Looking to start reloading for my 7mm08. What 120 grain bullets do y'all use/recommend?

Don't know what you intend to hunt, but the 7mm-08 is a great deer cartridge and I would load 139-, 140-, 145-, or 150-grain bullets. My personal preferences are Nosler first followed by Hornady.

Mostly what I have reloaded and been happy with are Nosler Partitions, Ballistic tips and accubonds, all 140gr and all have been good one shot deer killers. With partitions or accubonds I would not hesitate to use on Elk out to 250 perhaps 300 yards if given a broadside or quartering away shot.

BMD is going to tell you 120gr accubonds like he reloads for Lil-Hammer.

Hunting whitetail and pigs. Was gonna go with the 120s due to having a Stevens 200 with the 1 in 11.5 twist

The 1:11.5 should handle the 140s fine. Matter of fact might handle those better than the 120gr Barnes bullets

From the Berger webpage
140 gr Match Grade VLD Hunting .284 140gr 0.510BC 11 or faster twist

The 140gr VLD Bergers are longer than any of the Nosoer offerings/

I'm shooting 120gr Nosler BT in my 7mm-08 @ 2950fps. Shot 5 does and 1 hog and only one doe ran 40yds, the rest were DRT and the hog was DRT as well, 120gr NBT behind the ear.
The 120gr NBT is a great bullet but as with any bullet shot placement is the key.

I'd recommend a Hornady 139 grain SST. If you can't get that bullet to shoot well, something's wrong with the gun. They shoot very well. There are not very many good hunting bullet options in the 120 grain weight range for the 7mm. A 11.5" twist should handle the hunting 140 grain bullets well.

My personal preference for an all-around big game load would be either Nosler Accubonds or Hornady Interbonds. The Noslers are 140 gr, the Hornady 139 gr. Both have a BC around .485.

Though they are similar, I have found that the Hornadys seem to expand a little faster while the Noslers offer slightly better penetration.

I was thinking about trying out the hornady 139s, maybe I'll pick some of those up

I have been using 140gr Sierra BTSP in my Stevens 7mm-08 with excellent results along with IMR-4350.

I used 120 BT's this year running 3400fps they were scary accurate but the performance on game has not been great penciled through a deer. I'll be loading 140 Accubonds next year.

The 140 gr. bullets are the "ideal" for the 7mm-08. I use both the 140 gr. and 120 gr. TTSX's. I switched from the TSX's. I know I don't need a "premium" bullet, but they shoot great and have never let me down. The 7mm-08 is easy to load for and any of the good 140 gr. hunting bullets will work just fine. My second choice are the 140 gr. Accubonds.

Bob

140 grain nosler partition is what I would go for.

matt

I shoot 120gr Barnes TTSX in my 7mm08 and my 7 Mag, great bullet no complaints here at all.

I've loaded these bullets for my 7-08, listed in order (excellent to satisfactory) based on results in my rifle.
Your results may differ.

Sierra game king 140 gr.
Remington corelokt 140gr.
Seirra pro hunter 140 gr.
Nosler accu bond 140 gr.
Remington accutip 140 gr.
Hornady sst 139 gr.
Nosler partition 140 gr.

Mine will shoot several heavier bullets quite well also.

I've had no luck loading any 120 gr bullet for my rifle.
I gave up on Barnes tsx & ttsx 120 gr & 140 gr after going through 24 each and not finding a decent load.

Haven't had any problems with 120gr, I even shoot Sierra 120 gr Pro Hunters as my practice rounds.

i have only been on the 7-08 train for a couple of years, my gun likes 120s better even though it has a 1-9 twist.
im running the nosler bt at aroun 3100-3200 still undecided on 50.5 gr or 51.5 gr of win 760. i have yet to recover one of those boolits, heres a vid of one pig and a pic of another.
boolit angle is coming in behind the ear

I have loaded the 120 grain Sierra Pro Hunters for my wife's 7mm-08 for years. Accuracy and performance have been exceptional... A long list of dead animals will concur.

I prefer the 140 grain Nosler Ballistic Tips for my 7mm-08. No good reason over the Pro Hunters... I just have never been let down by a Ballistic Tip of any caliber or weight (that I have used) for the last 15 or so years.

I say find a bullet that you like and are CONFIDENT in, and you won't be disappointed. Good luck!

I loaded some 120 gr Pro Hunters for my 708 several years ago. 2 out of 3 deer shot the same year result in no exit wounds. Both of those deer did fall DRT, but I didn't like not having an exit wound.

The next load was the 139SST. My vls just didn't like them very well, or I didn't spend enough time playing around with them. Tried 3 different powders and gave up on them.

Went to the good old standby, the Gameking in 140gr, and never looked back. Gonna try some 140 Accubonds this year, just to see how they shoot. But I won't be giving up on Sierra bullets any time too soon.

+1

This 162 amazing is very nice out of my buddy's 7-08 using h4895

What exactly does this mean? I get the part about Hodgdon 4895 and your buddies 7mm-08, but the 162 amazing trips me up. Is this a 162 amax? Thanks

Most likely the Amax's just in my initial load development for them I've been very impressed.

What powder Dee?

Initial test so far are with Varget and IMR 4350 with Varget having the edge in velocity. I have another batch ready to hit the range as soon as time permits.