7-08 loading

[chad]

I have a ruger 7mm-08 American. I have loaded up some 140 accubonds with IMR 4955 with no luck at good groups. It's my elk rifle for close timber shots. Max of 100 to 150 yards. Any suggestions on powder bullet combos? Temp stable powder preferred.

 

[J E Custom]

I have a ruger 7mm-08 American. I have loaded up some 140 accubonds with IMR 4955 with no luck at good groups. It's my elk rifle for close timber shots. Max of 100 to 150 yards. Any suggestions on powder bullet combos? Temp stable powder preferred.

Try Varget or H414. Varget will produce the most velocity and is one of my most accurate loadings.
I also have the best SDs using the CCI Br2 primers.

J E CUSTOM

 

[Trm82]

I have a ruger 7mm-08 American. I have loaded up some 140 accubonds with IMR 4955 with no luck at good groups. It's my elk rifle for close timber shots. Max of 100 to 150 yards. Any suggestions on powder bullet combos? Temp stable powder preferred.

You can't go wrong with the 120ttsx in the 7-08. I shoot them @3200fps in mine and it drops animals 0-300 yards.

 

[TJAY]

I think 4955 is to slow for the 7-08. I have good accuracy and good speed with H4350 and 140 gr. bullets. Varget and R-15 are also good powders. 4451 would also be a good choice.

 

[Dosh]

Chad, to my surprise my grandson bought the Ruger American 7-08 with his own money. After a few trial loads it is amazingly accurate with the 168 Berger Classic bullet, Fed 210M and H4350. His brother's .223 American is very accurate also. Don't know what Ruger is doing, but hope they don't change. Would like to see a non-Tupperware stock on it, in fact all manufacturers could do away with all Tupperware stocks. Good luck

 

[chad]

Thanks folks. I thought about the 120 gr Barnes bullet, just curious what it will do on an elk

 

[chad]

What powder are you using for the 120 bullets

 

[Trm82]

What powder are you using for the 120 bullets

Varget work great but I was using CFE-223

 

[MudRunner2005]

Chad, to my surprise my grandson bought the Ruger American 7-08 with his own money. After a few trial loads it is amazingly accurate with the 168 Berger Classic bullet, Fed 210M and H4350. His brother's .223 American is very accurate also. Don't know what Ruger is doing, but hope they don't change. Would like to see a non-Tupperware stock on it, in fact all manufacturers could do away with all Tupperware stocks. Good luck

As ridiculous as factory rifles cost these days, you're 110% right they should be putting better stocks on them, and prices shouldn't go up. They should also be putting out better barrels and tighter machining tolerances. While the cost would initially be high, the sales would go through the roof, making significantly higher profits in the end.

To the OP, the Berger 168 weight bullets (if you have a 1:9 twist try the Berger 180 Hybrids) and Varget or CFE223, and Federal 210M or CCI BR2 primers makes for a good combo. I recommend Lapua brass.

 

[Dosh]

As ridiculous as factory rifles cost these days, you're 110% right they should be putting better stocks on them, and prices shouldn't go up. They should also be putting out better barrels and tighter machining tolerances. While the cost would initially be high, the sales would go through the roof, making significantly higher profits in the end.

To the OP, the Berger 168 weight bullets (if you have a 1:9 twist try the Berger 180 Hybrids) and Varget or CFE223, and Federal 210M or CCI BR2 primers makes for a good combo. I recommend Lapua brass.

Yes the 180 would be great, but regretfully the Ruger American is a 1:9.5 twist.

 

[Waynzee]

At the range you'd be shooting, 100 to 150 yards I'd use the heaviest bullet that would shoot accurate out that rifle. Something like Nosler Partition 160 gr. bullet and H4350 or H4831 powder would work good.

 

[bob4]

I have a ruger 7mm-08 American. I have loaded up some 140 accubonds with IMR 4955 with no luck at good groups. It's my elk rifle for close timber shots. Max of 100 to 150 yards. Any suggestions on powder bullet combos? Temp stable powder preferred.

I have a friend who shoots 140Gn accubonds from a 7mm/08 with IMR-4350 and will not change it up for the world. Accurate and DRT both. ( I saw a video) We both shoot Bergers in everything else. But he aint a changin!
Just goes to show you. Each rifle is different. His is not a Ruger BTW. Rem 700

 

[J E Custom]

Thanks folks. I thought about the 120 gr Barnes bullet, just curious what it will do on an elk

Even though I really like the 120 Ballistic Tip for deer, I think the 140 Accubond would be better for Elk because it is bonded. The 140 can be pushed to almost 3000 ft/sec with 44 grains of Varget. the 120s can reach 3150 ft/sec using 45.5 grains of Varget.

The 120 would kill an elk with good shot placement but the 140 would/could give you an edge on larger game like the Elk.

In my opinion, anything larger than a 150 grain bullet will be to slow and bullet performance would be limited by distance. When shooting paper, the 168 grain SMK works well to 1000 yards, where accuracy is very important and bullet performance (Expansion) is not an issue.

Don't underestimate the 120 ballistic tip because I have dropped many large hogs in there tracks and some have been over 350 pounds and we all know how tough they are.

J E CUSTOM

 

[Trm82]

A 120ttsx at 3100-3200 is a lot more appealing than a 168-180 Berger at maybe 2400fos if you got lucky. What do you do when your 100-150 yard shot turns into 300/350 yards? It nice to have a flat and fast bullet that you can hold on hair and shoot. I have killed 5 animals with the 120ttsx from 225 to 364 yards and none of them went more than 10 steps. 2 wt bucks and 3 bull elk.