165 gr. Sierra Gamechanger in 7mm08

[Cornivorus]

I know folks shoot the 160's class of bullets in the 7mm08 but after doing a bunch of searches I cannot find any data with thus bullet and chamber combo. First thing everyone always says is" too much bullet for the case capacity".

But what if your doing this on a Tikka, long action and it has a fairly long throat too. I can seat it out to 2.988" before it touches the lands. 2.8" seems to be the norm for coal for the 7mm08. My thinking is that I should be able to lengthen my coal and use a bit more powder, thus more velocity.

Does anyone here have experience doing this that would mind sharing? I want to be careful, but want to maximize any gains to be had too!

Also I'm interested in trying either IMR 8208 or Ramshot Big Game since I have that on hand. I'm hoping someone has experience with these and would share.

 

[Calvin45]

No experience to share, except that I say go for it!

People are always saying smaller cases can't drive bigger bullets fast enough to provide a performance gain over shorter lighter projectiles. This is often unsubstantiated and untrue. Yes they won't go as fast and one might infringe in case capacity at normal COAL but lots of folks have had good results with unconventionally heavy bullets in non magnum/short action cartridges. The higher bc still counts, it just might not shoot as flat...at first. It's uncommon perhaps but there's videos and posts about people using 208 hornadys in the 308 with great results. Heck I even had someone (at the gun store!) tell me I was probably misguided to try using 225 elds in my 300 win mag as the case really doesn't have the boiler room for such a big bullet, the usual short neck nonsense, won't drive them fast enough to gain anything over 200 grains, etc... I smiled and bought my powder and didn't try explaining how incredibly wrong this person was.

For whatever reason many seem to believe that high bc, high sd, high retained energy and projectile mass only count for anything if it starts at over 2600 fps. If you start a bullet with much lower bc off at 200-300 feet per second faster it sure doesn't take long to catch up.

And the point blank range won't be affected nearly as much as people seem to think. When you consider that an optimally zeroed 30-30 can be shot point blank (no more than 3 inches high or low) to 200 yards it makes you wonder why people think 308 family cartridges with high bc bullets are wasted effort.

 

[Calvin45]

I'm planning to try the 90 grain gamechangers in my 243 sometime this summer. The .480 bc at that weight seems decent and I emailed Sierra and they confirmed it's stable in my old 10 twist rifle that precludes my use of many of the slippery 6mm pills

 

[Sauer 150]

I know folks shoot the 160's class of bullets in the 7mm08 but after doing a bunch of searches I cannot find any data with thus bullet and chamber combo. First thing everyone always says is" too much bullet for the case capacity".

I've used a couple of 7-08's for a few years and feel People fails to see the full potential of the cartridge

For the heavies +160 weight Alliant MR2000, Reloader 19,H414 and similar burning powders seems to work well. You can in normal barells approach MV of 2700f/s with 160/162's. It's plenty for up to roughly 400y and still maintain decent expansion.
Loaded to 2,9-2,95" you can normally add 1-1,5grs to the book max loads and still not get into dangerous pressure territory.

ON medium game I landed on 154 Hornady Interbond ahead of 50grs of Re19.
Used on everything from small deer => Moose out of both a Sako 85 Finnlight and Barrett Fieldcraft.
A 7-08 is great medium game cartridge and when going back a few years we did Shot International Silhuett with it.
168's out of a 7-08 was plenty for tipping over even the hardest set ram @500

 

[Gwine]

Currently shooting a good load with 162 amax @ .010" off lands. I cant remember OAL, but I single feed. 41g of 4064 gets me 2620fps in a 22" barrel and under 1/2 moa. I got up to 2680fps but groups opened up.

 

[Gwine]

I have a box of the 165 GC's to try in the 7rm, but will probably them a try in the '08.

