets, if so what were the results?

 

[LVJ76]

You better buy up as much Varget as you can because I have a feeling that pretty soon it's going to be hard to find again

Right now whether its Varget, RL16, RL17, RL23, H4350 or any powder, if you find any, get it, better to be over stocked than running out.

 

[J E Custom]

For a long long time I've been using IMR-4064 for the lighter 120gr and 140gr bullets with great success and I still have quite a few pounds left of it, and for the heavier bullets ranging from 150gr to 168gr I've used IMR-4350, RL19 and IMR-4895 but I am running low on these powders.

I've decided I want to go with a temp stable powder that will also give me a little more juice. Looking at the Sierra, Nosler and Hornady manuals I saw that RL17 and H4350 are both up there. I also found that RL17 will also work good with 140gr bullets and provide more velocity than IMR-4064 and Varget.

I know some of you use these two powders on your 7mm-08's, so which one would work best with the mentioned heavier bullets? Or maybe try both?

Thanks in advance for the help and stay safe.

The highest velocity I have reached with a temp stable powder has been Varget in my 7/08 with 120's and 140 class bullets. It has also been the second most accurate powder found. the very best accuracy has been H 414 But it is anything but temp stable. Varget will normally up the velocity by 75 to 100 ft/sec over the others. Some new powders like the Staball 6.5 claim the higher velocity potential but Personally I haven't been able to verify that claim yet.

J E CUSTOM

 

[7stw]

The highest velocity I have reached with a temp stable powder has been Varget in my 7/08 with 120's and 140 class bullets. It has also been the second most accurate powder found. the very best accuracy has been H 414 But it is anything but temp stable. Varget will normally up the velocity by 75 to 100 ft/sec over the others. Some new powders like the Staball 6.5 claim the higher velocity potential but Personally I haven't been able to verify that claim yet.

J E CUSTOM

I'm not impressed with StaBALL at all. Hype got me, bought it, my bad.
Agreed also on Varget. It just works!

 

[7stw]

I was looking on the Sierra App and it shows that RL16 might be give a bit more speed than Varget with the 140gr bullets, and RL17 beats both but not as temp stable.

Curious if ypu have you tried RL16 with the 140gr bullets, if so what were the results?

No, I didnt. I was thinking of it, but started playing with 120 bt in spring, and smoking ground hogs using cfe223. That stuff is impressive too. I really like RL16, and trying to get my 25.06ai to shoot it. That's gonna be fun.!

 

[J E Custom]

I'm not impressed with StaBALL at all. Hype got me, bought it, my bad.
Agreed also on Varget. It just works!

Like you, I bought some Staball 6.5 to find out and so far the results are not there. But you have to try something to find out instead of taking the manufactures word for it.

J E CUSTOM

 

[N2TRKYS]

The highest velocity I have reached with a temp stable powder has been Varget in my 7/08 with 120's and 140 class bullets. It has also been the second most accurate powder found. the very best accuracy has been H 414 But it is anything but temp stable. Varget will normally up the velocity by 75 to 100 ft/sec over the others. Some new powders like the Staball 6.5 claim the higher velocity potential but Personally I haven't been able to verify that claim yet.

J E CUSTOM

What velocities are you getting with Varget and 140 grain bullets?

 

[J E Custom]

What velocities are you getting with Varget and 140 grain bullets?

My 7/08 has a 23" barrel and can still produce - 3140 using the 120's and 2830 with the 140's.
I prefer the 120 for hunting for their impact velocity at hunting distances. The h 414 load I mentioned is the most accurate and the velocity is 3010 ft/sec with the 120's. All of these loads gave up very little in my 20" barreled 7/08.

I have also discovered that for some reason, the Lapua brass steps up the velocity over mu Remington brass (Another project for later to find out why with no apparent pressure increase)

J E CUSTOM

 

[LVJ76]

The highest velocity I have reached with a temp stable powder has been Varget in my 7/08 with 120's and 140 class bullets. It has also been the second most accurate powder found. the very best accuracy has been H 414 But it is anything but temp stable. Varget will normally up the velocity by 75 to 100 ft/sec over the others. Some new powders like the Staball 6.5 claim the higher velocity potential but Personally I haven't been able to verify that claim yet.

J E CUSTOM

Thanks J E. I haven't tried Varget yet as I have too much 4064 left but I will after that. As far as Staball I have not heard good things about it

Stay safe Sir

 

[N2TRKYS]

My 7/08 has a 23" barrel and can still produce - 3140 using the 120's and 2830 with the 140's.
I prefer the 120 for hunting for their impact velocity at hunting distances. The h 414 load I mentioned is the most accurate and the velocity is 3010 ft/sec with the 120's. All of these loads gave up very little in my 20" barreled 7/08.

I have also discovered that for some reason, the Lapua brass steps up the velocity over mu Remington brass (Another project for later to find out why with no apparent pressure increase)

J E CUSTOM

I'll have to go back and look, but, I think Varget was mid to upper 2700s in mine with 140s. I picked up about 100fps going to BG powder.

Wonder what I was doing wrong with the Varget and 140s.