7 mm-08 Remington

The 7 mm-08 Remington is a direct copy of a wildcat cartridge developed around 1958 known as the 7mm/308. As these names would suggest, it is simply the .308 Winchester case necked down to accept 7 mm (.284) bullets. In 1980, the Remington Arms company popularized the cartridge by applying its own name and offering it as a chambering for their model 788 and model 700 rifles.

Use
The 7 mm-08 Remington works well in most environments, including dense forest areas and large open fields. It has a slightly flatter trajectory than the .308 Winchester and .30-06 Springfield at similar bullet weights because the slightly smaller-diameter 7mm bullet generally has a better ballistic coefficient, and is thus less affected by drag and crosswind while in flight. Bullet energy at 100 yards is four times greater than that of the .44 Magnum while recoil is only slightly more than the .243 Winchester.

The 7 mm-08 Remington is generally considered a good choice for handloading. However, the popularity of the cartridge means there is a fairly wide selection of factory-loaded loads, making it a very good choice even for those who do not handload. Bullets weighing from 100 to 175 grains are available, but bullets in the 120-150 grain range are generally preferred and perform best. Medium burning rifle powders usually work best in the 7 mm-08.

This cartridge is relatively inexpensive to reload and very brass-friendly, so that cases tend to last through a succession of reloads, provided excessive breech pressures are avoided.

Cartridge Comparisons
The 7mm-08 invites ballistic comparison with the veteran, highly esteemed 7x57 Mauser and to some extent the 7x64 Brenneke. With bullets up to 150 grains the compact 7mm-08 marginally outperforms both older, longer cartridges, and is thus more efficient. But the 7mm-08's performance begins to drop off when bullet weights exceed 150 grains, and the larger case capacities of the 7mm Mauser and the 7mm Brenneke permit larger loads of slow-burning powder appropriate to those heavier bullets.

Guns
As the cartridge is fairly popular, most major hunting firearm manufacturers in the USA have one or more rifles chambered for the 7 mm-08 Remington. The caliber has also found some loyal adherents in the UK and Europe.