7-08 for Elk

[mahonsr]

The 7mm-08 is a great little rifle for the youth! My Son picked up one for his boy; Trey, he's 10 years old in the photos. We were on an OTC Mule Deer hunt & he connected on this muley at 230 yards, one shot kill. We layed the pack on the ground & Trey settled in while prone on the ground for an uphill shot. We're taking him elk hunting this year with the 7mm-08 as well. I believe he's also shooting the Superformance bullets.

I do know my Son had picked up several boxes of the deccelerated shells (less powder & kick) for practice. On the hunt he used the regular ones & didn't know the difference! (grin)

ElkNut/PaulView attachment 97014View attachment 97015View attachment 97016

I've listened to a lot of your podcasts and have the APP Thanks for the input!

 

[ElkNut1]

Thank you!

The ammo with less powder for less kick & noise reduction was just used to get my grandson used to the gun. He shoots it very well out to 300 yards with a solid rest,

When he was at school my Son & I shot the normal Superformance loads & re-dialed in the scope so Try was unaware of it. On his one shot at the muley he was so focused on the buck he didn't notice any additional recoil. We never told him there was any difference in bullet loads, he was none the wiser! (grin)

Not positive but I believe the less recoil loads were also Superformance.

X2 on the ear protection, that's a must!

ElkNut/Paul

 

[elkocd]

I was thinking of doing the same - which low recoil did he use? I was a little worried with a change of point of impact

So this is how I did it with him... I had him practice shooting with the Remington low recoil rounds. The recoil was nothing for him even when he was 10-11 and small. Then for his first elk hunt when he was 12 I took the gun and sighted it in myself with the 140gr accubond federal ammo. I didn't want him to think about recoil. The gun was ready and I just handed it to him. When the time came and a bull was out there, of course, there is adrenalin and the extra recoil in that moment was not a factor. We did the same thing for 2 years and he took those bulls at 12 and 13 years old and never had to think about recoil. Now, he's able to shoot my 7mm because he's much bigger, but I thought that approach allowed him to learn to shoot and never get any recoil/flinch thoughts in his mind. That's what I liked about that gun so much. Being able to practice with low recoil, then switch to a bullet with more than enough punch to put down bulls in one shot.

 

[Short Track]

I took more than 1 Elk with a 7mm-08. Nosler Partition. 140 gr.
1 was a perfect broad side shot.
The 2nd was off hand, and I had to shoot it more than once... because … well because it was a lousy 1st shoot. But I got the Elk.

 

[mahonsr]

So this is how I did it with him... I had him practice shooting with the Remington low recoil rounds. The recoil was nothing for him even when he was 10-11 and small. Then for his first elk hunt when he was 12 I took the gun and sighted it in myself with the 140gr accubond federal ammo. I didn't want him to think about recoil. The gun was ready and I just handed it to him. When the time came and a bull was out there, of course, there is adrenalin and the extra recoil in that moment was not a factor. We did the same thing for 2 years and he took those bulls at 12 and 13 years old and never had to think about recoil. Now, he's able to shoot my 7mm because he's much bigger, but I thought that approach allowed him to learn to shoot and never get any recoil/flinch thoughts in his mind. That's what I liked about that gun so much. Being able to practice with low recoil, then switch to a bullet with more than enough punch to put down bulls in one shot.

This is exactly what I was thinking as well - glad to hear you had success and are confirming the choice. I think this is a great idea and good way to introduce kids to larger calibers than the ubiquitous 22. Thanks for sharing - this is very helpful to hear

 

[Vaultman]

This is exactly what I was thinking as well - glad to hear you had success and are confirming the choice. I think this is a great idea and good way to introduce kids to larger calibers than the ubiquitous 22. Thanks for sharing - this is very helpful to hear

I am doing this with my 12 yo this year. He shot the low recoil rounds first few times we went to the range (Hornady Custom Light 120gr). Once he was used to that I have moved him up to the 140gr barnes that I had my wife shooting a few years back. He was not bothered by it, though I did not tell him before hand.
The other way to keep the flinch out is to load some dummy rounds (no powder and no primer) and mix those in at the bench for him. This will show you, and him if and when he is flinching. I've been doing this from early on with him, and he has not developed a flinch. Then ween it off and whala... shooting full size loads, without any dummy rounds, and without a flinch. So far so good.

 

[Short Track]

The light recoil rounds drop off seriously after 100 yards. I stopped using them...

