7mm-08 Remington

In 1980 Remington introduced a new cartridge along with the popular Model 700 and less expensive, but just as nice, Model 788. The cartridge was the 7mm-08 Remington, which evolved from the 308 Winchester case. Simply stated all Remington did was neck down the Winchester 308 case to fit a 7mm bullet, thus creating the 7mm-08 Remington. Factory ammunition was loaded with the 140 grain bullets at about 2845 feet per second, and a 120 grain bullet at 3000 feet per second.

The 7mm-08 Remington cartridge was immediately a huge success with the metal silhouette shooters. The 7mm-08 Remington had a very nice blend of accuracy and power which made it ideal for the metal silhouettes, that combined wit the 7mm-08's mild recoil made it popular and helped in creating its user base. After some time people realized that the smaller size of the cartridge had in no way negatively affected performance. The performance of the 7mm-08 Remington cartridge was near that of the 7mm Remington Magnum, especially when the powder amount varied as much as it did. The reloader soon found that the 7mm-08 Remington cartridge supported great results in almost every bullet load type, whether it was a Speer Grand Slam or a Speer TNT. This performance help create a very a favorable cartridge for most situation.

Wit the fan base so large and the uses so many the 7mm-08 Remington has found itself in many situation and has handled itself with great respect, the 7mm-08 Remington has been used on all types of North American game except the biggest of bears. Of course proper bullet choice is what really makes the 7mm-08 Remington so versatile, without the correct bullet the 7mm-08 Remington will not be the right cartridge for the job. Because of its smaller size the bullet selection must be careful, and well thought through.

With the hunters finding great use the 7mm-08 Remington was really originally designed as a target cartridge, and have 24 inch barrels. With the lowered powder and 7mm bullet the reloaders could reload for cheaper and still have a great performing bullet for target use. But like all good things we humans have found other great uses. In recent years the 7mm-08 Remington has found wider acceptance as a hunting cartridge than as a target cartridge, mainly due to its versatility and performance. The 7mm-08 Remington has also been chambered in shorter barrels for hunters like in the Remington Model Seven, in the shorter barrel of the Remington Model Seven of 18.5 inches you will only see velocities drop anywhere from 80 to 140 feet per second lower than the velocities of the Model 700V. Even with the reduction in velocities and barrel length being changed the 7mm-08 Remington has become a very popular cartridge for hunters and still remains popular for target shooting, the small drop in velocities is also a mild negative to over come with bullet choice and the exact job of the cartridge. With the 7mm-08 Remington cartridge having a strong following in the hunting and target shooting areas, it is safe to assume that the 7mm-08 Remington will be around for a good long time, hopefully manufacturers will see this strong commercial success and continue to create rifles chambered in the 7mm-08 Remington for future generations. If the 7mm-08 Remington was to slip into the unique range of cartridges it would be a great loss of a very versatile cartridge, and only reloaders would be able to easily obtain the cartridges.