Need advice on 7mm-.08

[YukonGirl]

So I'm gearing up for a few moose/caribou hunts coming up soon. After borrowing some friends' rifles, I'm thinking the best one for me that'll have minimum recoil but a good, flat trajectory, is a 7mm-.08. (I need something that can handle a moose as well as a bear and not put my five foot nothing frame on my backside after I pull the trigger.)

But what I don't know is which 7mm-.08. Prices seem to run all over the place and I'm not convinced the most expensive is the best. Or maybe I'm just cheap.

Any suggestions from anyone out there? Remington, Browning, somebody nobody's ever heard of? Which seems the most accurate at a reasonable price?

If it helps, I'll be hand loading my own shells so I don't expect to have to rely on factory loads.

[skeet]

I know I'm an alarmist...but I know a little of the grizz and the 7-08 is ok but You can probably handle the original 08...the 308...much better for moosies too. I hunt the elkies in grizz country and am going to carry a 300 H&H this year. Somebody actually gave me one!! As far as prices...just buy something that is quality.. Savage 110 or one of it's derivatives will work

[buckhunter]

The Savage 110 is a pretty decent, low cost option. They can be had as a package deal with Rifle, Scope and Sling however I do not know the quality of the scope so beware. Honestly there is very little recoil between the the 7-08 and the 308. Bullet selection is better in a 308 plus the ammo availibity should be better. Just a thought.

[Catfish]

A big slow bullet is a better stopper than a small fast one, so if there will be grizz in the area I would recomand the largest cal. you can handle, unless you`ll have a reliable back up at all times. I argee with the others, .308 absloute min., and Savage are excellant for the bucks spent.

[PJgunner]

There was a woman who lived in the Canadian wilderness who's husband was hardly ever around. She had to fend for herself and her kids as best she could. Her first name was Olive as I recall, but I'm not positive on her last namr. For some reason I'm thinking Frederickson but I could be wrong. She wrote up her adventuers in Outdoor Life many years ago and they made a movie about her called I believe Silence of the North. Now what all this roundabout gab is all about is her moose gun was a Winchester m94 in (GASP!) 25-35. She was definitely in big bear country and IIRC, did have a run in with Grizzly Bear. I don't remember if she shot it or not.
Gun writer John Barsness wrote an article not too long ago about his shooting a moose with a 7x57 Mauser using IIRC, a 160 gr. Barnes TSX. The moose dropped at the shot as I recall.
A max load of H-414 for the 160 gr. Barnes MRX-BT is 2601 FPS using 44.0 gr. of powder. Naturally Barnes cheats a bit and uses a 24" barrel. That's the fastest load for that bullet for a 7-08 in that book. That should be good for a moose to at least 200 yards. I think that's the heaviest bullet by Barnes that would be suitable in the 7-08. The 175 gr. bullet would be way too long and take up too much powder space.
FWIW, the worlds record Grizzly Bear was tied by a Canadian who had to shoot it with a 30-30. He punched one right though the skull. B&C refused to recognize it because of the bullet hole in the skull.
Paul B.

[YukonGirl]

Thanks for the suggestions, guys. I guess I'll have to reconsider my options.

I was telling a friend the other day, if I ever get rich and I'm looking for businesses to invest in, I’m going to buy several gun stores and places that sell chainsaws. And then I’m going to let people try them out to make sure they like them before they buy. I mean, it’s only reasonable. You can’t know if the thing will work for you until after you pull the trigger/start rope and then aim it and cut/shoot stuff up. Hasn’t anybody ever thought of this before?

My motto will be, “We put the Customer back into Customer Service.”

[PJgunner]

Yukon Girl. I neglected to mention that the 7x57 Mauser that John Barsness used is in the same class as the 7-08. My bad. A guy named Bell used to do elephants the dirty deed with a .275 Rigby which was nothing more than the 7x57 under another name. IIRC, he did something like 800 elephants out of hit toal of 1,100 with that .275 Rigby. Seems like the British didn't like using the German metric designation so changed the name. Of course, shot placement was extremely critical.
Paul B.

[gd357]

Not to throw a wrench in the works, but why not a .338 Federal? Low recoil for the caliber, and better bullet selection for moose or bear should you run afoul of one. JMHO

gd

[YukonGirl]

gd,

I'm going to ask around and see if any of my friends own a .338 Federal that I can try out.

