Best Rifle for all Deer hunting

sgt_zim said:

7mm-08 is the modern incarnation of the 7x57 Mauser (they are almost ballistically identical) . It's a long-for-caliber bullet (same as your 7mm Rem Mag) for less money, less recoil, shorter action, and longer barrel life.

Inside around 300 yards, there is little, if any advantage to the 7mm Rem Mag over the 7mm-08. The big advantage of small (.284, .308) and medium (.33) magnums is found at distances beyond 300 yards over their non-magnum cousins that use the same bullets.

With a 200 yd zero, a 7mm Rem Mag has about 2-3" holdover advantage compared to 7mm-08 when both are shooting the same 175 gr bullet. For a lot of people, that difference is so insignificant as to be outweighed by lower ammunition costs, reduced recoil, and a shorter action. And there's even less difference between 7mm Rem Mag and 280 Rem than 7mm Rem Mag and 7mm-08/7x57 Mauser.

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ZG47 said:

I agree that the 7mm-08 is similar in performance to the 7x57 but if you run it up to true, i.e. CIP pressures, you tend to have pressure-related issues, some of these being case-dependent. During the 14 years that I ran a club range complex, the centrefire chamberings most commonly related to extraction problems were, in descending order;
.223 Remington, .243 Winchester, 7mm-08 Remington and .308 Winchester.
This was due to a combination of excessively straight cases and overly enthusiastic load development.

The 7mm-08 does work very well, if:
(a) you are sensible about your load development targets;
(b) you buy a rifle with guaranteed feeding reliability for .308 Winchester type cases, such as Sako, Steyr Mannlicher, etc;
OR
(c) you purchase a rifle that can be timed (tuned for reliable feed) and engage a genuine gunsmith to perform that task.

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sgt_zim said:

Well, I can't help the overly-enthusiastic reloader. Some cartridges can be goosed up a bit (6.5x55 SE comes to mind), some can't. But the simple fact is that the 7mm Rem Mag doesn't outperform the 7mm-08 by such a wide margin at under 300 yards that for most people, the magnum just isn't worth the extra baggage.

I've got nothing against them, but they just have no real utility for me in the places that I regularly hunt. A lot of places that I hunt, my 45-70 loaded with 425 gr hard-cast lead give me more distance than I frequently need.

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sgt_zim said:

7mm-08 is the modern incarnation of the 7x57 Mauser (they are almost ballistically identical) . It's a long-for-caliber bullet (same as your 7mm Rem Mag) for less money, less recoil, shorter action, and longer barrel life.

Inside around 300 yards, there is little, if any advantage to the 7mm Rem Mag over the 7mm-08. The big advantage of small (.284, .308) and medium (.33) magnums is found at distances beyond 300 yards over their non-magnum cousins that use the same bullets.

With a 200 yd zero, a 7mm Rem Mag has about 2-3" holdover advantage compared to 7mm-08 when both are shooting the same 175 gr bullet. For a lot of people, that difference is so insignificant as to be outweighed by lower ammunition costs, reduced recoil, and a shorter action. And there's even less difference between 7mm Rem Mag and 280 Rem than 7mm Rem Mag and 7mm-08/7x57 Mauser.

In 300 WM, you get similar performance - the 210 gr bullets perform ballistically about the same in the 300 as 180-190 gr bullets fired from a 30-06.

Practically speaking, unless you live west of I-35, opportunities to take full advantage of the ballistics of magnums are the exception, not the rule. Even in large swathes of southern Africa, shots longer than 200 yards may be little available.

I grew up in south Louisiana and have lived in our near Houston since 1991. I've been deer and pig hunting now for 35 years. The longest shot I've ever taken on live game was about 180 yards.

To each his own, but there are sound reasons to not go with magnum cartridges that have nothing to do with people being recoil shy. And no, "recoil shy" doesn't describe me. Other than my AR-15, the lightest caliber I own is a 6.5x55 SE. The rest are all 30 cal or larger.

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Ragman said:

On another thread, I said I wanted a 7-08 but as I already have a .243 and a .308 I didn't need one. Now you're making me want one more! I have a Tikka T3 in 7mm Rem Mag that my aging shoulder doesn't appreciate so much anymore, even though I love the rifle and always liked the caliber. I may have to consider trading it for it's little brother!

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sgt_zim said:

Excellent! Just keep in mind that if you're reloading, as another poster already mentioned, don't get enthusiastic with experimenting on powder charges. An extra 50-100 fps of velocity isn't worth the downside of over-pressuring your rifle, especially on the long-for-caliber 160 and 175 gr bullets that are already incredibly stable. A 280 Remington would also be a good choice, being another .284 caliber rifle like 7mm-08 and 7mm Rem Mag. 280 Rem is a necked-down 30-06 like the 7mm-08 is a necked down 308.

The only thing I'd add, and as much as I love my T3 in 6.5x55 SE, Tikka uses the same long action for all of their rifles, so the shortness of that 51mm case is negated in that rifle.

More to consider: if you want a light-weight, flat-shooting, non-magnum, have a look at 260 Rem or 6.5 Creedmoor. The 260 is also a necked-down 308. If you reload, you might even consider the 6.5x55 SE that I got.

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Bullsbar said:

Hi im new here. I like to know what rifle will you all suggest to shoot "most" deer. Example Kudu, Gemsbuck, waterbuck etc. A friend told me 308 will be able to shoot most but like to get more suggestions for you all thanks.

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Ragman said:

Thanks for the good info! I'm not a reloaded, so that's not an issue. The 260 Rem and especially the 6.5 Creedmore are really interesting but factory ammo is tough to come by in my neck of the woods. It's generally easy to find 7-08 Win though.

I didn't realize that the T3 didn't come in a short action. Just assumed I guess. That certainly wouldn't be a deal breaker for me though as I love that Tikka. Just looking to reduce the recoil for my sore shoulder. Don't know why, but last fall when I shot my Julie from the sitting position with my 7 mag, my back started to cramp up after the shot. Don't know why, hopefully just a one-time thing.

And here I thought I was all set for rifles for awhile! Lol.

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Ragman said:

I have a Tikka T3 in 7mm Rem Mag that my aging shoulder doesn't appreciate so much anymore, even though I love the rifle and always liked the caliber. I may have to consider trading it for it's little brother!

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Bullsbar said:

Hi im new here. I like to know what rifle will you all suggest to shoot "most" deer. Example Kudu, Gemsbuck, waterbuck etc. A friend told me 308 will be able to shoot most but like to get more suggestions for you all thanks.

Click to expand...