New Mountain Rifle...Is there better than 7mm-08?

[Varberger757]

If you stick to the short action, you get lost of all the opportunities among the other calibres you named. Then everything will be reduced to the -08 family and a little number of others. I wouldn't recommend that for your purpose, the same for the barrel length. Take 24' in a smaller contour and you're done.
Use one of the other 7mm's , they are great rounds which deliver more opportunities then the 7 - 08.

 

[ramrod79]

If your looking for a mountain rifle in the 6.5LB range that you can shoot up to 4-500 yards,in a short action go to 260 ,and never look back , great BC and great cartridge . The 260 is very easy to load for ,and long 130 berger bullets fits perfect in a short action, I have one built on a model 7 action 6.4LBS scoped ,and shoots like a lazer can print less than 1 inch groups at 300yards all day, and I would not think twice about shooting most game out to 500 yards with the exception of Moose.

 

[25 Otter]

I'd love to see a pic or two of that 260 if you can. Sounds pretty sweet.

 

[ART W]

My son has a 7-08 and it has surpassed all my expectations on mule deer and antelope. We have loaded Barnes X 130's which are no longer available, 150 grain Swift Scirocco's and now we have settled on 140 grain Berger Hunting VLD's.
That said it has taken an antelope at 500-510 yds and a two nice mature 4 X 4 Mulie's at just over 360yds and one at 400-425 yds. We have also shot Federal Premium ammo with Nosler partitions before hand loading with excellent success on game. The caliber seems to have exceptional killing power, however all the shots were placed well.
The rifle is a Remington 700 ADL which has been restocked with an HS Precision sniper style stock. We also changed the bottom metal then and had the local gunsmith do a trigger job on the Remington trigger. It is topped off with an IOR 3-18 X 42 mm which has a 34mm main tube.
We must have got a good barrel because it groups all loads well and they go into the same quadrant on the target.
As a rifle, it is a prefect Mtn rifle, lightweight even with good glass and a Harris Bipod and it makes ragged holes on the paper targets. A little light for elk but I would not hesitate to use it with right bullet provided the range was limited. I really like it. We have a 6.5/284 which has more horsepower with lighter bullets and a better BC with 140's but it is much heavier to carry around all day in the mountains .
If I were to buy a new rifle would seriously consider one if I was staying with a short action non magnum round.

Art W

 

[calib]

I would also have to say 260.
You get good bc's and the market is only getting stronger.
Your bolt face will work
You can make 260 brass out of many others that are out there
Light recoil

If you acklied it you could get a little more out of it, but not a huge difference out of your 22" barrel, but a little more power. Either way good luck and post lists and pics when you do this project

 

[WildRose]

Looking at a new mountain rifle/project. Requirements are:

1. Lightweight - loaded, hunting weight of less than 6.75#
2. Accurate
3. Manageable Recoil - no magnum recommendations please
4. Target Animals - 90% antelope, deer, sheep, 10 % elk
5. Range - 400y hunting rifle only. Only target shooting I do is practicing for hunting.
6. 22" barrel max

My dilemma is given requirement #1, I'm almost set on a short action (almost). 7mm-08 is the leading candidate. I have a donor 700 BDL SA action with a 308 bolt face, but am also contemplating a Kimber Montana. The Kimber accuracy has me worried. I figure I can build for just a little more $ and achieve far better accuracy than the Kimber with similar weight.

So is 7mm-08 the best choice? I've thought .284 and 7x57 but can't see any benefits in the Remmie short action. If I were to go with a LA, then I might as well go 280 or 280ai. And I'm concerned about that recoil in a lightweight rifle. I reload. Is there a better choice than the 7mm-08?

It'll do but I'd take the 7mm Rem Mag over it any day. You're only talking about an oz or two difference in weight and getting vastly superior performance with extremely tolerable recoil especially if you stick with the 140-150gr bullets and of course a good brake eliminates it as a consideration at all. The .264wm also fits in there very well under the same conditions.

There are several of them on GB now in the 700 CDL SF and a couple of nice stainless/synthetic model 70's as well.

The 7mm Rem is just a great "do it all" kinda rifle round and is one of my all time favorites.

I that same case size though .308 the .260 rem is the "go to" for light to med recoil, lightweight rifle, and if you can find one in the 700 CDL platform they are just beautiful rifles that shoot extremely well with just some basic accurizing, at least as far as those I've owned, shot, or seen. They are a bit pricey though compared to other models.

 

[Varberger757]

It'll do but I'd take the 7mm Rem Mag over it any day. You're only talking about an oz or two difference in weight and getting vastly superior performance with extremely tolerable recoil especially if you stick with the 140-150gr bullets and of course a good brake eliminates it as a consideration at all. The .264wm also fits in there very well under the same conditions.

There are several of them on GB now in the 700 CDL SF and a couple of nice stainless/synthetic model 70's as well.

The 7mm Rem is just a great "do it all" kinda rifle round and is one of my all time favorites.

I that same case size though .308 the .260 rem is the "go to" for light to med recoil, lightweight rifle, and if you can find one in the 700 CDL platform they are just beautiful rifles that shoot extremely well with just some basic accurizing, at least as far as those I've owned, shot, or seen. They are a bit pricey though compared to other models.

Good to see that you're back! Has been a while since. May be you remember, but you have been the first to welcome me here on this blog, so it's good nostalgia.

 

[WildRose]

Good to see that you're back! Has been a while since. May be you remember, but you have been the first to welcome me here on this blog, so it's good nostalgia.

Thanks. Had some surgery, then recovery, then just got too damned busy to spend much time creeping around here late at night.

It's nice to be missed.