Kiddo load for the 7mm08

[Ringbill27]

Alright I have a few nephews and nieces that will be of age in a few years. I was at the LGS the other day and found a new savage axis 2 youth in 7mm08 for $170 and left with it.

Prior to me becoming part of my wife’s deer camp the starter guns was and still is a bolt action 410ga or a rem 700 30-06. So… this 7mm08 I intend to be the deer camp starter rifle.

So these kids are scrawny so I’d like to load some reduced loads and I’d like to know which bullet you all use for this propose. Reduced recoil 7mm08 loads and 100yd rifle.

Ps this probably should have went to the reloading section maybe.

 

[Plainsman79]

Hornaday makes a factory reduced recoil load. It shouldn’t be to hard to find on the shelves.

For my daughter’s savage youth 08, I load 36 grains of varget with a 150 ELD-X. Only reason it’s a 150 is because she uses it elk hunting.

They’re great little rifles!

 

[Chris in TN]

Hodgdon used to publish reduced data for a lot of calibers (or a formula you could apply to pretty much anything - if they published data for it with H4895, start at 60% of that and work up towards 70% if you like) with H4895. I haven't shot H4895 in ages because it's never in stock locally and never in stock online when I'm trying to make an order of other stuff, but I can usually keep a pound of IMR4895 on hand because it seems to be easier to find, and a pound lasts a long time.

I don't shoot really reduced loads with it (like the above Hodgdon formula) but have used it in .223 and 30-06 and other calibers and when I got the kids a 6.5cm this summer I let the two younger ones start with 38.0 grains of IMR4895 and a 123 grain Nosler CC. I have also shot the 130eldm with that same charge. Velocity was 2500'+ IIRC which is more than sufficient for 300-yard deer hunting.

Also, as it happens, if you look at Hodgdon's data online, they publish a 'reduced recoil' section for the 7mm-08. Ironically it doesn't use H4895, but the data is there.

 

[TaperPin]

That’s a great price - should be a great gun for them.

The Ballistic tip is a good general purpose deer bullet and is available down to 120 gr. Loaded to around 2,800 fps it would recoil about like factory ammo 243 and 100 gr. bullet. That’s a practice load I’m loading for a new shooter, but there’s no reason they couldn’t hunt with it. It’s interesting in the Nosler data that that velocity with 4350 is the most accurate load they had for that bullet.

 

[LoH]

Barnes TTSX 110gr
Nosler Ballistic Tip 120gr

Seem like solid choices. You could run scenarios through https://shooterscalculator.com/recoil-calculator.php

 

[CJ_BG]

scrawny kids + lightweight 7-08, interesting combo

139 sst, 140 ballistic tip, 120 vmax, 120 sierra pro hunter, 130 speer btsp, 140 berger vld, or 140 partition over a starting load of fast powder like varget, n140, h335, or 4895. Should be 2500-2600 with the 140s and you're looking at 11-12.5 ft lbs in an 8lb gun.

2500 with the 140 BT takes you to 220yds with 2k fps and 350 with 1800fps.

120 ballistic tips are constructed heavier than the 140s and need more velocity to upset as much from what I've observed but could still be an okay option

Make sure they get used to working the bolt on the axis before you take them. This is obvious no matter what gun but the few axis that I've shot seemed oddly hard to lift the bolt on.

 

[Ringbill27]

scrawny kids + lightweight 7-08, interesting combo

better then a smooth bore 410 and a 30-06. If I don’t do this that’s what they are starting with. I bet I’ll have to birthday gift them their first real deer rifle when they are older.

I’ll make them use this. I’m the uncle that shoots.

 

[wesfromky]

better then a smooth bore 410 and a 30-06. If I don’t do this that’s what they are starting with. I bet I’ll have to birthday gift them their first real deer rifle when they are older.

I’ll make them use this. I’m the uncle that shoots.

If you have not read this thread yet, you should.

E

Thread 'Kids rifle manifesto'

Feb 24, 2024

I've chimed in on so many different "what rifle for my age XX kid?" threads that I thought I'd try to consolidate my thoughts here.

