# 7mm-08 Bullet for cow elk



## Firehawk (Sep 30, 2007)

So here is the situation......my small framed, 13 year old son has drawn an antlerless elk permit for this fall/winter, public land in Northern Utah.

I have a nice 7mm-08 that has been extremely accurate and I have had very little struggle getting it to shoot whatever we have wanted to. That said, I am beginning to run out of time and have not been able to do the load development I would like. I wanted to try and get the 140 partition to shoot out of the rifle.

Right now, it shoots 140 Accubonds into about 3/4", 5 shot groups at 100 yards with Varget, Lapua .308 brass necked down, and seated to fit in the magazine. The 140 Ballistic tip shoots same point of impact with better accuracy with the same load. It has been known to shoot one ragged hole at 100 yards, but almost always shoots 1/2" at 100 yards. 

I have also shot 139 Hornady SP very accurately with IMR4064. Very good groups with the 154 grain Hornady SP with a stout charge of Varget or IMR 4350 also, but the recoil is definitely more noticeable.

So....I wanted to get to the 140 Partitions and haven't been able to yet. I have 50 loaded up with various charges of RE15 and IMR4350. Hope to get them to the range this week. I still have another 150 ish of the 140 partitions in my reloading cabinet.

If it were you, would you hesitate to just go with the known accuracy of the Accubond, or would you try to get the 140 partition to shoot well?

I have killed each of my 6 elk over the past several years using 160 Accubonds out of my 7mm Mag. Mostly very pleased with the results. I know that the Accubonds work well at the 7mm Rem Mag velocities and with the 160 grain bullet. What are your thoughts on the 140 Accubond at 7mm-08 22" barrel velocities?

I appreciate your responses.

FH


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## Loke (Sep 7, 2007)

Take any of the loads listed and go kill an elk.


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## Bax* (Dec 14, 2008)

All good bullets, but those Partitions sure hold up well


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## Bo0YaA (Sep 29, 2008)

Placement not bullet weight is what kills. Take the most accurate and go kill that cow!


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## 400BULL (Nov 16, 2007)

Firehawk,

My 13 year old boy will be hunting a cow elk this year and the load he will be using iin his 7mm-08 is the 140 Nosler Accubound backed by 45 gr. of RL-17. Anything with in 300 yards should be steaks in the freezer as long has he does not get buck (cow) fever. 

400bull


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## Elkoholic8 (Jan 15, 2008)

Post up a report on how well your loads worked when you get home. My son is also chasin spikes and cows this weekend with his 7mm-08. I have some 140gr partitions loaded up with IMR4350, and some Hornady sp's same powder charge. I was not overly impressed with the accuracy in the Partitions, but they are acceptable. The Hornady's grouped a tad better but the point of impact is a little different than the Partitions. 
I elected to stay with the Partitions because of the penetration in case he makes a questionable hit. Next year I would like to have his load dialed in alot better, so I would love to hear how your guys set up's work out this season.
Hopefully I'll be posting pictures of my son's first spike, and second cow with the 7mm-08.

Good luck to your kids!!!!


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## Firehawk (Sep 30, 2007)

We have opted to go with the 140 Accubond. I just didn't have time to get the 140 Partition to shoot well yet. It has teased us, but not consistent enough to have confidence.

Where we hunt, long range shots are the rule. We have some real work cut out for us to get my son in range for a quick, clean kill. The rifle and Accubond load are good to go out to 350ish, but he needs to stick to 250-300, preferably shorter, for all of us to feel comfortable.

The Accubond printed a 3/4" 5 shot group again the other day. It is the same POI as the 140 Ballistic tip too, which makes practice a bit cheaper.

Good luck this weekend. We will be chasing deer in a couple of weeks and then start after the cow in November. We have until January to harvest our elk. Him and his cousin will both be hunting cows. Us dads didn't draw this year. It is all about the boys this year. :lol: 

FH


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## Huge29 (Sep 17, 2007)

Good luck, keep us posted!


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## Loveless (Sep 21, 2011)

Good luck with the elk!


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## Huge29 (Sep 17, 2007)

Loveless said:


> Good luck with the elk!


Welcome to the forum! Do you happen to be from Price with that name? Several of us are.


