Long Action 7mm-08?

[justwoody1]

Why not go .284?

 

[ntg]

Per the original post he wants to form brass from 308, or 30-06. That crossed my mind until he stated that.

 

[J E Custom]

No particular requirements. I'm just curious if anyone has any quantitative data on long seated bullets vs "normal" 7mm-08. Is it 10 fps? Is it 50 fps? Accuracy gains?

I personally see no reason to build a 7/08 on a long action. seating a bullet long doesn't increase the velocity, and shooting long/heavy bullets use more case capacity, but the heavies also use less powder so to me it is a wash.

The choice of bullets decides the relationship of the Mag length and the freebore. the 308 sized cases have a limited capacity and when using heavy bullets, velocity suffers greatly. when you look at the overall performance of a bullets trajectory and velocity, combined with performance on game the 120 to 140 grain bullets are the best overall with this size case.

The 120 will typically exceed 3000 ft/sec. and the 140 grain will exceed 2800 ft/sec without being max loads seated to Mag length.
if you want to shoot longer bullets throating may be an option and single loading.

I did some seating depth test and the range of freebore was over .100 thousandths with different bullets of the same weight seated against the lands. so bullet choice can make a huge difference.

If you want more velocity,you can AI it and gain an average of 100 ft/sec and still shoot factory 7/08 to fire form to the AI.

J E CUSTOM

 

[David Lindler]

Just kicking around ideas in my head, and it occurred to me that one could possibly run 7mm-08 in a long action, and seat heavier bullets WAY long. Anyone have any experience with that sorta thing? Even if you didn't use a long action, but just seated the bullets long for single loading?

Is there really anything significant to be gained? Does anyone even make a reamer that would accomplish this?

Why you ask?

My dad gave me a Marlin X7 in 270 which is essentially a backup/loaner rifle for me. Problem is, I really dislike the 270 cartridge in general (I know, grab the torches and pitch forks!).

I can't think of any other long action cartridge with a 0.473 bolt face that fills a bill I don't have covered with my 300WM. 280 AI is the only one that even registers a blip on the needle, and I'm pretty sure I don't wanna make an investment in dies/brass/etc for an X7 spare rifle. Also, for a backup/loaner, the 270 already kicks pretty hard, and 280 would be considerably worse for new shooters.

P.S. Before all the different caliber recommendations come streaming in, I already have brass/dies/bullets/powders for 7mm-08 (from working with a buddies 7-08). This is a spare rifle, and I'm not even sure I wanna spend the cash for a new barrel, let alone a whole new reloading setup. The only chance I'd consider something else, is if I could fireform brass from 308 or 30-06 and good powders are similar to either 308, 300WM, or 30-06, as I have a crapload of that stuff in hand already.

The 7m-08 will shoot the heavies if you have a fast enough twist. Have a gunsmith inlet your stock so that it will accept an extended wyatt mag box. This should get u to at least 2.975+ OAL

 

[wonderman4]

I put together a long action 308 Win a coupla years ago. I had the action and just wanted to try it and it worked. It can shoot like a souped up 300 Blackout with heavy bullets. I can load some longish Cutting Edge bullets and make it do without single loading. Twist is 1:8 for those that are wondering.

 

[LVJ76]

I have my Silhouette Competition 7mm-08 in a Remington 700 long action, why? You can seat the bullets a little further out and aids in precision in my case, better groups averaging just under Quarter MOA at 100m and I get groups under 3.0" at 500m with windy conditions, it's always windy and gusty here.

This is using both 168gr and 150gr Sierra MatchKings, haven't tried out the ELD or Bergers either

If it's for hunting then I would go with a short action and save some weight or not if the weight don't bother you. The 7mm-08 is an awesome cartridge, and like Wonderman4 mentioned use even heavier bullets for shorter distances on game and it will hit them hard.

There's nothing the 270 can kill that my 7mm-08 can't. And I do like the 270, shot it for years but the 7mm-08 is just great with less powder and recoil.

 

[frankinaustin]

here's a brief summary of something I have done to "scratch this itch:"
About 2 years ago i bought some Lapua 308 Palma brass, which uses small rifle primers. Developed a load with 52.2 gr of big game. ALLLLLL that powder leaves little room for bullet. Had a smith dremmel out a little extra clearance for me in my magazine. see pics. What I am able to do is load a lot more powder with less risk of over pressure (thanks to the small primer and thicker head) while accommodating longer seating

.

IN a 22" 708 I am averaging 3181 fps for 120 Nosler BTs. 7 fps SD. it's a 1/4 MOA load in a 7 lb all in carry rifle.