My oldest son is 14 now, started shooting centerfire rifles at 9. My younger kids started shooting centerfire rifles at between 5-7 yrs old. 5 kids shooting now, and a bunch of their friends that I have been involved or around as they learn to shoot. probably 20-ish kids? Here's what I've learned in the last 5-6 years.

Recoil matters, a lot. "Handles it pretty well" is way way different from "ideal for building skills as a rifleman." My oldest loves to...

• eric1115
• Replies: 237
• Forum: Firearms

• 
• 

 

[43.6N]

Read the kids rifle manifesto. It really sets a kid up the right way. My scrawny daughter got it done this year in large part because of that post.

And here’s your reduced recoil 7-08 from midway:

Hornady Custom Lite 7mm-08 Remington Ammo 120 Grain Hornady SST (Super

Hornady Custom Lite ammunition provides reduced recoil and muzzle blast from standard cartridges, and puts the fun back into shooting for kids, women,...

www.midwayusa.com

 

[CJ_BG]

If you have not read this thread yet, you should.

E

Thread 'Kids rifle manifesto'

Feb 24, 2024

I've chimed in on so many different "what rifle for my age XX kid?" threads that I thought I'd try to consolidate my thoughts here.

My oldest son is 14 now, started shooting centerfire rifles at 9. My younger kids started shooting centerfire rifles at between 5-7 yrs old. 5 kids shooting now, and a bunch of their friends that I have been involved or around as they learn to shoot. probably 20-ish kids? Here's what I've learned in the last 5-6 years.

Recoil matters, a lot. "Handles it pretty well" is way way different from "ideal for building skills as a rifleman." My oldest loves to...

• eric1115
• Replies: 237
• Forum: Firearms

• 
• 

I was a kid a lot more recently than a lot of people here and that thread is a neatly put version of everything I had to learn. I'll say it as many times as needed, if I had started on a short and light 223 with good bullets I would have killed more animals faster with less misses and less wounded animals.

And I didn't even start on anything big, my first two rifles were both 243s.

 

[Chris in TN]

scrawny kids + lightweight 7-08, interesting combo

139 sst, 140 ballistic tip, 120 vmax, 120 sierra pro hunter, 130 speer btsp, 140 berger vld, or 140 partition over a starting load of fast powder like varget, n140, h335, or 4895. Should be 2500-2600 with the 140s and you're looking at 11-12.5 ft lbs in an 8lb gun.

2500 with the 140 BT takes you to 220yds with 2k fps and 350 with 1800fps.

120 ballistic tips are constructed heavier than the 140s and need more velocity to upset as much from what I've observed but could still be an okay option

Make sure they get used to working the bolt on the axis before you take them. This is obvious no matter what gun but the few axis that I've shot seemed oddly hard to lift the bolt on.

So, for whatever it's worth.....

If we're talking about a rifle for kids to hunt with here, at what I would assume to be moderate ranges of perhaps 0-250 yards.....MidwayUSA has the 130-grain Speer (mentioned above) for $26/100.

If you're on a budget, you could do a whole lot worse than picking up several boxes of those while they are in stock. I still shoot the 165 grain .308 version in 30-06 every now and then. They work fine on deer.

 

[43.6N]

Here’s the Hodg 2025 section for reduced recoil 708 loads.

 

[TaperPin]

View attachment 962227
Here’s the Hodg 2025 section for reduced recoil 708 loads.

That’s really cool - I’m glad Hornady started publishing this. In the past manuals warned against reduced charges of slow burning powder so we were afraid of anything slower than 4895. His will help a lot of new shooters or those who would like to practice and not get beat up as much.

 

[Chris in TN]

I was a kid a lot more recently than a lot of people here and that thread is a neatly put version of everything I had to learn. I'll say it as many times as needed, if I had started on a short and light 223 with good bullets I would have killed more animals faster with less misses and less wounded animals.

And I didn't even start on anything big, my first two rifles were both 243s.

I'm not disagreeing with you - at all - here - but I would point out that you can start with a 'light' rifle then add a heavy optic to it, a suppressor, a sling, maybe a bipod, then clamp the entire thing into a tripod.....

