Hand loaded, I think a 7-08 could poke the right kind of hole at 500 done with the right bullet.
My 2 cents. Get a 7 mm rem mag for the long shots you may take. Use the light 120-140 grain bullets for deer no problem. Use the Berger 169 grain VLD for the longer shots because of increasing BC. Or, if you want to seriously go long, get a fast twist barrel for the 180 grain VLD and shoot only VLD bullets from Berger, Hornady, etc.
from it.
I would go with at least a 24 inch barrel. 25 or 26 if you can.
You can download it to 7-08 levels for your wife. Add a good recoil pad, and its a sweet shooting rifle. A muzzle brake and its a gentle giant.
Best of both worlds.
Or, get a 280 or 280 AI. It is right between 7-08 and 7mm. 28 Nosler sounds neat, but haven't really looked at it cause my 7 rem mag has me covered.
And, 7mm rem mag ammo is available everywhere. Hornady ELD factory ammo shoots real good. You can buy other good ammo too. I have one rifle that shot white box at MOA when I started breaking in the barrel.
I have the 7mm rem mag, and just got a 7-08 barrel for kids. Love the 7mm bullets that are available.
Bookmarks