 

[elkaholic]

here's a brief summary of something I have done to "scratch this itch:"
About 2 years ago i bought some Lapua 308 Palma brass, which uses small rifle primers. Developed a load with 52.2 gr of big game. ALLLLLL that powder leaves little room for bullet. Had a smith dremmel out a little extra clearance for me in my magazine. see pics. What I am able to do is load a lot more powder with less risk of over pressure (thanks to the small primer and thicker head) while accommodating longer seatingView attachment 146956 View attachment 146957 .

IN a 22" 708 I am averaging 3181 fps for 120 Nosler BTs. 7 fps SD. it's a 1/4 MOA load in a 7 lb all in carry rifle.

what magazine? Savage?

 

[frankinaustin]

That's a Cooper Model 54

 

[Jud96]

Do a .284 Winchester with a long throat. Run Norma or Peterson brass. You can run 175-180s at 2850fps from a 26" barrel with RL23 and RL26 and not run into pressure. It's at least 150fps faster than a 7mm-08. If you want to shoot 160-168s, I'm sure you could get them to 2950 with RL23 and RL26.

 

[GMFWOODCHUCK]

If you want a 7mm just do a Remington 280 .

 

[PredatorSlayer]

Just kicking around ideas in my head, and it occurred to me that one could possibly run 7mm-08 in a long action, and seat heavier bullets WAY long. Anyone have any experience with that sorta thing? Even if you didn't use a long action, but just seated the bullets long for single loading?

Is there really anything significant to be gained? Does anyone even make a reamer that would accomplish this?

Why you ask?

My dad gave me a Marlin X7 in 270 which is essentially a backup/loaner rifle for me. Problem is, I really dislike the 270 cartridge in general (I know, grab the torches and pitch forks!).

I can't think of any other long action cartridge with a 0.473 bolt face that fills a bill I don't have covered with my 300WM. 280 AI is the only one that even registers a blip on the needle, and I'm pretty sure I don't wanna make an investment in dies/brass/etc for an X7 spare rifle. Also, for a backup/loaner, the 270 already kicks pretty hard, and 280 would be considerably worse for new shooters.

P.S. Before all the different caliber recommendations come streaming in, I already have brass/dies/bullets/powders for 7mm-08 (from working with a buddies 7-08). This is a spare rifle, and I'm not even sure I wanna spend the cash for a new barrel, let alone a whole new reloading setup. The only chance I'd consider something else, is if I could fireform brass from 308 or 30-06 and good powders are similar to either 308, 300WM, or 30-06, as I have a crapload of that stuff in hand already.

I would just try and overcome your dislike of the 270 . Its a super versatile cartridge. Throw a 145gr eldx or 150gr ablr in it and its a sweetheart. I wouldn't throw any money at the Marlin.

 

[entoptics]

I would just try and overcome your dislike of the 270 . Its a super versatile cartridge. Throw a 145gr eldx or 150gr ablr in it and its a sweetheart. I wouldn't throw any money at the Marlin.

Tried em both. My Benelli SBE II patterns tighter with a modified choke...

The rifle is OK (1.25 MOA) with 140 Accubonds, but nowadays 270 is just a mediocre cartridge IMO. Kills like a creedmoor, kicks like an 06...

In all seriousness, it's just not got anything going for it over many other cartridges these days. It's not powerful enough for murdering elk within it's accurate range, and it's not accurate enough for murdering deer within it's lethal range. The long neck soaks up most of the advantages gained by long action rifles, it kicks pretty hard for the power level, and high B.C. bullets are less common than unicorn tears.

I probably will let it go though, as it sounds like there's no re-barrel options that would achieve a performance/dollar ratio that's tolerable for an X7 spare rifle.

 

[PredatorSlayer]

Tried em both. My Benelli SBE II patterns tighter with a modified choke...

The rifle is OK (1.25 MOA) with 140 Accubonds, but nowadays 270 is just a mediocre cartridge IMO. Kills like a creedmoor, kicks like an 06...

In all seriousness, it's just not got anything going for it over many other cartridges these days. It's not powerful enough for murdering elk within it's accurate range, and it's not accurate enough for murdering deer within it's lethal range. The long neck soaks up most of the advantages gained by long action rifles, it kicks pretty hard for the power level, and high B.C. bullets are less common than unicorn tears.

I probably will let it go though, as it sounds like there's no re-barrel options that would achieve a performance/dollar ratio that's tolerable for an X7 spare rifle.

OOOF! Lots of thoughts about this that I won't share as we have killed a lot of elk with the good ol 270 win - I will say good luck with whatever you decide