7mm-08 1-9.5 twist what size bullets and what powders. 20in barrel?

[Bigeclipse]

All,
This is for a medium sized game (deer mainly BUT MAYBE black bear but not likely). This is for shots under 400 yards (almost all will be under 200 yards). Looking into Nosler ballistic tips and accubonds but open to other suggestions. The rifle is a Savage Lady hunter 11 in 7mm-08 with a 20 inch barrel twisted at 1-9.5. Thoughts? How about any ideas of some load suggestions?

 

[BallisticsGuy]

Berger 130gn Classic Hunter or Hunter VLD. From a 24" pipe you can get right at 3k FPS. Probably low 2900's or very high 2800's from a 20". It'll be pretty darned flat shooting to 400yrds and plenty to smack the heck out of a black bear or deer. BC on those bergers is .45-.49. Trajectory should be something like a .30-06 with 168's in it. Recoil will be pretty mild.

 

[Bigeclipse]

Berger 130gn Classic Hunter or Hunter VLD. From a 24" pipe you can get right at 3k FPS. Probably low 2900's or very high 2800's from a 20". It'll be pretty darned flat shooting to 400yrds and plenty to smack the heck out of a black bear or deer. BC on those bergers is .45-.49. Trajectory should be something like a .30-06 with 168's in it. Recoil will be pretty mild.

Not sure I like the bergers because they typically need to be at the lands for decent accuracy and this will be a mag fed gun which I cannot get to the lands which was why I was sticking with the Nosler's for their decent jump. Just not sure on which grain...looks like I need to be in the 140-160 grain range for the twist of the barrel im using. Just not sure.

 

[el matador]

The 120 grain Nosler Ballistic Tip is a popular bullet in the short barreled 7-08s. I'm loading them with 44.0 grains RL15 and getting decent accuracy out of a factory Model Seven (right around 1 MOA for 5 shots). I have not yet measured the velocity but it should be over 2900 fps in the 20" barrel. I'm seating the bullets to 2.800" OAL which seems to give me the best accuracy and they fit in the mag easily. I could not touch the lands and still fit in the mag so I didn't try.

Another bullet that is very popular with this setup is the 120 grain Barnes TTSX. I shy away from these because of the higher price and lower BC, but for a gun like this it probably doesn't matter much. I've heard reports of good accuracy and performance from this bullet.

A 1:9.5 twist is a great for a lot of different bullets. It works for shooting the 100 grain hollow points as fast as you can drive them and it will also stabilize bullets up to 168 grains. Anything heavier than that would be a waste of time in a 20" barrel anyway. I chose the 120s because I'm trying to keep recoil down for a younger shooter. If you want a heavier bullet I would consider the 140 Ballistic Tip, 140 Accubond, 150 ELD, or some of the Bergers mentioned above. I don't think you'll gain much by going heavier than 150 grains.

As a side note, the 100 grain Sierra hollow points are awesome bullets for target practice and plinking. I load them with 4895 to around 2600 fps and they are super accurate. Like 1/2 MOA accurate in my gun, which is surprisingly good for a factory Model Seven in a plastic stock.

 

[J E Custom]

For deer hunting, I prefer the 120 grain ballistic tip loaded with 49.5 grains of H 414 for 3010 ft/sec
and 45.5 grains of Varget for 3150 ft/sec. these loads all work in a 20 to 22'' barrel.

I have used these loads at distances of 5 to 600 yards with 100% success .

J E CUSTOM

 

[velvetant]

Don't rule out the Berger just because you load to magazine length.
I have 3 rifles that I load the Berger to mag length, well off the lands.
All three are .5 -.7 moa shooters.
You can't go wrong with the Nosler 120BT, proven track record of being a good bullet in the 7mm-08

 

[Bigeclipse]

For deer hunting, I prefer the 120 grain ballistic tip loaded with 49.5 grains of H 414 for 3010 ft/sec
and 45.5 grains of Varget for 3150 ft/sec. these loads all work in a 20 to 22'' barrel.

I have used these loads at distances of 5 to 600 yards with 100% success .

J E CUSTOM

You think 1-9.5 twist in 20in is ok for the 120 BT?

 

[J E Custom]

You think 1-9.5 twist in 20in is ok for the 120 BT?

Yes. A 1 in 9 or 1 in 10 is good. so a 1 in 9.5 would be good also for the 140 grain bullets.

The ballistic Tip works very good because of the point of impact velocity at 100+ yards.