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## AF CYN (Mar 19, 2009)

I guess this reply is a little late since you are already out hunting. Hope you find success. I've shot the 7mm-08 for quite a while. This is all anecdotal, but perhaps it will be of value. I've never reloaded, but if I did I would go with the partitions. 

Nosler Partition—Coyote at about 150 yds. Hit him far back, but he didn’t go far. Big bull elk at 100 yards didn’t even flinch on the first shot, dropped in his tracks on the second. Nice mule deer at about 100 yards, hit him good on the first one, shot again as he was running away just in case and dropped him. Buck pronghorn at 100 yards, dropped him. I’ve really liked this bullet (loaded by Federal), but they are just too expensive for me. 

Fusion—cow elk at 100 yards, dropped in her tracks. This is the bullet I will be using again this year—inexpensive and seemed to perform well. 

Nosler Accubond—Nice muley buck this past year at about 200 yards. Hit him right behind the shoulder, he ran 75 yards. He didn’t bleed much and I had a little trouble finding him. I was honestly expecting a little more out of this bullet.


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## Elkoholic8 (Jan 15, 2008)

Well I don't have much of a performance report to post up. My son filled his cow tag Saturday night with 1 shot using the 140gr partition. Hit behind the front shoulder, going forward, and exiting at the base of the neck on the off side. Bullet was not recoverd (but I don't think it would have mattered which bullet we used). Elk tipped over in it's tracks. He managed to break the scapula and catch 1 lung. I ranged the animal after he shot (it was a quick shot) and she was at 297 yards. I was amazed at how well he kept his composure and made and excellent shot from the knee in such a hurry! He was given the nickname "one shot" by the old timers in camp after last years hunt, so I guess he's living up to it.

Another guy in our camp killed a cow with his 7mm-08 using a Federal factory load but I'm not sure which bullet (they were in a blue box and he said the cheapest he could find). His cow was about 150yards, and only took 1 shot to drop her too.


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## 400BULL (Nov 16, 2007)

Here is a picture of my boys cow elk that he took with his Browning X-bolt 7mm-08 with a 140 Nosler Acubound. One shot a little high in the shoulder is all that it took to put this cow down. did not have time to range the shot because things came together so quickly, I would guess the shot to be at approximately 200 yards.

400bull


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## Firehawk (Sep 30, 2007)

Congrats Elkoholic and 400!

That is always good news! 

I ended up settling on the Accubond as I just don't have the time necessary to keep working on the partition. I will do that this winter when I am "looking for things to do".

The Accubond and Btip shoot to the same POI for me and so we will hunt deer with the Btip and Elk with the Accubond. My son's elk hunt began Saturday and runs through this month and then opens again in mid November and runs until end of January. 

We will concentrate on his deer hunt now and then turn to elk when we get some snow pushing them into the area. I am feeling more and more confident all the time. I still think it is funny that I occasionaly get this way. Elk are big though and I want to give my son the best chance that I can. 

I have always had the 7-08 loaded with 154 Hornady SP as my "back up elk gun" to my 7mm Rem Mag. I have luckily never needed the "back up" so I have never used it for elk. I did watch a friend shoot a short barreled Model 7 in 7-08 at a spike a few years back. That spike fell over quickly and then my brother took a cow from the same herd with a single shot with his 30-06. Funny thing though, when my brother's cow hit the ground (acted like the carpet was pulled out from under her), that doggon spike stood back up and walked the 15 feet to fall again down the other side of the ridge. My buddy had already begun to unload his rifle and we were all shocked when it stood up and took those last few steps. Made getting him out of there a lot more work too. Doh!

Anyway, I hope to see more pics soon. Thank you for posting.

FH


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## Firehawk (Sep 30, 2007)

So....we never did get to see how the 140 Accubond would do on the elk this year. We just couldn't get close enough. The closest we could get was about 500 yards. Just weren't ready to turn him loose with that long of a shot. Makes us kind of sad. He hunted hard on several occasions, but a funeral, wrestling, and scouts limited our time in the field. Our buddy did harvest his cow today. Wish we could have gone out one last time, but he was busy enjoying the classic winter Klondike Derby camp.

FH


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