308 or 7mm 08

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Tkaldahl2000

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I am looking for a rifle for my 16 yr old. I am leaning toward a Ruger American or an Axis II. I had a sales man recommend the 7mm 08, but I am not real keen on the price of the ammo, and since it is based on the 308, why not just get that? If I did go with the 7mm, I could use the same bullets that I use for my 7mm mag. I have also considered none of the above, and just get a 270. All 3 will take anything he would want to hunt, so cost and recoil are my main factors for consideration.

Thanks in advance for your input.
 
I could suggest a few other calibers, but really for what you are looking at, you can't go wrong. 308 is a tried and true caliber and 7mm-08 seems to be growing in popularity every year. Either will kill everything from antelope to elk...find a deal on either and pull the trigger.
 
I own the Ruger in 7mm08 and would recommend it to anyone. Recoil very manageable and accurate.
 
Rooster52 said:
I own the Ruger in 7mm08 and would recommend it to anyone. Recoil very manageable and accurate.
Click to expand...

I too own the Ruger American (all weather model) in 7mm-08. Love it. Hard to beat the out-of-the-box accuracy in this price range. I was easily doing <1MOA out of the box with Federal Premiums & Remington Core-Lokt. Agree the recoil is definitely manageable and should easily work for your son. I acutally use a lighter bullet in my 7mm-08 versus my 7mag. The American 7mm-08 served me well this year hunting hogs. Light enough to easily get around quickly and definitely enough punch. This would be my go-to caliber for deer here in Indiana this year ... but none of the 7mm's are on the approved list.

Can't give you a comparison versus the .308, because I have never owned a .308 ... hard to believe givens it long running popularity.
 
The 7mm-08 is an excellent round, but I would go with the 308 because of bullet selection, availability, and cost. My wife shoots 150's and has found the recoil very manageable.
 
I own a savage model 11 in 7mm08 very accurate and low recoil, my 14 year old has an axis in the same caliber with the same results. Premium ammo is expensive in any caliber. You can buy hornady American whitetail for about 24 dollars a box and it works very well. Either would be a good choice but I favor the 7mm08 over the 308 just personal preference. I also have a 270 and will say recoil is more noticeable than with the 08 still a very good round just more felt recoil.
 
Some of the worst-kicking rifles that I have ever seen were in .270. I would lean toward the 7-08 for a kid, but the .308 is very manageable. also. If deer is the ticket, then a 120-grain bullet in the 7-08 will do fine. In the .308, a 130 or 150-grainer would be manageable.

I will cast my vote for the RA, also, but the Axis is a good rifle, too.
 
At 16 I don't think recoil should be an issue with any of the calibers mentioned. If this gun is going to be used more for deer or pronghorn maybe the 708 would be better. If its going to be more of an elk and mule deer gun maybe the 308. The 270 wont kick any more than the 308 in similar rifles and will shot flatter than the 708 by a little bit so maybe thats the answer. You could pretty much pull a number out of a hat and be fine. Maybe let rifle availability or price make the decision
 
Either caliber will work just fine. Its totally a matter of personal preference. The 308 will find more ammo loads available as its one of the 3 or 4 most popular calibers out there. Just look around in a Cabelas or Gander Mtn. or Bass Pro store.

That being said, I hunt with a 7mm-08 for deer & bear here in NYS. I also own a 308. Both are Remington Model 7 FS that are wonderfully light weight and accurate.

I would not suggest using the same bullets in a 7-08 that you load for a 7mm Mag. The mag bullets are likely heavier and the 7-08 is best with 140 grain bullets. I don't think the 7-08 does its best with 150 or 160 grain loads. I have always used 140 grain Nosler Ballistic tips, Partitions and Accubonds.
 
If you don't handload or plan to, I'd lean towards the 308. If you handload the 7mm version. Not that either are hard to find a number of factory loads for. As far as on-critter performance, neither you nor the game will be able to tell the difference.
 
