Discovering the 7mm-08 Remington

Several years ago my hunting partner began speaking praises of the 7mm-08 Remington. At the time, other than having heard of the round, I knew nothing about it. Over the years I started to do some research, and as things often work out, I became increasingly impressed with the round. I now own and hunt with a 7mm-08.

When reading hunting forums, one more often than not comes across the magnum crowd who refer to the 7mm-08 as a great "kids" or "lady's" round. After all, it's quite short and very limited in recoil. Adding to this theme is that so many 7mm-08 rifles come in compact size with short barrels, which actually do it a great disservice.

It's not until one begins to dig a bit deeper into the actual ballistics of the caliber, that it causes a definite raising of the eyebrows.  The little 7mm-08 is definitely a lot more than just a "kids" round. 

Maybe the best way to bring this point home is to describe the performance of my very own 7mm-08.  It's a 24 inch barrel Rem 700 set into a bedded and free-floated Bell and Carlson stock. I have used primarily two hunting bullets in it, which I load myself. 

First is the 120 grain Barnes TTSX.  Using Winchester's new StaBall 6.5 powder, the rounds zip out the end at 3250 fps with a maximum charge (absolutely no pressure signs). When zeroed at 250 yards, it gives me a max trajectory height  of 2.4 inches at 150 yards and an impact only 3 inches low at 300 yards. It's not until 500 yards that the little 120 slows to 2060 fps with an output of 1134 foot pounds of energy. That's plenty of hit for any whitetail or mulie. If there is quarrel to be had, it's that the Barnes bullet may produce a small wound channel at this velocity. 

My personal experience using this bullet is that it easily zips through deer out to 350 yards (my furthest shot with the 120s).  My hunting partner's wife has taken several bull elk with this round, out to 250 yards, and in each case the round passed cleanly through and dispatched the critter quickly. At 300 yards the little 120 carries 1670 foot pounds of energy and velocity of 2500 fps. In my humble opinion, this is plenty for elk size critters out to 300 yards and given the Barnes fame for penetration, the 120 may be an ideal round for those limiting their ranges. 

A final asset of the 120 grain bullet is that it delivers very little recoil, making it suitable for light framed hunters and light weight firearms. 

The second bullet I have hunted with is the 150 grain Nosler Accubond Long Range bullet. It is my go-to round for deer size animals. The reason for this is that the excellent ballistics make it a wonderful round for longer ranges; and second (as strange as it may be) this round matches perfectly the ballistic reticle of the scope I have mounted on the rifle (more on that another time).

I push the 150s out the tube with a maximum powder charge of  StaBall 6.5.  In my particular rifle the least pressure signs are to be had using Winchester brass (slightly flattened primers). The 150s zip out the barrel at an average FPS of 2950.  Accuracy is easily sub-moa. My most recent group was about 2.5 inches at 400 yards. 

At 300 yards the round is traveling at 2460 fps with an energy output of 2015 fpe. At 500 yards, velocity is down to 2159 fps with energy coming in at about 1553.  That's plenty for any deer size critter, in fact, at 700 yards the bullet is still traveling at 1880 fps with an impact of 1175 fps. Nosler claims it's ABLR are good down to 1300 fpe. 

All in all, not bad for a "kids" caliber. 

 

Remington 700 in 7mm-08, 24 inch barrel, Bell and Carlson Stock

Internet forums are full of complaints about the ABLR bullets ... that they are poor at close range. All I can say from experience is that at 150 yards, out my rifle, they deliver clean pass through wounds, although large. This year's white-tail buck (a large bodied northern brute) took the round broadside but a bit low. The result was two completely severed legs, a massive gaping hole in both sides of the lower chest, and a very dead deer.

I am not sure I would recommend the ABLR bullets for larger critters like elk, and I won't be testing them out on elk anytime soon as I have a perfectly good 35 Whelen for animals that size. 

In summary, if you want a low recoil, inherently accurate, short action, delightful round to hunt with and target shoot with, I highly recommend the 7mm-08 Remington. But, I will let a member of an internet chat forum have the last say:

"A 7mm08 is boring.

Bang-Flop. Bang-wobble-Flop. Bang-Bronco kick-Flop. Bang-Spin in a tight circle- Flop. I actually had a minor bit of excitement last year when I got two wobbles on my Lope.

Reloading is boring too. Every load combo is 1 1/2" or better.

It doesn't kick outrageously, so there is no challenge there.

I have several more interesting rifles, but I cannot understand, for the life of me, why I've kept hunting with one for the last 17 years......"

35 Whelen 2

Last summer I was browsing an online firearms site and came across a new, in the box, Remington CDL Special Edition 35 Whelen. After a bit of dickering the rifle was on its way to my home.

The photographs of the Whelen in the ad had looked great, so I was really anxious to see it... And sure enough, the rifle was exactly what I had hoped it would be.

I love quality wood stock rifles for their look and feel. The only problem is that wood stocks are not as well suited for hunting as are synthetic stocks; not if you hunt like I do. After a couple of seasons my wood stock rifles are chipped and scratched... Miles of cross country hunting in thick difficult terrain does that. Even worse, the temperature and moisture extremes I put my rifles through make it hard for most wood stocks, even pillar bedded and free floated ones, to hold zero. I speak from experience.