Here's what Wikipedia says about it, which I find very interesting: "Federal claims that the cartridge provides energy equal to a 7mm Rem Mag with less recoil, and greater energy than the .30-06 Springfield in bullets of the same weight, making it even faster than the .308."

Thanks for the suggestion.

[gd357]

YukonGirl,

Very basically, it's a .308 casing necked up to .338. Short-action casing (more efficient, less recoil). Nice round, but a fairly recent development. You may have a bit of difficulty finding one to try out, but if you do it should be worth the effort. And should be just about ideal for what you're wanting to do. Good luck, and if you find one to try out, let me know what you think.

gd

[Pre-64]

Good call GD357. I was thinking the same thing, .338 Federal!

[skeet]

Guys this gal is in the Yukon..probably find 338 Federal ammo there sometime in the next few years.. And ammo availability ain't getting all that much better. It's a nice caliber and all but..the general store down the road just ain't gonna have this kinda stuff...and probably ..neither will the Bay Stores..they still are open up there aren't they YG??

Not trying to bust any bubbles guys but the reality of the north country is a little different than you may be used to. Or it sure was a lot different. No Mickey D's down at the next corner ya know? Heck I haven't even seen it for sale here yet...and this is Elk country.

[jplonghunter]

Yukon Girl

Felt recoil has alot to do with how the rifle fits the individual IMHO. Whatever you decide on be sure LOP is correct for your stature.

jplonghunter

[YukonGirl]

Unfortunately, nobody around here seems to have a Federal 338 I can try out, but today I'll be trying out another friend's .308 which happens to have a shorter stock which could be perfect for me.

I asked one of my favorite gun nutz friends to let me try out his .300 yesterday at the gravel pit. (That's where we go shooting around here when we don't feel like hoofing it into the bush.) I'd shot it before but didn't like the recoil.

As for the .300, I managed the kick just fine this time around and didn't flinch a bit, but I still missed the bull's eye at 200 yards, though just barely. After about three rounds, I suggested another woman who was with us give it a try. She's a bit taller than me (not hard to do) and did okay with the .30-.30 so I figured she might even hit the target dead on with the .300. Unfortunately, she only got one try because the recoil brought the scope up and gashed her forehead. I had to rush her to the next town where the part-time clinic had to open up especially for her so they could put four stitches in her forehead. It was a bit of a reality check for me. I think I could manage the .300 okay and even start hitting the target with more practice, but what I don't want is to have the wrong gun in the wrong place-- especially while out in the bush. And let's face it, when you finally get to take your shot at that moose or caribou or whatever you're aiming for, you want the tool that's best for you.

I guess my point is that it can be a frustrating process to figure out what gun works best for you, especially when you want to run out and buy that new toy, but it's worth the effort to take it slow. And thanks to you guys on this forum, I've gotten some great suggestions on what to try out. I'm off to try out that .308 now-- I'll let you know how it went.

[YukonGirl]

Skeet, somehow I missed your post about the boys being attached by the grizzly. I hope the kid recovers okay and has a story to tell his grand kids.

I've gotten so even if I'm out plinking with my .22 I have the 12-gauge within easy reach just because I'm so paranoid about that sort of thing happening to me too. But those are in areas you expect to see a bear.

Here's the good news-- I spent the morning trying out a .30-06 Springfield-- it was fun to shoot. But I really liked the Winchester 88 .308-- the recoil was quite manageable-- just as you guys said it would be, plus it's a beautiful gun. I liked it so much I bought it off my friend-- he sold it along with the Bushnell Scopechief 6 mounted on it for about $370 US. You should see the grin on my face!

My other gun nut friend is going to size it down so it fits me perfectly. It's about 1.5" too long right now. (He's going to shorten my Mossy 500 for me too-- it'll be like Christmas morning around here!) Now all I need is a bipod and I'm ready for the season.

I had my friend videotape me shooting the .308 and the .30-06 and if the footage isn't too embarrassing I'll upload it to my YouTube site. I'm really looking forward to getting lots of practice with the .308. And then I'm hoping for moose and caribou steaks come fall!

So thanks again everybody. As always, you guys were a big help.