 

[mahonsr]

I am doing this with my 12 yo this year. He shot the low recoil rounds first few times we went to the range (Hornady Custom Light 120gr). Once he was used to that I have moved him up to the 140gr barnes that I had my wife shooting a few years back. He was not bothered by it, though I did not tell him before hand.
The other way to keep the flinch out is to load some dummy rounds (no powder and no primer) and mix those in at the bench for him. This will show you, and him if and when he is flinching. I've been doing this from early on with him, and he has not developed a flinch. Then ween it off and whala... shooting full size loads, without any dummy rounds, and without a flinch. So far so good.

I like that idea too. Doesn't need to be on the low recoil forever - but it will give a good chance to get use to the rifle. And based on that - move up or stick with them until hunting. He's a good kids and I think he'll be able to handle it - but definitely nice to have the options. Also great to hear about all the 12 yr old kids getting to hunt this year!

 

[sneaky]

I shoot 140 Barnes Triple Shok out of my 7-08. One of my all time favorite calibers. Does everything you need at real world hunting distances.

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

 

[efnm]

Everyone keeps mentioning "reasonable distances" for the 7-08, but what is that? I shoot 120 TTSX out of mine and felt that anything past 300 starts to get a bit slow for the Barnes bullets (aka less than 2100 fps or so if I recall my calculations).

So is reasonable around 300 and closer? <=350 yards?

 

[Newtosavage]

I think that depends on the bullet and the critter.

My 7mm-08 Tikka is throwing 162 ELD-X's at 2680 fps. That means they are still doing 2000 fps. and carry 1440 ft. lbs. of energy at 500 yards.

 

[sneaky]

Figure out where you start to dip below 1800fps for the copper bullets to properly expand. Should put you in the 450-500yd range. That's a pretty good poke for most people, and the 7-08 is certainly capable of killing at those ranges. Just because the cartridge is capable at 450 doesn't mean the shooter is.

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[Newtosavage]

Just because the cartridge is capable at 450 doesn't mean the shooter is.

Amen to that. 400 yards is a poke for a lightweight hunting rifle. At least to me it is.

 

[eyeguy]

Varget and 140 barnes ttsx would be my go to. Good luck
140 accubonds would be a good backup. 139 interbonds are a little soft ii my opinion.

 

[Ndbowhunter]

162gr eld-m and reloder 17.. should fetch 2750+ fps

Run the numbers .67bc..

Drops Tahr like an axe at 700+ and bang flips red stags pushing that.

Not my gun but I was spotting.

120gr nosler is about a .38 bc and run up to 3000 I'd say it's a decent 450 yard gun.

30gr of reloder 7 with the nosler 120gr is virtually no recoil and should about match 300 savage ballistics. Same load with imr 4198 is pretty much same point of impact at 200 as my full house loads

12gr of trailboss goes about 1600fps and with older 120gr hornady ssp bullets should be a 125 yard combo.

I emailed and they claim the 120gr sst used in their recoil lite is the same construction as the 120gr vmax

36.5 grains of h4895 and a vmax nets 2600fps from my 19" barrel.

Be keen to see how the 110gr Speer does on animals. The 90gr TNT is a go to for guys culling hogs down in Texas out of 6.5 Grendel.

20gr blue dot should mimic those velocities.

Pretty cool how a guy could fill a case with reloaded 26 and 180gr eld-m loaded long and get performance exceeding almost all 300 win mag factory loads (Berger/Abm 215 withstanding) or load all the way down the chart to blue dot loads and 110gr cheap plinkers.

 

[Ndbowhunter]

150gr eld-x do fine on spike elk from experience..

 

[ghostmoney]

My wife took her first cow elk with her 7mm-08 with 140gr Berger Vld. Shot was about 70 yards though the shoulder blade and elk dropped in its tracks.

 

[adamantine]

A 7-08 at 100 hits as hard as a 7mag at 300ish. More than enough power.

Hornady superformance with the 139GMX (copper bullet) is a phenomenal load, or the SST version. I've seen 0.25MOA out of a tikka with that load (granted, it's just a tikka )

 

[Newtosavage]

A 7-08 at 100 hits as hard as a 7mag at 300ish. More than enough power.

Hornady superformance with the 139GMX (copper bullet) is a phenomenal load, or the SST version. I've seen 0.25MOA out of a tikka with that load (granted, it's just a tikka )

Last fall, my buddy was carrying his 7 mag loaded with 150 grain soft points @ 3000 fps. I had my 7mm-08 with 162 ELD-X @ 2680. He couldn't resist giving me grief about my "little gun" even after I pointed out to him that my "little gun" carried more energy at 500 yards than his beloved 7 mag did. He refused to believe that was possible and all but called me a liar. LOL You just can't use logic on some people.

 

[markandles]

Randy Newberg has several videos on the 7mm-08