My reloads for my 7mm mag are pretty light loads (I tend to flinch if i don't load them down) with 139 grain Hornady BTSP bullets, that is why I was thinking I could use them in the 7-08. I personally am not a long range shooter (150 yds give or take a few) is about the longest I am confident in taking, so I don't worry about the 139 grains being too light for elk. I do the majority of my hunting with the bow, so increasing proficiency with the rifle hasn't been a really high priority. I am trying to get away from the "shoot your rifle twice a year" mentality that I was raised on. Once before season to make sure it was on, and once when the animal was in front of you. Since I started reloading, I have put a lot more ammo down range.

I was a little curious about the recoil levels though. I guess we will go shopping to see if he likes the Ruger or the Savage better. I have not really heard anything bad about either one as long as you stick with the Axis II with the accu-trigger. I did see a fellow at my gun club shooting the RA 22 rimfire at 100 yard and he was getting 2 inch groups with it off the bench. I was impressed.
 
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I load the 139s in my 7 mag to about 3100 fps (light load). It is fantastic. I shot a four-shot, 3/4 moa group with them at 500 yards yesterday. That bullet will work well in the 7-08 on deer or elk.
 
I have 2 different 7mm08 and love each of them. Both shoot well and have very low recoil. However, within the last couple of years when there was a run on ammo, 7mm08 was very hard to find, and 308 was everywhere. If you do not reload and need to rely on factory ammo, I would go with the 308. If you can find 7mm08 ammo and load up on it or hand load, it will kill anything a 308 will. Get the one that feels best. A dead animal will not notice the difference between these calibers.
 
I just picked up a 308 loved the choices I had in numerous bullet weights compared to the 7 08. I would also suggest looking at the Mossberg patriot rifle which is what I bought over the ruger American both are great rifles. I have been impressed with the Mossberg great rifle for $319. Either caliber will be great.
 
I have had a few 7mm 08 rifles. When I bought my first one it was with the intentions of shooting at the range and deer hunting places where the range wasn't too far or too close. After shooting at the range some, looking at the ballistics and taking a few deer with it I couldn't find any reason to ever want another round for deer inside of 400 yards. Elk may be another story but it's at least adequate though probably not ideal. between the the 7mm-08 and 308 the 7 shoots a little flatter and the 308 makes a couple thousandths bigger hole. Between the axis and American I lean more toward the Ruger. If going with the savage I would step up to a model 10 or one of the 11/111 models with the Nikon scope.
 
Just my two cents, but I own both, recoil seems the same, and both are effective. However, I believe that from a logistics approach, I'd go .308. Firstly, there is a large difference in cost of the ammo (for some strange reason). Secondly, there seems to be a larger selection and variety of bullet weights available. Thirdly, if you walk into Joe's sporting goods shop in some tiny town in nowhere Colorado (fill in your favorite state if you prefer) they will more than likely have .308 available (in a broader selection) than 7mm-08. This may change as the caliber becomes more popular, but I believe this is a pretty true statement as of todays date.
 
The cost for QUALITY ammo for the 7mm08 and 270 are pretty close to the same with the 7mm08 having slightly less recoil. That would be my choice, especially if you can reload
 
My daughter started shooting the rem 700 7-08 @ 13 and has taken moose with 150 gr partitions, deer and lope with berger vld's and accubonds. Quite often I leave my heavy calibers at home and take her rifle.
 
I bought my wife and my daughter both 7MM 08 in the Ruger American and also in the savage axis 2. I just got the savage which is my wife's back from the gunsmith they put a muzzle brake on it for her. She was pretty sensitive to the recoil and was struggling to be accurate. So far they seem like awesome rounds. They both are shooting a hornady American Whitetail bullets Very accurately.
image.jpg
Just shot this group out of the savage quickly off a bipod the other day. That's plenty good at 100 yards for what it is. Hopefully she'll be holding a deer having used her new gun. Sorry the picture is sideways. Tried to do it on my phone
 
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