So it is, that even though my new Whelen was absolutely lovely, I decided to remove the stock and instead drop the action and barrel into a Bell and Carlson black synthetic stock. I free floated and bedded the action, and just like that I had a new, not as pretty, 35 Whelen. I topped it with a Nikon Monarch 3 2.5-10x50 scope and headed to the range.

35 Whelen Remington SF action in Bell and Carlson Stock

To my surprise, and unlike my other Whelen, this one booted me fairly hard each time I fired a 225 grain TSX Barnes down the tube (max charge). The light weight of the action and straight stock created a bit more recoil than I had expected. But, what was I to expect when pushing 225 grain projectiles down the bore at just under 2700 fps.

The rifle has completed its first hunting season and so far the elk cutlets from the spike elk I dropped taste just fine. And, after harsh temperature and moisture extremes (snow and sleet soaked action versus warm truck versus hot dry days in the field) the rifle holds zero perfectly.

If I have a beef, it's the recoil, but then I am getting a bit on in years and heavy hard kicking calibers like the 338 win mag just aren't my thing anymore. In the end, this Whelen delivers devastating down range performance on elk size critters out to 300 yards with recoil similar to calibers such as the 30-06. In my case the straight stock and light weight make for stout recoil, especially when shooting prone.

I will be trying a few different load work ups this year and will let you know how that turns out.

Merry Christmas and may you keep venison on the table this coming year.

35 Whelen Re-do

1988 Remington 35 Whelen bedded in a Bell and Carlson stock with an AC Douglas Brake

6 years ago I bought a 35 Whelen in Remington 700 Classic. The rifle was from Remington's 1988 offering.  Apparently the Whelen's that year flew off the shelves ... it was the first large commercial product run of the caliber.

My Whelen looked somewhat worse for wear, but the price was right and given that I wasn't sure I would like the cartridge, the old Rem Classic did just fine.  I promptly set about rejuvenating the old-timer.

First I gave the bore a good cleaning and made sure that the rest of the rifle was clean ... the previous owner had been kind to it, so not much cleaning was needed. Then, I went to work restoring the bluing ... it looked sad.

I ran a small test strip using Blue Magic metal polish and was delighted with the result.  The polish came off completely rusty, but left the metal looking much healthier.  My concern was that it would take off too much bluing, but the Remington bluing held fine. I gave the barrel and all visible parts a blue magic rub.  After that i applied a few layers of carnauba car wax and the barrel looked amazingly good; it once again had that 1988 Remington shine. 

My next project was to bed my Remington Classic stock. It was my first ever bedding job, so I proceeded with extreme caution; perhaps a bit too much caution because I was too sparing with the epoxy and ended up with several small hollows. The bedding did it's job though, and the rifle's performance improved markedly. Up until now it had had trouble holding zero for even a few months.

A scope upgrade to a 2.5 - 10 x 50 Nikon Prostaff 5 completed the package.  Experimenting with a variety of ammunition (reloads and factory) and dropping 3 moose and a couple of elk over the next few years had me falling in love with the rifle and the cartridge. It became my go-to rifle.

35 Whelen Reborn: As a Primitive Weapon

The CVA Scout in 35 Whelen is considered a "primitive" weapon in some US states.

Those of us who use the 35 Whelen to efficiently kill moose and elk never think of it as a "primitive" cartridge ... what with 225 grain Barnes TSX bullets exiting the muzzle at up to 2800 feet per second with a crushing force of over 3300 foot pounds of energy, the Whelen is right up there with the 338 Winchester Magnum.

Yet, an interesting twist in primitive weapons seasons in some US states has breathed new life into the Whelen.  It turns out that in States like Louisiana and Mississippi the 35 Whelen qualifies for primitive weapons season if it is used in a single shot rifle with specific qualifications.

John J. Woods writing for Mississippi Sportsman explains:

Of course, in Mississippi the allowed weapons during the "primitive" season include archery gear, crossbows by special or general Permit, and primitive firearms. It’s the later category that seems to get all the attention these days, especially the centerfire cartridge, single-shot, exposed-hammer, breech-loading firearms of .35 caliber or larger.

Some of the rifles that qualify the 35 Whelen for primitive weapons seasons are as follows:

* I think that only CVA has manufactured a 35 Whelen configuration for 2016. 

• H&R Handi-rifle 
• CVA Scout
• Rossi Wizard
• Thompson Center Encore and Pro-Hunter

For some of us it's hard to wrap our head around the notion that a rifle capable of killing a moose stone dead at 300 yards with little difficulty is considered a primitive weapon.  If careful ranging is done, the Whelen will do the deed at 500 yards. But hey, if it brings the 35 Whelen to the attention of a whole new group of hunters, I'm all for it.

Increased use of the 35 Whelen will inevitably lead to more rifle configurations being offered and more factory ammunition options as well.

There is a reason why the 35 Whelen didn't go quietly into the night along with so many other wild-cat cartridges ... it's just too effective and versatile to become extinct.