Bob Nelson 35Whelen
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Alexandria Far isA while back, I was chatting to a mate of mine about 308-derived cartridges and the topic ended on the little and obscure (at least in RSA) 7mm-08. Obviously the 243 win and the 260 were discussed to some extent, but with the proven track record associated with the 243 and the various 6.5's still being all the range in long distance, they need not be discussed here.
He was (is?) of the opinion that the 7mm is the ugly duckling of the family- neither here nor there (I'm paraphrasing). Well, I sort of got what the point his was making, but being an argumentative man, I did some digging and damn, I'm happy I did.
First, let me praise the champion that is the 308 win- short action, a fair bit of oomph and complete lack of originality (read "easy to get ammo and components), the little winnie is the boring cartridge that could. This versatility has been helped, substantially, by the myriad of awesome projectiles now available to us.
Moving on to the 7mm-08, I was playing with Sterlok the other day and the numbers coming out of the 7mil were damn impressive- hand loads with 160gr projectiles showed awesome velocity, retained energy and horizontal drift looked great. I spoke to a guy who had built an AI version for PRS type comps and I was really, really impressed.
All that said, I know practical and theoretical don't always gel, so I would love to here your thoughts and experiences. The man I mention above had some really hot loads (above 2800 ft/s with various 160 grainers) and with that kind of gas and the associated BC and SD values, I think this would make for an AWESOME short action allrounder.
The question is: Is the difference between the 7mm08 and 308 enough to sacrifice the universality of the latter or is this just another case of unnecessary splitting of hairs?
Cheers
The 7mm 08 is an awe some little cartridge, making it an AI is of virtually no value. 2,800 fps with a,160grain is really pushing the envelope.
There are lots of people on this forum that know far more than me about it.
The 08 has been necked to 243, 25 Souper,260, 7mm, 338 and 358.
I've always wondered how the 270 08 would go.
In Australia the 7mm 08 is pretty popular
Cheers mate Bob