Pete, try some 140 grain nosler partitions if you do go with a 7mm-08. (they would probably group well out of the .284 for that matter) I was really shocked at how well they grouped. really didn't expect such good groups with that bullet with lead showing on base and point. But they have really impressed me on paper and game to say the least. I always try to double lung shoot deer and the partition bullet had exit wounds closer to the size of a tea-cup. 2 ran around 40 yds though i don't see how with the way the lungs & heart looked. I think we must be brothers from another mother on the 30's. (.308 & 30-06), I had a 308 for a while set up as a sniper rifle & shot 1 group with Federal match ammo & never shot it again before i sold it (I've got nothing against either of them, just never have wanted one bad enough i guess).
The nosler ballistic tips i shot out of the rifle i gave my friend for wiring my shop (predator action/hart barrel 7mm-08 match chamber by PTG Dave Kiff) is one of the best shooting combinations i've ever had in my hands bar none. I'm not kidding when i said i hit x's (10 in a row) on the ibs 200 yd score target with this rifle using bipod and rear bag,,& my buddy is by no means an expert reloader. He bought h380 powder because it was one of the powders listing loads for his 22-250 & 7mm-08 and he really got lucky with his 1st load). & its the same rifle/bullet he killed the whitetail at 460 yds with in middle tn. . I gave him a box of the Federal supreme factory loads to take to Wyoming last fall (with 140 grain nosler partition) & his rifle shot these nearly as good as the handloads. & he took a nice 5x5 muley in wyoming Oct. 1 2016 at 400 yds even, & this deer dropped in its tracks with rear lung/liver shot. His son is stationed in Cheyenne, & this really opened his eyes. One does not gain much but recoil with the larger 7mm rounds. (though i did see those long range pursuit guys on tv take an elk at 1400yds with a 7short mag which i'm sure is a bit out of the 08's range) I talked to Jim Borden before i built my last 7mm-08 as i was using his alpine action. I was considering the 7 short mag. I decided against that one when i learned barrels often shot out by 400 rounds or so. These rifles i built won't be shot nearly that much, but i hope they will stay in the family for a few generations.
I've built a lot of rifles in the 20+yrs i've been doing so. I got into riflesmithing because i hated to wait 6 months or longer to try a new barrel. The last 4 rifles i built as sporter deer rifles as heirlooms for my grandsons. (I only had daughters but am now inundated with male grandchildren, which is fine by me). I also chose to build these rifles in common "factory" chamberings in case i don't live long enough to teach them how to reload for precision shooting. I have been fortunate enough to find factory ammo that will shoot under 1/2 moa in all these rifles (at 100 yds anyway) . (.250 savage becoming harder to find in factory ammo, .300 savage, & 2 7mm-08's). That 250 savage turned out to be an impressive deer killer. A buddy of mine borrowed this rifle for rifle season 3 or 4 yrs in a row and took at least a dozen deer with it, & all but one dropped in their tracks. My eldest grandson took his first buck with this rifle too which dropped like a ton of bricks. (with remington factory ammo no less). I built this one as i didn't want him to become recoil sensitive. this rifle recoils less than a 243 but the 2800fps 100 grain factory load must be one of those magic killer combinations the way it has worked on deer so far. I built the 300 savage because the 30x47 more or less dominated hunter for score shooting . I was not disappointed in it's accuracy either. It groups like a bench gun with custom bullets, we used to make bullets both 6mm, & 30 cal. & the 125grain match bullets shot bug holes. I shot a whitetail with this bullet at around 50 yds & the bullet blew up on the ribs (like my dad predicted) making a really large hide entry wound but not much penetration unfortunately requiring a finishing shot. Randy Robinette never had that problem as he used them out west as his hunting bullet (my die was a copy of his fine die). I doubt he ever shot one as close is my shot however.
enough of my rambling,
have fun with whichever you choose, as long as its the 7mm-08;>)
kirk
