In between 7mm-08 & .308

[Idaho Lefty]

'Lefty,
what range of powder are you using with the 168 and StaBall? I have a jug of it to try with my 708. Thanks!

Hogdon Reloading, has Data,.. BUT, with, Sierra 168 grain Bullets, NOT the Berger 168's & using, different, Brass / Primers !
All Bullets, have DIFFERENT Bearing surface Lengths and Brass Primers used, contribute to,.. higher Pressures !
My son started at, 45 grs of StaBall and end up at,.. 47.5 ish ( USE, Caution ! ) "work up" & test, in 1/2 grain, increments !
He used, Starline Brass & Fed 210's ( standard Pr's ). Hitting 2,765 FPS in HIS Tikka with, the reamed out, Throat.
StaBall 6.5 Powder, puts, the regular 7mm-08 into,.. Ackley Velocities !
Watch for, Pressure "signs" and use, a Chrono, to work up ! And do, a Final TEST on, a Warm Day !
Best Accuracy came in at,.. .060 - .070 "Jump" range on, the 168 HVLD'S for him, in his Rifle.
Good luck and BE,.. Safe !

 

[Tac-O]

,.. FAR Superior to, the 6.5 Creedmoor !
The 7mm-08 is an Amazing little round, used by many "serious",.. Hunters !

Whoa whoa whoa... Them's real strong words. You're going to offend some people

 

[Idaho Lefty]

Whoa whoa whoa... Them's real strong words. You're going to offend some people

Sometimes, I forget what, I had for, Breakfast !
BUT,.. I KNOW,.. Ballistics, pretty well !
The 7mm-08 with, 168's traveling at 2,765 FPS, "stomp's" on, ANY "safe", Creedmoor, load.
Those 6.5 Creedmoor guys, need to develop, a sense of Humor !
Now, the 6.5 PRC,.. IS a, whole, nother,.. Ballgame !

 

[Tac-O]

Sometimes, I forget what, I had for, Breakfast !
BUT,.. I KNOW,.. Ballistics, pretty well !
The 7mm-08 with, 168's traveling at 2,765 FPS, "stomp's" on, ANY "safe", Creedmoor, load.
Those 6.5 Creedmoor guys, need to develop, a sense of Humor !
Now, the 6.5 PRC,.. IS a, whole, nother,.. Ballgame !

Oh yeah! I've got a Tikka 7mm-08 for my kids and it shoots!!! I've only shot 145s out of it, so I don't have issues with the throat angle, but I sure wouldn't trade it!

 

[Idaho Lefty]

With, the "right" Bullets, the 7mm-08 Kills Big Game,.. way above, it's "Pay Grade" and further out than, you would / could,.. imagine !

 

[LVJ76]

The newer higher BC bullets matched with newer powders make medium cartridges more powerful. I have a load in my 7mm-08 with the 150gr ELD-X and RL17 that'll reach deer out to 800 yds.

Same goes for the Magnums like the 7mm Rem Mag and 300 Win Mag that now reach even further than they did 20 years ago.

 

[StanleyActual]

Disregard

 

[StanleyActual]

Those 130s in the 308 are fast at 3000 FPS, accurate, and light. Shot placement is huge, but there should be no hesitation with that round. Recommend it.

I tried 6 boxes of them from Corbon a few years ago and was impressed with the consistency.

Ooor you could just run a 6.5CM pushing High BC 147's at 2900+ Literally between a 308 and a 6.5CM, there's no comparison. 308 loses your that battle in every category but barrel life

Now if your dead set on a 30 cal but don't want a win mag, then go 30-06 with a 1-10 so it'll handle the heavier 190 class 30 cal bullets. Atleast if you go 30-06, you'll have the energy delivered on target im your favor.

 

[.300 Dakota]

284 win?

