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7mm-08 reloading - newbie questions

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drrxnupe

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Feb 15, 2009
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Nashville, TN & Oxford, MS
Anybody have suggestions on a 1st load? I put some Remington 140 grain Accutip Boat tails thru my new Tikka T3 over the weekend. Although the rifle feels awesome, I wasn't too impressed with my groups. Instead of spending $40-$50 per box to find a factory ammo that I like, I am considering buying some materials to load on my neighbor's bench. I don't shoot enough right now to justify setting up my own bench (not to mention not having enough room).

Someone suggested that I start with one bullet type, powder, and primer then load 5 rounds at spec per one of the loading manuals. Then make 5 more with 1 grain less powder and 5 more with 1 grain additional powder. Any thoughts on this method?
 
Read and research as much as possible. Have your neighbor show you the basics. It will help you in the long run. Start low and work up. I'm not familiar with that cartridge but there are several here who are. I hope to be in the near future. I would stick to one primer powder and bullet and see what happens. When I first started reloading I wanted to use an sst. I tried several loads and it wouldn't group. Switched bullets and haven't looked back.
 
7mm08 has a reputation as eating just about any reasonable load.
There is a LOT to explain, your buddy would be the best solution.

You rifle should shoot 140 and 120 Nosler Ballistic tips and group them fairly well. And 3 shot groups are fine assuming you do your part. There is an old adage "3 shots proves the rifle 5 shots proves the shooter". Start at lowest published suggested load and increment up, 2 grains each step is good. You will find a group that is better than others. Now increment up in smaller groups-could be down, also. Remember you want accuracy not a bazillion FPS although the two are definitely related in some rifles.




I am a big believer is seating the bullet close to the lands. Your buddy should know how to accomplish this.
 
While each rifle is different I go for .007 off the lands. My Savage Axis has a tight bore so SAMMI length is about all I can do but my Rem 700 and Brownings are all at the 7 level. I have a 22-250 that when I load it up with RL15 I get a tight group only when just off the lands. But with SuperFormance powder It has to be the max load and I am 3/100th inch off the lands.

There are bullets (Barnes?) that need to be seated so far out they engage the lands in order to avoid overpressure.

Just for the record getting that OAL set correctly for each rifle can be a patience-tester.
 
SAAMI length. Using ogive is necessary because some bullets are longer than others of the same weight or different manufacture.

If you set your OAL using a ballistic tip bullet and then load a Partition to the same length, your partition could easily be in the lands. This causes higher chamber pressures and you can find yourself in big trouble very quickly.

The objective is to minimize "jump", the distance the bullet must travel before it meets the rifling. Because the brass DOES NOT grip the bullet with equal pressure the full 360 degrees when the primer goes off the bullet will launch in a crooked fashion into the barrel. I can hear folks saying give me a break but the "jump" is a huge detriment to accuracy.

Now, accuracy is debatable. If you are talking deer dead on ground, then maybe a 5 inch circle is good for you. Mr. Big's new rifle is shooting dead deer every time at yardage beyond my eyesight. At 300 yards he is getting better than 1/2 inch at 100. He very clearly knows he can improve this and has plans to do so. He has to shoot at 300 because at 100 his bullet holes are overlapping, he cannot see what needs to be improved.

This challenge is a prime reason folks handload.
 
Keep in mind when loading close to the lands that she's still gotta fit in the magazine lol. Thats why I went to Nosler E-Tips in my 7-08. If I'm gonna have to jump them .080" it might as well be for more than one reason.
 
^^^ This- oal rules first as ammo must fit the mag if you want/have a repeater. The tikka is a long action so in 7/08 you won't be hampered by action length. Mag length and/or throating will be your limiters.
 

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