160gr 7mm-08?

[Kachok]

Working up a load for mixed deer/hog hunting in my 7mm-08, had good success at the range with the 160gr Deep Curl and Game King with H380 but speeds are well below my other 7mm-08 loads only around 2620fps, what are your thoughts on a heavy loaded 7mm-08 vs the traditional 120, 140 or 150gr. The lighter bullets shot good too with that same powder but in my other calibers I have always been partial to heavy for caliber bullets, with either of my 160s I should still be pushing 2200+fps out to 200 yards which I would think would still be enough for proper expansion, and the Deep Curl is a bonded bullet which should give impressive penetration at that weight and sectional density.
What are your thoughts? Am I pushing my luck too far with the expansion, would I be alot better off using the much faster more frangible 140s? Anyone used the Deep Curl bullets on game before?

 

[SAWMAN]

I do not own a 7mm-08 however I do reload for a couple 7mm Rem Mags. I also hunt hogs and deer with this chambering . Personally I would go the other way with this chambering. While I am a big fan of the heavy bullets in the larger caliber guns,I really like the performance of the smaller,lighter,faster,well made bullets in the calibers under.....saaaaaaaay.......358".

Remembering that they are long for weight/caliber,check out the solid copper from Barnes. Give the <130gr bullets a try. Either in the TSX or TTSX(if available). Move 'em as fast as you can and put the shot in the right place. A bonus will be the better trajectory at the longer ranges. They will hammer any deer or hog that you will come across. --- SAWMAN

 

[SAWMAN]

AND........my books tell me that you can launch a 120gr Barnes TSX or TTSX >3100fps(SMOKIN' !) Can't find info on the 110 however I feel that this bullet could be too light/fast for the 7-08. Also with the 120gr TTSX B.C. at .373, this bullet would be particularly flat shooting out to XXXyds. --- SAWMAN

 

[Kachok]

Yeah I know what kind of speed I can hit with the light bullets, I have a 120gr Pro Hunter load moving 3100fps, shoots good too. Less then thrilled working up Barnes bullets, they area real powder/seating depth sensitive making finding that magic combo a challenging task though I have done it before in the 6.5x55 (still working on 308 and 30-06), in contrast SGKs and Deep Curls normally go sub-MOA 1st trip trip to the range and frequently end up around the 1/2MOA once I fine tune the load, solid performance considering they are all lightweight hunting rifles. Used to buy Partitions but their recent price hike is enough to keep me off of Noslers, before they jacked the price up, I bought Partitions in 6.5mm-30 cal for $26 a box (50ct) now they run $40 that is a pretty big jump, not sure how much of that is gouging but I am avoiding them for the time being at leased.

 

[bamabob]

I have a rem 700 sps compact 7mm08. I have loads using nosler 120g balst(imr4895). really works well. give me a call if you ever want to talk about 7mm08 loads. thank you have a nice day "GOOD SHOOTING AND HUNTING" 850-390-6591 bamabob