7mm 08

[hammer]

just rolled my own 7mm 08 with rl 17@ 45 gr witha 140 gr bullet. went to the range and just about shot my shoulder off .

holy cow nothing forgiving about that round. im sure its the powder, it was described as a high powered powder. i guess I gotta dial it back some.

anyone else using this powder for a 7mm 08. you dont need much. maybe it will last longer.

just incase I want to finish the box, I bought a limbsaver butt pad.

anyone want to ride the monster let me know Ill meet you at the range.

 

[Uncle Duke]

just rolled my own 7mm 08 with rl 17@ 45 gr witha 140 gr bullet. went to the range and just about shot my shoulder off .

holy cow nothing forgiving about that round. im sure its the powder, it was described as a high powered powder. i guess I gotta dial it back some.

anyone else using this powder for a 7mm 08. you dont need much. maybe it will last longer.

just incase I want to finish the box, I bought a limbsaver butt pad.

anyone want to ride the monster let me know Ill meet you at the range.

Not the powder so much as it sounds like you're shooting a very light weight rifle.

 

[E.Shell]

just rolled my own 7mm 08 with rl 17@ 45 gr witha 140 gr bullet. went to the range and just about shot my shoulder off .

holy cow nothing forgiving about that round. im sure its the powder, it was described as a high powered powder. i guess I gotta dial it back some.

anyone else using this powder for a 7mm 08. you dont need much. maybe it will last longer.

just incase I want to finish the box, I bought a limbsaver butt pad.

anyone want to ride the monster let me know Ill meet you at the range.

Not the powder so much as it sounds like you're shooting a very light weight rifle.

Probably does have a lighter rifle, but the way one fits and handles the rifle has a HUGE amount of influence on felt recoil.

On a recoil scale of 1 to 10, the 7-08 is about a 3.5. It should not be painful or debilitating, even in a rather light gun.

First, the buttplate must be in very firm contact with the shoulder. Use the firing hand to pull back on the grip with a firm handshake pressure, enough to settle the rifle in against muscle, compressing the clothing and loose tissue. This prevents the rifle getting a running start, so it turns what would have been a punch into a mere shove.

Then, your face should be in firm contact with the comb (cheekpiece). If the comb is too low and there is no contact, the head stands still and the rifle recoils out from under, adding the 'whiplash' sensation to the punch.

If there is a good firm shoulder contact and solid cheek contact, recoil will feel much more manageable. Think about it, people of all sizes comfortably shoot much bigger calibers...surely there is a trick to it.

 

[jimbobborg]

I've put about 200 rounds through my Remington 700 CDL in 7mm-08, 180 of which were my reloads. All reloads were with 140gr bullets. I've done ladders with it, the sweet spot was 5% less than max loads. I have not used RL 17 in this caliber. I have not experience teeth-rattling recoil with this rifle and round.

 

[BigDaddy]

You might be interested in this recoil table
http://www.chuckhawks.com/recoil_table.htm

Shooting from a bench in summer, wearing a t-shirt, is always more uncomfortable than shooting a deer in full winter garb.

 

[hammer]

yeah im shooting a tikka t3. its real light. that makes sense. I always try to use good form from a bench.

Ive shot plenty with 12 ga slugs, never had a recoil like this gun. I still like it though. factory loads are no problem.

guess ill get a cortizone shot in the shoulder and try again.

rl 17 is no slouch. its a hunting rifle that i wanted to try bench shooting so no big deal.

Ill just dial it back a litttle.

 

[E.Shell]

The Tikka has a buttplate about as wide as a razor blade, so between that and the weight, it will be challenging to shoot without paying special attention to recoil management.

Does your Tikka have the adjustable cheekpiece? If so, ensure that it supports your head behind the scope and that you are not floating around or actually using a chin-weld. If not, consider a Karsten cheekpiece or a Traid stock pack or even self-adhesive 1/8" foam insulation tape from Home Depot to improve contact. Big scopes and/or higher mounts chronically create problems with cheek weld. Having your head firmly anchored to the stock with a correct cheek weld is VERY important, since the mass of your head adds to the standing momentum of the rifle, which reduces movement from recoil. Having your shoulder in VERY firm contact with the buttplate then adds the standing momentum of your upper body to the recoil resistance. If the rifle, head, shoulder and arm(s) move as one solid unit during recoil, felt recoil will be greatly lessened.

Meantime, back to RL-17...

Reloader 17 is of a different formulation than the almost universal formula (double-base nitrocellulose) used by powder companies for years. It does indeed provide slightly greater velocities when compared to traditional powders in any given case capacity.

Measured recoil is a product of bullet weight and velocity vs the rifle weight. When you add velocity with the same weight bullet, or add more weight to a bullet at the same velocity, more recoil is the ultimate result.

That said, while it certainly contributes as velocity increases, it is not the powder type causing the unpleasant recoil, it is rifle design/weight and the shooter's handling methods. Even when we jack the 7-08 up by 100 fps (as sometimes claimed with RL-17), we are only moving it from about a 3.5 to a 3.6 on the scale of 1 to 10.

Felt recoil is a product of actual recoil energy vs rifle design, handling and fit. The light weight and relatively narrow buttplate are fixed design constraints, so you will have to ensure fit and handling are optimum for most effective recoil management.

Reducing loads much below maximum often creates inconsistent performance. Every powder has a certain working pressure at which it renders its best performance and it generally pays off in terms of magnitude of fouling and consistent velocities to stay at the optimum working pressure for your powder selection.

 

[hammer]

thanks Ed, for that info. the rifle has a straight stock nothing for my cheek.

I think I was a little unprepared for the recoil I felt vs the recoil I had with 120 gr factory ammo.

I can asure you it was two differnt worlds. now that said, I had a comfortable rest/hold and the damage was done after 3 shots.

so I will take a different approach using your suggestions next time, since I have over half a box of amo left to shoot.

I wasnt kidding about the injection. I agrivated and old injury .

hey isnt the synthetic stock hollow. I could pack it with a heavy material for bench shooting and remove it for hunting.

 

[jimbobborg]

hey isnt the synthetic stock hollow. I could pack it with a heavy material for bench shooting and remove it for hunting.

Wouldn't that affect POI?

 

[hammer]

I duno but it would probably feel better, and maybe help accuracy.

 

[SCDoGo]

My wife's hunting rifle is a Savage 7mm-08. When we fist took it out it had quite a bit of punch to it, between the light synthetic stock and the plastic butt plate it had it isn't too surprising. Threw a Limb Saver on it and it was a night and day difference.

 

[friendlyhippo]

a good recoil pad with a wider surface area will work wonders.

or you could get one of those PAST shoulder pads; those things are nothing short of phenomenal. if i'm shooting boomers, i'll take mine along. love it.