I'm not sure why the .284 Win went obsolete and fell out of favor. It seems to be making a small comeback here more recently. It is a tremendous round that outperforms the .280 Remington, and in my experience in building both a .284 Win and a .280 AI, the .284 Win outpaced even the AI by a solid 100 ft/s running 180gr Bergers at 2945 ft/s. Both guns had a match chamber and 26" barrels. Maybe the issue came with the case diameter being somewhere in between a 7mm-08 and a 7mm SAUM? This may have limited capacity or caused feeding issues in magazines designed as a "one size fits all" design? I have no idea, but target shooters have kept the 284 on life support for years. I am building a 2nd 284 Win with a Carbon Six 26" Sendero-weight barrel since I liked the first one with Remington varmint-weight McGowen barrel so well. Hornady, Winchester, and Peterson all make brass, and it's one of the few things you can find to buy besides the 6mm Creedmoor. This is a cartridge that can also be loaded to varying degrees of power and speed to match the task at hand. The .284 has a bit longer leade than the .280 Rem, which perhaps explains the higher velocity capability.

 

[.300 Dakota]

Those 130s in the 308 are fast at 3000 FPS, accurate, and light. Shot placement is huge, but there should be no hesitation with that round. Recommend it.

I tried 6 boxes of them from Corbon a few years ago and was impressed with the consistency.

You can actually load those way beyond 3000 in a .308 (I've done it- safely). Try them with a healthy charge of Norma 203B or Ramshot Big Game. I ran them "slow" in my .300 Dakota at 3550, and it would stack them in a 1/4" ragged hole at that speed (could have easily topped 3700). That combo would actually take the front shoulder off the deer around here at our usual ranges of just under 100yds. I got out on some fields where I could let them stretch their legs a little and had some DRTs and some that would run a short distance, but there was never a shortage of blood to trail. As a matter of fact, I've had a couple friends/relatives give me their bargain basement .30-06s (think Remington 710 and Mossberg ATR) - and even one Winchester 70 Featherweight - that they couldn't get to group with any factory ammo, and I would run the gamut of reasonable .30 cal bullets in handloads. I couldn't get some of them to group either UNTIL I tried the 130gr Barnes TTSX... Those guns would shoot this bullet when they wouldn't shoot any others. Wish I'd had some Hammers then! If you have ANY .30 cal that won't group, try the 130gr TTSX (or a Hammer!)

 

[VLD Pilot]

Ooor you could just run a 6.5CM pushing High BC 147's at 2900+ Literally between a 308 and a 6.5CM, there's no comparison. 308 loses your that battle in every category but barrel life

Now if your dead set on a 30 cal but don't want a win mag, then go 30-06 with a 1-10 so it'll handle the heavier 190 class 30 cal bullets. Atleast if you go 30-06, you'll have the energy delivered on target im your favor.

Oor go .260 Rem. The 6.5CM literally loses the battle everytime in every category as well.

 

[StanleyActual]

Oor go .260 Rem. The 6.5CM literally loses the battle everytime in every category as well.

Yes. minus' the readily availabile mail ch grade factory target and hunting ammunition out, but If if you don't care about factory ammo then that's a non issue..

Honestly I went from a 308; to a 6.5x47 and then to a 6.5.CM. If I had to make that choice again, I'd just go straight to the 6.5PRC.

 

[VLD Pilot]

Yes. minus' the readily availabile mail ch grade factory target and hunting ammunition out, but If if you don't care about factory ammo then that's a non issue..

Honestly I went from a 308; to a 6.5x47 and then to a 6.5.CM. If I had to make that choice again, I'd just go straight to the 6.5PRC.

If someone wanted to abandon a .308, there are several options in 6.5. Brass for all are out there although today may be tough to find. The .260 can be made easily from .308 or .243 brass. The 6.5CM, .260, 6.5-284(which would be my choice due to Lapua making brass) 6.5PRC and even the 6.5 Grendel is another low recoil option. Shooting 123s killing deer at 300-400 yards is a gimme.

 

[StanleyActual]

If someone wanted to abandon a .308, there are several options in 6.5. Brass for all are out there although today may be tough to find. The .260 can be made easily from .308 or .243 brass. The 6.5CM, .260, 6.5-284(which would be my choice due to Lapua making brass) 6.5PRC and even the 6.5 Grendel is another low recoil option. Shooting 123s killing deer at 300-400 yards is a gimme.

Agreed, any one of those will stack critters up. I do know Lapua is making small rifle primered 6.5CM and 6.5PRC brass too. I always liked the 6.5x284'but that sub 1k barrel life was a bit much. Now you got the PRC which matches it ballistically, in a short action with better barrel life and readily available quality factory ammo.. well. Nothing a readily available at this point ..,..