7mm-08 reloading

[Retterath]

What are your guys thoughts on using 308 lapua palma brass witch had small rifle primer pockets compared to using regular 7mm-08 brass? My thought was just necking down to 7mm and having a small rifle primer pocket compared to a large rifle primer pocket in a 7mm-08 brass because I would have less pressure and be able to load my 7mm-08 loads a little hotter because of the smaller primer pocket and smaller flash hole.

 

[libidilatimmy]

I'm interested in this theory as well. My initial thoughts on it would be the barrel length being long enough to allow the powder ample time to burn with the heavier charge weight since most of the palma rifles have 28-30" barrel lengths on them where you may not notice an increase in velocity vs. standard charges in a sporter length.

 

[Bitterroot Bulls]

I think any gains would be negligible in a sporter length barrel and offset by risk of neck wall thickness issues.

 

[woodtick]

I did what you have inquired about on a 260 Ackley. After several steps to neck down, fire form and neck trim, it wasn't worth the 30fps gain. I originally had Rem 260 brass that I had used in this gun after severe shortages took hold I went down this road, while it was fun to tinker I doubt you'll gain much of anything with this method.

 

[libidilatimmy]

Seeing how I recently bought a 7-08, I'm curious if you guys that've used lapua brass think that it has that much higher quality over norma to warrant going through the work of necking down 308 vs just buying the 7-08. I've used a bunch of norma brass in other calibers and it's much better than other cheaper brands in my experience

 

[woodtick]

Man I wished I could help ya out, I've never messed around with Norma stuff other than a few Weatherby rounds.

 

[Retterath]

What do u think max range would be with the 120 ttsx bullets in the 7-08.

 

[Hilltop]

What do u think max range would be with the 120 ttsx bullets in the 7-08.

My wife's gun shoots 140 grain partitions very accurately out to 300. Haven't pushed any further but I'm guessing 400 would be very achievable. Using a 120 grain at 3000 fps, you would still have almost 1400lbs of energy at 400 yards. Bullet drop would be manageable- with a 250 yard zero you would be about 15 inches low at 400. IMO this is plenty of gun for most game with good accuracy. Past 400 you really fall off in trajectory and energy with this combination. At 500 your energy will be around 1200 and bullet drop is well over 30"... That's beyond my comfort.

 

[7stwluver]

What are your guys thoughts on using 308 lapua palma brass witch had small rifle primer pockets compared to using regular 7mm-08 brass? My thought was just necking down to 7mm and having a small rifle primer pocket compared to a large rifle primer pocket in a 7mm-08 brass because I would have less pressure and be able to load my 7mm-08 loads a little hotter because of the smaller primer pocket and smaller flash hole.

I would say the gains if any would be negligible in a hunting rifle. Just another unneeded step. Buy some Norma in my experience just as good of brass if not better. I get a few more firings out of the Norma .30-06 vs Lapua .30-06 I used to make 6.5-06 brass out of. I bought Norma 7mm-08 brass for my current 7mm-08 ackley build as there would be less prep work involved.


Sent from NSA wire tapped device.

 

[gofishin12]

Lapua is introducing 7mm-08 brass this year.

 

[Retterath]

awesome, i final found some, but had to go with nosler brass. I think winchester brass is extinct

 

[woodtick]

awesome, i final found some, but had to go with nosler brass. I think winchester brass is extinct

I read somewhere the other day that Norma is making some of Noslers brass. Might be total BS but at any rate that's something to look in to!!

 

[WapitiBob]

Norma makes nosler brass but nosler bought silver state and is making their own now.

 

[libidilatimmy]

Thought I'd give an update on this thread that we were discussing. A couple months ago, I bought some regular 308 Lapua brass when Midway had it on sale for less than $.70 a case and 7-08 brass was nowhere to be found at the time. I sized the necks down in a couple steps. I also turned and reamed the necks to alleviate any potential problems with neck tension that could arise from the 308 brass having thicker necks to begin with and fire formed the cases. The cases end up a shade shorter than the SAAMI minimum case length, but it wasn't an issue during some load development with every combo I've tried producing sub .75 MOA and a couple touching the .3-.4 MOA range out of a stock rifle.

While it did take some more prep work initially, all in all it might have taken me an extra 2-3 hours in brass work to prepare. The cost savings vs. additional prep work might be a wash, but it's a good option to think about as components remain somewhat scarce as far as brass is concerned.

 

[Colorado Cowboy]

The only thing I would do is check the oal after each reload to see if the brass lengthens any. Usually won't unless you are using some pretty stout loads and have higher than normal pressure. If you do get some stretching, watch for cracks near the base as it gets thinner there when stretching happens.