Varget seems to get the best velocity with very good accuracy and the additional velocity extends your performance range. there are other powder/ bullet combinations that do ok, but the 120 ballistic tip in front of Varget seems to be the best combination Plus Varget is an extreme powder
with very little heat sensitivity.

J E CUSTOM

 

[Bigeclipse]

Yes. A 1 in 9 or 1 in 10 is good. so a 1 in 9.5 would be good also for the 140 grain bullets.

The ballistic Tip works very good because of the point of impact velocity at 100+ yards.

Varget seems to get the best velocity with very good accuracy and the additional velocity extends your performance range. there are other powder/ bullet combinations that do ok, but the 120 ballistic tip in front of Varget seems to be the best combination Plus Varget is an extreme powder
with very little heat sensitivity.

J E CUSTOM

I apologize for asking again but above you say 140 is good in 1 in 9.5 but then I thought we were talking about the 120? Please clarify as I plan on ordering them to give them a shot but not sure which one. The shooter is not recoil sensitive so I can use either.

 

[velvetant]

The 1-9.5 twist will be good to stabilize bullets up to around 170 grains.
That means you can use anything lighter.
Both the 120 and 140 are a great choice for the 1-9.5 twist you have

 

[J E Custom]

I apologize for asking again but above you say 140 is good in 1 in 9.5 but then I thought we were talking about the 120? Please clarify as I plan on ordering them to give them a shot but not sure which one. The shooter is not recoil sensitive so I can use either.

No problem.

I recommend the 120 for deer but if you wanted to hunt Elk, the 140 Accubond would be a better choice. ether one will shoot fine in the 1 in 9.5 twist.

J E CUSTOM

 

[Greyfox]

For deer I like the 140 Nosler Ballistic Tips and 139 Hornady SST's using 42-43gr(work up this load) of Varget. I would expect about 2750FPS out of a 20"
Barrel. The 9.5 twist will stabilize these bullets well. Very accurate with excellent performance on game to 500 yards.

 

[LDHunter]

Ballistic Coefficient means very little at the ranges you'll be shooting and I suggest you stick with the terminal performance you're looking for then match the bullet with that profile and focus on velocity always being an issue with a 20" barrel.

My 20" Remington Model Seven has a 1:9.5" twist and that twist is certainly good for almost any of the lighter bullets you'll probably bother to try in a 7mm-08 but I never did get stellar accuracy out of the 120gr bullets and settled on 140's both Accubond and Ballistic Tip.

Frankly anything heavier than the 140gr Accubond is completely unnecessary for any game up to and including elk unless you're hunting beyond 400yds and then I'd recommend a "magnum" cartridge instead of the 7mm-08.

The 7mm-08 is a wonderful cartridge but it certainly isn't a magnum and out of a 20" barrel you'll never achieve magnum-like performance and it sounds like you already have a pretty good idea what to expect.

By the way... I'm a big fan of Varget in the 308 based cartridges and the 7-08 is no exception.

 

[Bigeclipse]

Ballistic Coefficient means very little at the ranges you'll be shooting and I suggest you stick with the terminal performance you're looking for then match the bullet with that profile and focus on velocity always being an issue with a 20" barrel.

My 20" Remington Model Seven has a 1:9.5" twist and that twist is certainly good for almost any of the lighter bullets you'll probably bother to try in a 7mm-08 but I never did get stellar accuracy out of the 120gr bullets and settled on 140's both Accubond and Ballistic Tip.

Frankly anything heavier than the 140gr Accubond is completely unnecessary for any game up to and including elk unless you're hunting beyond 400yds and then I'd recommend a "magnum" cartridge instead of the 7mm-08.

The 7mm-08 is a wonderful cartridge but it certainly isn't a magnum and out of a 20" barrel you'll never achieve magnum-like performance and it sounds like you already have a pretty good idea what to expect.

By the way... I'm a big fan of Varget in the 308 based cartridges and the 7-08 is no exception.

Thanks for the info. I actually have a few pounds of Varget on hand and will be using it. The goal of this gun is a light weight woods backup gun for my wife. Her primary gun had a jam last year that caused her to use my backup rifle which is too big for her. We have one stretch of field that is about 400 yards but rarely is there a shot there. Everything else is 200 yards and under woods/small field hunting. That being said my OCD prevents me on settling on the whole minute of deer theory. I like all my rifles shooting the best they can. I'm not happy if I'm above 1moa