7mm-08

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battboy

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Feb 21, 2011
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hi i was looking to get my first rifle and was looking at the .243 and the 7mm-08 i like that the .243 is so versatile be cause i will be hunting every thing from wood chucks to whitetail. but the 7mm-08 would be a better deer cartridge. so i was wondering what the range of animals is you can hunt with a 7mm-08. thanks
 
With proper bullets (Accubonds, Barnes TSX, ect) I've seen the 7-08 take cleanly: elk, moose, bear, mountain sheep, antelope, mule deer and whitetails. It's on the bigger side for chucks and coyotes and will make bigger holes if you want to keep the hides.
Bruce
 
I love my 7mm-08. I can't tell you how many hogs it has killed. It is a great gun. I really wouldn't shoot chucks with it but I am sure it would make cleaning easy, if you find much of it.
Dan
 
I would go with the .243 if I was you. I almost purchased a 7mm-08, but realized how hard it was to find and expensive it is for ammo. My local gun store which has a large inventory told me to get that ammo it would be a special order. Another great choice would be a .308. You could get a 110 grain bullet from say hornady that would be perfect for varmint shooting, plus it is a very popular deer cartridge as well. .308 is a very popular round as well, relatively cheap, and very proven. Just my opinion. Good luck with your new rifle.
 
battboy said:
hi i was looking to get my first rifle and was looking at the .243 and the 7mm-08 i like that the .243 is so versatile be cause i will be hunting every thing from wood chucks to whitetail. but the 7mm-08 would be a better deer cartridge. so i was wondering what the range of animals is you can hunt with a 7mm-08. thanks
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I've opted for the .308 due to ammo availability and price. For pigs, I can use military ball ammo quite inexpensively. They are very similar cartridges, but I hear that the 7mm-08 has a bit lighter recoil than the 308... if that is a consideration.

I'd certainly opt for the 7-08 over 243. 100 grain bullets are too light for my preference... the 7-08 or 308 give you much more versatility.

Good luck...
 
The .243 is very versatile, particularly if you reload: 70 g. for varmints, and 100 g. for larger game. I have taken moose and black bear with my .243, one shot kills. One note: some 100 g. softpoints (Hornady) are very destructive -- I ruined a quarter of a mule deer when I hit too far forward, missing the lungs. Bullets such as Barnes and Speer that are designed for deeper penetration will not ruin meat so badly.
 
Alberta Ed said:
The .243 is very versatile, particularly if you reload: 70 g. for varmints, and 100 g. for larger game. I have taken moose and black bear with my .243, one shot kills. One note: some 100 g. softpoints (Hornady) are very destructive -- I ruined a quarter of a mule deer when I hit too far forward, missing the lungs. Bullets such as Barnes and Speer that are designed for deeper penetration will not ruin meat so badly.
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I should have clarified... when I say 'versatile' I was referring to the loads available for the particular cartridge. 100 grains is the maximum available bullet weight I'm aware of in the 243 caliber. That is simply not enough for moose or bear, your experience not withstanding. A body shot on an animal that large with a 243 is a very poor recommendation, as it would likely result in an injured and suffering animal that will very likely be unrecoverable by the hunter. It is irresponsible in my book.

Perhaps you have the expertise to make the head shot it would require... or you have been very lucky. But please don't mislead anyone on this forum that a 243 should be used on large game. It is a very poor choice for that application.
 
My first ever rifle was a 7mm08 and I dont have a single complaint about it. It has pretty much zero recoil, and as others have said, with the right load, can be used for almost every animal in the United States. **note the word almost**

I'm going to use mine for bear this year. There's a nice variety of ammo available online..most sporting good stores dont carry anything.

I guess what i'm getting at is why limit yourself with a .243?
 
My kids (12 year old twins) shoot the 7mm-08 Rem 700 sps. When I shot their rifle, it was the first time and I immediately fell in love with the caliber. We hunt hogs and blacktail deer with it. They like the managed recoil remington core-lokts, but have also shot some nice Federals out of it with a little more wollup. It's essentially a necked down .308, so you'll see solid performance out of it for deer and hog sized game. I think with a heavy premium bonded bullet, you can take down black bear, elk, and the like with it. I like the .243 too, but prefer a heavier bullet option. I've seen hogs dropped with perfect bullet placement using a .243 too. You might want to try a .270 too, as it's in a similar "class" as the 7-08, but I would say has a bit more recoil.
 
Get both.

Buy a Savage Edge in either caliber and order/but an additonal barrel and switch, depending on the season. All you need is an action wrench and a nut wrench and a Go Gage. 243 for spring to summer, and 7-08 for fall and winter. Use factory or reloads. Small investment, major fun.

