Talk me out of rechambering my 7mm-08

[CApighunter]

I’d rebarrel it to a 7mm SAW by WTO, basically a 7-08 AI but no fire forming, just resize and load. Or 280 AI, I absolutely love mine and it only shoots when there’s a significant jump. No where near the lands and room to spare in the mag. But I wouldn’t rechamber.

 

[deerkiller]

Your barrel twist rate is:

7mm-08 Rem / 9.5" / (3 in magazine, 1 in chamber) per Sako.

Is your barrel 22.5 in?

Planning to stay in the 140-160 gr "sweet spot" for .284 bullets?

I'd say AI, yielding near 7rm velocity more efficiently, w less powder, noise, recoil than the big 7. The fatty case of the 284 will reduce magazine capacity by 1 round, and many 284s are finicky in feeding.AI cases can be fire formed from 280 cases.

Keep us posted, following w interest.

I'm not very familiar with the .284 case but if mag capacity would be a problem be sure to try a Tikka WSM magazine

Personally, I would go with a 7mm-08 AI - New powders are claiming 2950 with 140's which would be a "killing machine" - BUT then again, a .280 AI has done all of THAT work for you, AND begins faster …..

 

[Tartan]

I’d rebarrel it to a 7mm SAW by WTO, basically a 7-08 AI but no fire forming, just resize and load. Or 280 AI, I absolutely love mine and it only shoots when there’s a significant jump. No where near the lands and room to spare in the mag. But I wouldn’t rechamber.

I agree, I wouldn't rechamber. I've been thinking about a 7mm-08, 7mm SAW, or just going with the 280ai for a new build.

I really like the 7mm SAW. But if the OP is a capable reloader, he should be able to do pretty much the same thing without modifying his rifle at all. The SAW is essentially a 7mm SLR (shoulder-neck junction is pushed back vs an ackley where you're pushing the base of the shoulder forward and blowing out the case taper) and was designed to run small rifle primer brass to allow for slightly higher pressures.

If you are an accomplished reloader, just pick up some 308 small primer brass and neck down to 7mm-08. Running quickload on WTO's SAW loads, they run around 65k psi. Which fwiw is the same as the saami spec for the 280ai. The only thing you're really gaining with the SAW over the 7mm-08 is the sharper shoulder (arguable better burn characteristics) and optimizing seating depth with longer bullets for short action magazines. With the Tikka, mag length isn't really a problem.

The 7mm-08/SAW with SRP Brass at 65k psi is capable of very good velocity with many of the common temperature insensitive powders. I think this is a huge plus as you're not relying on unicorn powder that's always out of stock to get velocity. With a 22" barrel and rl16 you're looking at 3000fps with 140s, 2800 with 160s, and pushing 2700 with 180s. If those numbers aren't up to what you're looking for, I would jump up to the 284, or 280ai and a new barrel.

I wouldn't recommend going the SRP/higher pressure route unless one was very comfortable reloading. Modern bolt actions can handle it fine, but you're not leaving yourself as much room for a mistake and from what I've heard SRP brass doesn't show pressure signs like some other brass.

 

[Ndbowhunter]

2700 with 180’s?? Saami 7mm-08?

That’s frickin hot.

And a hammer. That’ll rival anything factory fodder from LA.

 

[Ndbowhunter]

That’ll beat a 215 Berger at 2880fps out of a 300 win mag at 500 yards for drift.

And basically match it’s velocity at 1000 yards with less drift.

 

[BuckSnort]

I have a stainless Tikka T3 in 7mm-08 that is a great shooter. It sends 139 SST's and Interbonds down the tube at 2850 fps and 162 ELD-X's at 2680 fps. and shoots all of them into 2" groups at 300 yards routinely. I love the rifle and never plan to get rid of it.

I wouldn't mess with it.. You already know it's a shooter it would be the shits to have it re bbl'd and have a chance of it not shooting good or even being finicky to find a load for.. 162 ELD's @ 2680 is more than enough for deer sized game out to 1000 yards and elk at 600... Thats farther than 99% of hunters can shoot accurately anyway..

If your're dead set at wanting to burn more powder for elk sized game I'd save up and get a new rifle in 300 RUM or WM...

My $.02

 

[Newtosavage]

You don’t want another gun but you want yours to fill a 2-3 gun void?

No way I would spend $300 to rechamber a factory barrel. Save your pennies and buy a good barrel and chamber in what you really want... then sell your bow and build another rifle lol

Before making too many plans with that factory barrel I’d make sure your smith can even get it off without machining a relief in it anyways.

The smith I'm talking to specializes in Tikka prefits and just happens to be 40 minutes up the road. Told me he's never had a problem pulling a Tikka barrel.

 

[Newtosavage]

I wouldn't mess with it.. You already know it's a shooter it would be the shits to have it re bbl'd and have a chance of it not shooting good or even being finicky to find a load for.. 162 ELD's @ 2680 is more than enough for deer sized game out to 1000 yards and elk at 600... Thats farther than 99% of hunters can shoot accurately anyway..

If your're dead set at wanting to burn more powder for elk sized game I'd save up and get a new rifle in 300 RUM or WM...

My $.02

I'm sure you're right. My way of thinking is that if this is my dedicated "big" big game rifle (Caribou and up), I can tolerate more recoil than the 7mm-08 is producing, even with the 162's so why not take advantage of that. When my other Tikka wore an '06 barrel, I learned that my "no flinch" limit was whatever recoil impulse that was created by a hot '06 load shooting 180 accubonds from a 6.8 lb rifle (scoped). I could shoot it accurately, but after a few months with it I realized I was developing bad habits at the bench.

I enjoy reloading and working up and testing loads, so I shoot quite a bit. I had an 8 lb. Ruger 77 in .280 Rem for a while, and I could shoot that thing all day with 160's and 162's over a full load. So that's partly what's on my mind. If I could send those 160's or 162's down the tube at 2800, I'd be pretty happy. Not looking to burn more powder mind you, but I feel like I want just a hair more "insurance" for what this rifle will be used for, if that makes any sense.

.284 Win ballistics are nearly identical to that .280 Rem I used to own, which is what had me looking in that direction. At this point, I've decided it will only be a re-barrel and not a rechamber.

 

[Tower]

I love my Ruger M77 in .284win. Loaded with 145 grain Grand Slams it’s a deer slayer and has taken a few elk as well.

Brass is a problem if you don’t already have any. I wouldn’t mention this if I didn’t already have a pile, but Midway has a run of Winchester 150gr power point. It’s available about once a year. I’ve never had an issue with Winchester brass.

 

[magnum44270]

Reviving an old thread as I'm currently in the same boat deciding 7mm08, 7mm08ai, 284 or 7saum with a bolt face change.. rebarreling a rem700 SA.. so what did you end up doing and how did it go?

 

[jeffpg]

For the multitude of good reasons stated above, DON'T DO IT!

 

[Newtosavage]

For the multitude of good reasons stated above, DON'T DO IT!

I didn't. Sold it to a good friend who has used that rifle to take several great animals in the past 2 years. He loves that rifle and still wonders why I sold it. LOL I told him recently it was just too long for me and I couldn't bear to shorten the barrel on such a good shooting rifle.

 

[Gila]

Do you know what the free bore is for the GAP?