Name: The 7mm-08 Is Just Better | The Numbers Don't Lie!
Uploaded: 2026-02-28 23:52:14
Duration: 12 min 10 s

Question 1

Is 7mm-08 better than .308 for deer hunting?

Accepted Answer

For the way most of us hunt deer—inside 500 yards—I think 7mm-08 is kind of better than .308. It’s using the same basic .308 case and powder capacity, but those 7mm bullets in that weight class are just more efficient. In my charts, that showed up as flatter drop, less wind drift, and strong retained energy where it matters.

Question 2

Why do you choose 7mm-08 over 6.5 Creedmoor?

Accepted Answer

6.5 Creedmoor is awesome at what it was built for—high-BC bullets and wind performance as you stretch past 500. But inside 500, the 7mm-08 is beating it in a couple metrics that are more hunting-specific, and the wind difference at 500 can be about an inch, which I call negligible. If I’m hunting deer, I care a lot about practical drop/energy and staying in a reliable expansion window.

Question 3

Is 7mm-08 a youth cartridge?

Accepted Answer

It gets marketed that way sometimes, and I honestly don’t get it. Recoil-wise it’s very manageable—especially in a normal-weight rifle—and it’s not some “weak” option when you look at the numbers. If anything, it’s underappreciated because it doesn’t have the military adoption or hype cycle that .308 and 6.5 Creed got.

Question 4

How does recoil compare: 308 vs 6.5 Creedmoor vs 7mm-08?

Accepted Answer

In a comparable rifle, .308 is moderate recoil—nothing I’d be worried about for most shooters. 6.5 Creedmoor drops recoil by about 30% compared to .308. Then 7mm-08 only gains back about 10% of what you lost going from .308 to 6.5, so it’s still a pretty soft-shooting setup.

Question 5

What loads did you compare in the video?

Accepted Answer

I looked at three categories: Remington Core-Lokt (the classic deer killer), Hornady ELD-X/Precision Hunter-style loads, and a Barnes LRX handload concept. The whole point was to compare realistic hunting ammo types, not just cherry-pick one boutique load. That way you can see how each cartridge behaves with common soft points, sleeker bonded bullets, and monolithic copper.

Question 6

Why does 7mm-08 shoot flatter than 308 with similar bullet weights?

Accepted Answer

In that mid-weight hunting range, the 7mm bullets are simply more efficient than comparable .30 cal bullets. They hold velocity better through the atmosphere, so you see it in the drop and energy charts. It’s not that 7mm-08 is magically way faster—it’s that it’s doing more with the same basic case and powder.

Question 7

What’s your minimum velocity for bullet expansion when hunting?

Accepted Answer

A lot of modern lead-core hunting bullets advertise around 1600 fps minimum, but I personally add a 200 fps buffer. So for something like an ELD-X, I want about 1800 fps on target to really trust it. For monolithic copper bullets, the common number is around 1800 fps, so I want 2000 fps to stay comfortably in that expansion zone.

Question 8

Why isn’t 7mm-08 more popular if it performs so well?

Accepted Answer

Popularity isn’t always performance—it’s availability, marketing, and history. .308 got military adoption and a huge competition footprint, and 6.5 Creed hit at the perfect time during the high-BC craze and got produced at massive scale. 7mm-08 didn’t get those boosts, so it’s easier to overlook even though it’s one of the most efficient short-action hunting cartridges out there.

The 7mm-08 Is Just Better | The Numbers Don't Lie!

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