Larry
Tinkerer
 
Benchmade92 said:
I would go with the .243 if I was you. I almost purchased a 7mm-08, but realized how hard it was to find and expensive it is for ammo. My local gun store which has a large inventory told me to get that ammo it would be a special order. Another great choice would be a .308. You could get a 110 grain bullet from say hornady that would be perfect for varmint shooting, plus it is a very popular deer cartridge as well. .308 is a very popular round as well, relatively cheap, and very proven. Just my opinion. Good luck with your new rifle.
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ding ding... i have seen my uncle lay over some LARGE white tails with his .243.. keep in mind since it does lack knockdown power you need to have that thing dead eyed dick accurate bc you will be trying for heart shots and double lungs. personally i would rather have something in the .270 variety or higher for deer. just my 2 cents

your best bet is to save your $$ and buy 2 guns. one small for the chucks and one for the whitetails. you owe it to yourself, everyone else and the game you are hunting to be as ethical as you can. t
 
I personally feel the 243 is marginal at best for whitetails. I helped a buddy track an 8 pt that his son had made a perfect shot on. Thick cedar swamp we were on our hands and knees looking for blood and when we found it it was just specks. We found it 200 yards away dead. The bullet did not leave an exit hole and the fat covered the entrance hole. Me personally I am a 30 caliber fanatic. I have 308's,30-06 and 300 magnums.Famed outdoor writer John Wooters favorite whitetail gun was the 7-08.Lot better sectional density also. Just my 2 cents but I have been hunting for 32 years now.
 
I love a short action rifle, and the .243 and 7mm-08 are my favorite whitetail deer rounds. I also like the .260.

I have Winchester featherweights in both, and have shot around 15 to 20 deer with the .243, and only one took another step(about 10 feet).

They are both very accurate rounds, and great for deer sized game. If you plan to hunt larger game such as Elk, Bear, etc.. I would go with the 7mm-08 over the .243 for sure. But if you want to shoot varmits and deer with the same rifle a .243 is hard to beat.
Also, if you plan on any long range hunting the .243 will lose alot of energy past 200 yds. 7mm-08 would be much better for longer range Deer hunting. Its very thick here, and I don't have as much luck hunting the large fields, so I go with the .243 as my main rifle for whitetail.
 
The 7mm-08 is possibly the ideal Whitetail caliber. I like it so much I presently own (3). This is not to say that the .243 is not a great round but it does have it's limitations. I've yet to see the quartering shot that I'd hesitate to take with the 08 but there have been several w/ the .243... Same holds true with a shoulder shot.
The 243 is simply lacking in bullet weight choices for many conditions other than classic broad-side shots, especially in the hands of a novice hunter. The 7mm-08 will keep up with the .270 out to 300 yds given the proper load.
 
Who do you think is going to be a better centerfire rifle shooter: one that has fired his rifle 20 times or one that has fired his rifle 100 times? My vote is for the one with 100 shots under his belt, and that's why IMO the best short action cartridge on the market is the 308. Military grade FMJ ammo can still be acquired for much less than factory 7/08 rounds, making it much more likely that you'll shoot the thing enough to be familiar and therefore proficient with it.

Of course if you're a reloader then none of this matters. But how much difference do you think there really is between a 0.284" bullet and a 0.308" one?
 
I just read the my newest copy of Peterson's Hunting mag. Layne Simpson wrote an article which ranked cartridges from 243 to 30-06. The test covered some 493 dead deer. 25 caliber was quickest killing in the test (deer ran an average of 14 yards) next was the 270 and such at 26 yards. 30's made it 33 yards. the 243's made it 41 yards on average. I have always wanted a 25-06 myself but don't own one. I have a 7mm 08 and it's a killer for me. I picked up a 325 WSM for Elk though in case you get a poor shot opportunity or get some bear shaped company at the boning out party; I didn't want to be wishing for a bigger bullet while making eye contact with a griz (living in northwestern Montana it's a pretty good chance).
Just thought it was an interesting test to bring up here, not wanting to flame any fires; I don't have anything against the 308 or the 30'06, but not a big fan of the 300 win mag I used back in the day....
 
Dozer899 said:
I just read the my newest copy of Peterson's Hunting mag. Layne Simpson wrote an article which ranked cartridges from 243 to 30-06. The test covered some 493 dead deer. 25 caliber was quickest killing in the test (deer ran an average of 14 yards) next was the 270 and such at 26 yards. 30's made it 33 yards. the 243's made it 41 yards on average. I have always wanted a 25-06 myself but don't own one. I have a 7mm 08 and it's a killer for me. I picked up a 325 WSM for Elk though in case you get a poor shot opportunity or get some bear shaped company at the boning out party; I didn't want to be wishing for a bigger bullet while making eye contact with a griz (living in northwestern Montana it's a pretty good chance).
Just thought it was an interesting test to bring up here, not wanting to flame any fires; I don't have anything against the 308 or the 30'06, but not a big fan of the 300 win mag I used back in the day....
Click to expand...

Its always interesting to read comparison tests between calibers, but I think even more critical is, bullet selection for each caliber. With the premium bullets available, it has changed how effective even smaller calibers can be. The last deer I shot with my bow, went about 10 yards, and tipped over.
Shot placement, shot placement, shot placemet
 
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