The Tikka t3x 6.5cm 20" compact(?) model that I got for my kids this summer started out, IIRC, at 6.2 pounds. But after I added a buttstock shellholder, sling, suppressor, heavy (NF) scope and rings, and a Harris bipod, plus a few rounds of ammo, suddenly it was 10.5 pounds or so.

Clamp it into a tripod and it's now even heavier. That is a very simple way to take a 'light' rifle and tame it down a whole lot. If you get it to maybe 10.5 pounds and shoot that 130 grain Speer bullet at 2500' you're looking at 7-8 ft-lb of recoil.

I absolutely believe in the value of starting with a .22lr then a .223 or something similar but you can easily tame a 6.5 to 7mm rifle down with reduced loads and lighter bullets and making the rifle as heavy as you can with optics/bipod/can, and come up with a very workable solution for pretty small kids.

 

[CJ_BG]

I'm not disagreeing with you - at all - here - but I would point out that you can start with a 'light' rifle then add a heavy optic to it, a suppressor, a sling, maybe a bipod, then clamp the entire thing into a tripod.....

The Tikka t3x 6.5cm 20" compact(?) model that I got for my kids this summer started out, IIRC, at 6.2 pounds. But after I added a buttstock shellholder, sling, suppressor, heavy (NF) scope and rings, and a Harris bipod, plus a few rounds of ammo, suddenly it was 10.5 pounds or so.

Clamp it into a tripod and it's now even heavier. That is a very simple way to take a 'light' rifle and tame it down a whole lot. If you get it to maybe 10.5 pounds and shoot that 130 grain Speer bullet at 2500' you're looking at 7-8 ft-lb of recoil.

I absolutely believe in the value of starting with a .22lr then a .223 or something similar but you can easily tame a 6.5 to 7mm rifle down with reduced loads and lighter bullets and making the rifle as heavy as you can with optics/bipod/can, and come up with a very workable solution for pretty small kids.

Definitely, one of the first guns I shot growing up was a 308 m70 with whatever the old 8x leupold sniper scope was, mk5 maybe? Anyway that gun was like 12lbs and I shot it off of a bench and tripod well enough.

Is this the best way to get a kid into hunting though? We're trying to recruit them and then teach them weapons handling, woodsmanship, and let them feel the experience. If the gun handling and shooting portion of their hunt is dad/pap/uncle clamping it into a tripod and then they get to look through a scope and pull the trigger aren't we cheating them on their experience?

It's obviously effective enough at killing the animal but I wouldn't want that to be how my hunts go, why should we make it that way for the kids. To me it seems the light and short rifle with minimal recoil is going to recruit more hunters.

 

[Chris in TN]

Is this the best way to get a kid into hunting though? We're trying to recruit them and then teach them weapons handling, woodsmanship, and let them feel the experience. If the gun handling and shooting portion of their hunt is dad/pap/uncle clamping it into a tripod and then they get to look through a scope and pull the trigger aren't we cheating them on their experience?

It's obviously effective enough at killing the animal but I wouldn't want that to be how my hunts go, why should we make it that way for the kids. To me it seems the light and short rifle with minimal recoil is going to recruit more hunters.

I (and my kids) shoot year round with a pretty wide variety of guns, and at this point I still carry whatever we are hunting with, with rare exceptions. My oldest (13) carries her own rifle - sometimes. Not in the CO mountains, not on public land, but here at home when she's with me or her grandpa.

I suspect that OP has some kids in mind that might not get the perfect intro to the outdoors that you and I probably both agree would be ideal for them. What he's doing sounds like a big step in the right direction. Maybe not perfect, but good.

 

[rickyw]

He’s got a 7-08, and it was a great deal. That’s what he has to work with and it will work.
Hornady custom lite 120 grain sst ammo
Or, load the 120 grain sst with h4895. It’s already been discussed above but you can find charges on the Hodgdon website.

My son shoots the 125 grain sst over 43 grains of H4895 in a 30-06. That’s what I have and that’s how we make it work.

 

[43.6N]

@Ringbill27 those kids are lucky to have you for an uncle!