7mm-08 bullet choice

[california shooter]

I'm new to reloading and this site, so I'm sorry if this is a redundent post inquiry. I recently picked up two 7mm-08 Savage Weather Warriors for my two sons and after finding factory loads that they like (winchester supreme ballistic silvertips and fusion) I'm trying to work up a hand load for them. Having good luck with IMR 4350 (0.505 five shot group) using Accubond 140 gr., Varget (0.893 five shot group) and still need to try IMR 4064. On top of these combos I am also thinking of trying out 139 gr sst interlocks and this is where my question lies. Although I crave accuracy what is the general cenus among hunters as to which bullet has better terminal affects on shots ranging from 100-200 being the norm and an occational 300 reacher, between the Nosler Accubond 140 gr and Hornady SST 139 gr bullets? Thanks for any input.

[Cover Dog]

I posted this here several months ago. Might be of some interest since it was with a 139gr. SST Hornady bullet.

I worked up this load several years ago for a Wy. Antelope/Mule Deer hunt. The gun is a Rem. Mtn. rifle with a very slender barrel. PLEASE BE ADVISED, THIS LOAD IS WARM AND OVER MAX worked fine in my gun but yours may be different. Primers were fine, just a slight extractor mark on a couple of cases all mic'd within specs..

45.2 gr IMR4064, Hornady 139gr SST, CCI 250 primers. Avg. speed 2978, ES 26.6 SD 10.0

Shot was taken at 286 yards. I was aiming just behind the shoulder but the cross wind was stronger then I thought. Bullet entered dead center low on the right shoulder, took out the top 2/3 of the heart and exited off side shoulder. The goat never took a step.

[Elkbane]

If you are just shooting deer and hogs, the Accubond may be "more" bullet than you really need. I usually shoot 140 gr Ballistic Tips on deer and hogs in central GA and they just dribble medium sized game. And these are "big deer", not your typical southern witetails. The counties I hunt were restocked with Wisconsin stock in the 60's and have a good forage base - a mixture of farmland and woodlands. They have QDM rules there with a minimum 15" inside spread, so most of the deer killed are 3+ years old. Typical bucks are 190+ lbs (yes, we actually weigh them - no guessing). The NBT's drill them. No problem with hogs either. I've never recovered a 140 gr NBT 7mm-08 bullet in 16 years of shooting them at game. They are also the most uniform game bullets I've weighed / measured........and I tested other brands, Speer, Barnes, Sierra, Scirocco's, ect.... I do like Accubonds, though, but I use them on Elk (in a 300 WSM), not deer.
ELkbane

[california shooter]

Thanks for the input. I should have included the game of choice, my oversight. We will primarily be chasing coastal blacktails which are very small, wild hogs, antelope and because bear season overlaps deer season we always carry a bear tag with us though we have yet to come across anything more than sign yet. Figure one day a black bear is gonna have to present a shot. I feel the 7mm 08 is too light for elk but what is everyone elses opinion?

[Tbob]

Sierra 140gr. Gameking BTSP. Accurate with great terminal ballistics. Especially on medium sized game like your blacktails. They would work great, if you can find them. There's a reason they are hard to find.

[beartooth91]

My 7mm-08 - just bought it 4 weeks ago (on close out, its an '06 Model 14 Classic with the 1:9.5 twist) seems to like the Hornady 139 gr SST with 41.5 gr of IMR-4064. I shot a 5/8" group yesterday. Haven't been able to get the Nosler 140 gr BTs to shoot very well with IMR-4064 or H380. Am going to try the SSTs with some H380.
...Oh I seat .020" out of the lands.

[Armed in Utah]

Plain Jane 160 gr Speer #1635's in my Tikka 595 7-08

H414 powder really work well in mine....