 

[Calvin45]

That 4064 is good stuff. Old school, nothing fancy, no extra features but it's proven to be a real trustworthy powder for me that is always available. I have a decent (for me) accuracy load in my 270 with it, with plain old 130 hornady interlock flat bases- again, old school, boring, trustworthy, available stuff. It doesn't get the velocity of a slower burning powder (probably not so in the 7-08) but it's really accurate and the muzzle blast is very mild compared to my higher velocity compressed rl 22 or 7828 loads. It also was the powder which for me made a very very picky 220 swift live up to its potential. I want to play with all the powders, I love the enduron, Hodgdon extreme, alliant powders but always have a soft spot for the original and now less mentioned imr powders. The newer ones can indeed get higher velocity, erase copper, defy temperature swings, and maybe someday make coffee for me too, but the originals are not obsolete. If for whatever reason I was limited for the rest of my life to 4064, 4350, 4831, and 7828 I wouldn't stress about that. Sometimes I think it would make sense to do this very thing, as they're always available!

 

[Calvin45]

Adding to my rabbit trail about the old school imr powder, I often find myself questioning why all the component companies keep introducing new products every year when they can't keep up with demand for their existing ones. It makes for some disgruntled customers. Maybe it's not like this where many of you live but where I do it seems the safest bet if you want to be able to keep loading the same combo without buying in bulk would in fact be to buy original imr powder and hornady bullets

 

[MudRunner2005]

Try the Berger 180 Hybrid or 195 EOL with a 26" 1:8 twist, and something slow like CFE-223, LeverEvolution, or RL16. REAL game-changer.

 

[OhYtD]

I think the 7mm-08 is probably a little light on elk, but will probably get the job done if you do your part. I dont know how a 160 grain bullet would work in the 7mm-08 case, but it might cut out some powder. If I were you, I would try and get a bonded bullet, 140 or 150 grains.

 

[Muddyboots]

Here is the Sierra Gamechanger load data for a variety of calibers which may be helpful. The GC is a tough bullet so I wouldn't hesitate using it on elk in right caliber. I have been testing the 165 GC in my 300WSM and it is very accurate with 1" at 200 yds. With .530 BC it makes it an interesting bullet downrange as well. Have not had a chance to stretch it out yet to 500.

Midsouth has load data as well.
https://www.midsouthshooterssupply.com/articles/sierra-gamechangers.aspx

 

[fmuguira]

Don't believe what everyone says... do your own testing and always work up.

I have a Rem 700 that doesn't touch the lands with a 162 AMax or EZlDM until 2.920 OAL. I seat to 2.910 and with a full case of H4350 I m getting 2710 fps. Sub MOA and it hits hard. Have shot steel at 1340 yds with it.

As others have stated don t underestimate the 7-08, with a high BC bullet it's got a lot of punch!!

BTW, I m running a 2.920 Wyatts box so mine will actually feed/be a repeater.

Good luck. !

 

[mnoland30]

I shoot a 7mm WSM Browning Titanium, and load it down to about 7mm-08 velocity. With a 168 gr. Berger, it dropped an elk at 340 yards with no problem. That is at 2750 fps. Don't get Magnumitis. Shooting times had an article years ago where they shot all of the commerial loads in 30-06, and measured velocity at 300 yards. The highest BC bullets had about double the energy of the round nose bullets. That was before we had really high b.c. bullets. I bought the magnum instead of the 7mm-08 in case I ever wanted to load up. So far, I never have seen the need. The recoil is much more manageable with lighter loads, and my accuracy is way better than with factory loads.

 

[LVJ76]

I've used a couple of 7-08's for a few years and feel People fails to see the full potential of the cartridge

For the heavies +160 weight Alliant MR2000, Reloader 19,H414 and similar burning powders seems to work well. You can in normal barells approach MV of 2700f/s with 160/162's. It's plenty for up to roughly 400y and still maintain decent expansion.
Loaded to 2,9-2,95" you can normally add 1-1,5grs to the book max loads and still not get into dangerous pressure territory.

ON medium game I landed on 154 Hornady Interbond ahead of 50grs of Re19.
Used on everything from small deer => Moose out of both a Sako 85 Finnlight and Barrett Fieldcraft.
A 7-08 is great medium game cartridge and when going back a few years we did Shot International Silhuett with it.
168's out of a 7-08 was plenty for tipping over even the hardest set ram @500

Hey Sauer, where did you shoot Silhouette? I grew up in Sonora Mexico shooting Silhouette both Smallbore and High Power, started with the 308 with the 168gr Sierra's and then changed to the 7mm-08 also with thw 168gr, later on went with the 150gr Sierra's and had better results on the Rams. I was lucky enough to go to Raron NM for a couple of Nationals and still shoot some every now and then.