How much difference

Pete Wass

Pete Wass

Well-known member
between a 7 mm08 and a 284 Winchester? If a lad was wanting to build a hunting rifle, would the little extra stuff be worth doing the 284?

Thanks,

Pete
 
i think the difference would be based on
what you are hunting.
 
Bullet for bullet

the .284 has 100 to 150fps+ over the 7mm/08. The next consideration is brass. Hornaday is now making 7mm/08 as well as Lapua. A guy might get lucky and find a bag or two of Win. or Rem. if he looks hard enough. There's one source for new .284 brass,,,,,,, Norma (@ Bullets.com). At this time .284 would be all but impossible to find. 7mm/08 is to be found, though. The 7mm/o8 will fit into a SA, the .284 really needs a medium length action so that bullets aren't buried so deeply into the case so they'll fit into the magazine. For kicks and giggles, think about the 7mm/08 Ackely Improved. You can fire factory loaded rounds in it and the added case capacity of the improved case will give you a bit of velocity gain,,,,,,, in a SA.
 
Ballistic wise, the same difference between a 308 and a 30-06.

The extra capacity of the 284 will let you shoot heavier bullets more effectively. If you are going after White Tails and the like, a 7-08 will be perfect. If you are hunting Elk, Caribo, or the like, the 284 might be a better choice.

I have a good friend who hunts everything from White Tails to Moose with a 7mm Mag. He simply tunes his loads accordingly.
 
Jackie you took the words from my mouth! Short grass neck up 6.5-284 lapua brass to 7 and never look back.
 
jackie schmidt said:
Ballistic wise, the same difference between a 308 and a 30-06.

The extra capacity of the 284 will let you shoot heavier bullets more effectively. If you are going after White Tails and the like, a 7-08 will be perfect. If you are hunting Elk, Caribo, or the like, the 284 might be a better choice.

I have a good friend who hunts everything from White Tails to Moose with a 7mm Mag. He simply tunes his loads accordingly.
Click to expand...

1++ I have both. I just did a 7-08 and necked down Lapua 308 brass. Like Jackie said, it depends on what you want to hunt. Also consider the action length. If it is going to be a 284, I'd put it on a long action for the heavier/longer bullets.
 
Last edited:
I would go with the 7-08, make my cases from 308 Palma brass. This allows for two things that are important to me....

#1, I can neck my cases down to make for the perfect crush-fit for fireforming perfect long-lasting cases and
#2, I'd bet a case of Longhorn, Jack, that with the Palma brass I could run with the .284 clear acros't the board.
 
ebb said:
Jackie you took the words from my mouth! Short grass neck up 6.5-284 lapua brass to 7 and never look back.
Click to expand...

I'll neck a case down, not a big fan of necking up. What a way to complicate a 'hunting rifle', having to make cases, have necks ground on reamers. I'd keep it simple.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Another thought...........in case of an ammo emergency, you would be much more likely to find a box of 7mm-08 on a shelf then 284.
 
shortgrass said:
I'll neck a case down, not a big fan of necking up. What a way to complicate a 'hunting rifle', having to make cases, have necks ground on reamers. I'd keep it simple.
Click to expand...

We've been necking up .220 Russian brass to 6mm to make 6 PPC's for 40 years. It doesn't seem to be a problem.
 
Mike Bryant said:
We've been necking up .220 Russian brass to 6mm to make 6 PPC's for 40 years. It doesn't seem to be a problem.
Click to expand...

And 6BR to make a 30BR.

But I agree with some of the posters. For a pure hunting rifle, go with something that is say to get, easy to load, with a minimum aggravation factor.

I would venture a guess that more shooters agonize over why their whiz bang custom hunting rig won't feed and eject properly one out of three times than they are squeezing that last little minute of angle accuracy from it.

Different perimeters for different applications.
 
I was thinking Short action

I think if I was considering a long action I would probably consider a 280 Rem. or a 280 AI. Any opinions on that choice?

Thanks,

Pete
 
I really like the 7mm.

I have been hunting with a .280 IMP for many years ++

With the new bullets and powder I would go with the 7-08.

However the 140 gr 6.5mm bullets are really something else.

For a long action I would try a 6.5-06 and shoot 140 grainers.

Saw a cow elk dumped at 435 yards with a 6.5-06 and 140 gr Barnes TSX.
 
I've been thinking of changing over the 1st rifle I ever built back in the 80's. It's a Turkish mauser action.....and what a coincidence....chambered in 284 Win. The barrel is toast. I have a new 9 twist on the shelf for it. The problem I've encountered is the supply of brass. Now if you want to neck up 270 brass (here we go again) then that's fine. 30-06 brass is too short imo although it would work also. The standard 280 & 284 are basically twins. I've had Winchester brand 280 brass on back order with bass pro for 3 months now. You can find once fired brass on the net for near the price of new. Doing that doesn't make sense to me. The Ackley is suppose to be one bad a$$ cartridge from what I've read. Then you need special more expensive dies and go through blowing the cases out. Myself, I have a
7-08 that I shoot 120 Sierra's out of for deer. I am getting 2900+ fps from a 24" barrel and it is pretty dramatic on deer. And fairly light recoil. If I was going after bear or elk I'd take the 284 that I have on a 700 long action or if I get the 280 built, then either one of the 2. All of these cartridges are good choices depending on what you intend to do with them. If you ever decide to hand a rifle to a youngster to go hunting, they would appreciate the mild recoil with the lighter bullets of the 7mm-08 for sure. I guess it all boils down to what the game plan is and what you expect from a cartridge.

Here are a couple of groups from the -08 last weekend....wind blowing and cold as can be...2 different charges of IMR4064. The red dot is 1/2" diameter.
 

Attachments

  • new groups 008.jpg
    new groups 008.jpg
    1.8 MB · Views: 152
  • new groups 009.jpg
    new groups 009.jpg
    1.5 MB · Views: 181
Last edited:
Pete Wass said:
Is there a gain to that?

Thanks,

Pete
Click to expand...

Pete,

In my hot rod 1000 Yard loads for my M1As and M1s, I use either my old stash of Remington BR brass or the Lapua Palma. In my experience the smaller poctets last longer. I am a speed freak, I launch the 168 Hybrids at 2800 out of the M1As.

Nez
 
Last edited:
Mike Bryant said:
We've been necking up .220 Russian brass to 6mm to make 6 PPC's for 40 years. It doesn't seem to be a problem.
Click to expand...

Yes, and then it gets used in a chamber that was chambered with a reamer that has a 'custom' neck size. Cut the chamber on your 'hunting rifle' with a reamer with a 'custom' neck and you may eliminate ever using a factory ammo. Last minute stuff happens. You might not always have reloaded rounds 'ready to go' when an opportunity to 'hit the woods' arises. There's much to be said when you can stop off at a gas station/convenience store in deer/elk country and buy a box of cartridges because ........ A 'hunting rifle' isn't a 'BR rifle'. Two different critters. I like the .280/.280AI. they're in a class above the other two you've mentioned.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top