7mm-08 youth elk load

[ERSS]

My 13 year old son drew a bull elk tag in unit 30 this year. Been thinking about upgrading him to a bigger caliber, but he is not the biggest of kids, and he shoots his 7mm-08 well. So now the question is, what load and bullet for elk out to 250 yards. Have been pretty partial to Nosler partitions in the past, and have had good luck with Barnes TSX as well. I have not reloaded for this caliber before. Any opinions, or experience with a good elk load for the 7mm-08?

 

[T Bone]

Can't help with the 7-08, but my 12 year old will be shooting a .308 with 150 grn partitions right at 2900 fps

 

[ERSS]

Best of luck to your son, sounds like a good elk load. I have been kicking around the idea of going up in caliber, maybe a 300 WSM with a BOSS on it. I still wonder about the effectiveness of a 7mm-08 140 gr bullet on elk. I want to make sure my son has a great experience, not the second thoughts and sick to your stomach feelling from a wounded animal getting away. I know it is all about shot placement, but want to put him in the best position. One thing is for sure, he will have put a lot of rounds down range before we hit the hills for the hunt.

Hope we can share photos and success stories of our sons hunts this fall!

 

[snake river rufus]

Don't sell the 7-08 short, it'll do fine with either of the bullets that you mentioned.

 

[KimLeeJung]

If you reload, load up some 120 Barnes TSX's at about 3000 fps, and go forth and fill an ark...

 

[KimLeeJung]

http://www.barnesbullets.com/images/7mm-08RemingtonWeb.pdf

Load data...

 

[ERSS]

Awesome, thanks
Just wondering....why would you recommend the 120 over the 140?

 

[T Bone]

U betcha that round will kill elk with authority. I'd load up a partition or an X bullet, whichever shoots best and get some practice time in.

The benefit of the 120 is less recoil.

 

[KimLeeJung]

Less recoil, plus with the Barnes 120 TSX will expand perfectly with the 7mm-08 velocity.

 

[ERSS]

Thanks for the input. Given the confidence shown in your posts, I plan to have him just keep shooting his 7mm-08.

May only get back in the states a few weeks before his hunt and not have the time to work up a load. If that is the case, we will probably go with factory loads. Looks like there are some good options out there, but the Federals with Barnes TSX only come in 140. Nothing out there preloaded with 120.

When reloading Barnes in the past, seems like they are real finicky about the distance of the lans. Factory loads in the Barnes might be a real hit or miss. If we go factory, will probably use the 140 Nos partion.

Thanks again for your input.......
Started looking at other rifles for him, and may have just bought a Browning Eclipse .308 with Boss.......for myself.

 

[snake river rufus]

Thanks for the input. Given the confidence shown in your posts, I plan to have him just keep shooting his 7mm-08.

May only get back in the states a few weeks before his hunt and not have the time to work up a load. If that is the case, we will probably go with factory loads. Looks like there are some good options out there, but the Federals with Barnes TSX only come in 140. Nothing out there preloaded with 120.

When reloading Barnes in the past, seems like they are real finicky about the distance of the lans. Factory loads in the Barnes might be a real hit or miss. If we go factory, will probably use the 140 Nos partion.

Thanks again for your input.......
Started looking at other rifles for him, and may have just bought a Browning Eclipse .308 with Boss.......for myself.

The difference on the Elk's side of the shot is where the extra twenty grains of bullet weight will show so the 140s would be my choice. Just doing the math in my head (which is dangerous) it's a little less than 1/2 pound of recoil less using the 120s
The first 'X' bullets were finicky but the TSX doesn't seem to show this nearly as badly. There is nothing wrong with the nosler or swift 'A' frame.

 

[Gunner46]

My 1st choice would be a TSX, but if you go w/ a Nos. NO WORRIES. Either way, take a couple of sturdy pack frames.

 

[ERSS]

Appreciate the response Gunner
Should be a great hunt, success rates run as high as 78% in the past three years with greater than 50% of the elk taken 6pts or better.

Counting down the days, don't think I could be more excited if it was my tag