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.

[skeet]

Don't take this wrong but you really do need a bit larger caliber. If you can handle the 7-08 you can handle the 308. And there are lots of loads for the 308. Ol WDM Bell might have shot a lot of elephants with a 7mm..but he had the luxury of being able to set up all his shots for the most part..not many were comin after him. And ol Olive Fredrickson used the 25-35 for one simple reason..it was what she had. It wasn't the best for the job.. Get the best for the average use that you have. The 308 should fit the bill. I hunt around the nasty ol grizz and I now carry 'nuff gun myself..

BTW we had another kid attacked by a grizzly the other day..out in a sage brush flat where no self respecting grizzly would be. The boys were shooting jackrabbits with handguns when she knocked the one boy down and started in to chewing on him. He actually killed her with a 357 handgun from what I heard.. She did of course have some young'uns nearby. Last I heard he was in ICU in Billings. Not a good thing for certain.

[MtnMike2]

YG,
I know this is stretching it a bit from what you're saying, but if there's any way you could handle a 30-06 I would recommend it for your part of the world. Great all-around caliber. If not, the .308 already suggested would work. Just my 2 cents....

Mike

[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