Barnes Harvest 7mm-08 150gr – Superb Sierra Tipped GameKing

Description

Barnes Harvest 7mm-08 150gr covers a cartridge that quietly does almost everything a deer hunter needs and gets a fraction of the attention it deserves. The 7mm-08 Remington is a .308 case necked to 7mm, and the result is one of the most efficient short action rounds ever standardized.

The Quietly Excellent Short Action

The 7mm bullet in Barnes Harvest 7mm-08 150gr has unusually good sectional density for their weight. A 150 grain 7mm bullet is longer and narrower than a 150 grain .30 calibre bullet, which means it penetrates better and carries better downrange from the same case capacity. That is the whole reason the 7mm-08 punches above what its modest recoil suggests.

Compared with the .308 Winchester it came from, the 7mm-08 gives up a little bullet weight and gains trajectory and reduced recoil. Compared with the .243, it gains a great deal of bullet and costs surprisingly little in comfort. For deer-sized game it sits in a very comfortable middle.

The 150 grain weight in Barnes Harvest 7mm-08 150gr is the heavy end of the common weights and the right choice when you might see something larger than a whitetail. It is enough bullet for elk at moderate range in the hands of a careful hunter, though a .30 calibre would give more margin.

Barnes Harvest 7mm-08 150gr Specifications

Barnes Harvest 7mm-08 150gr is a 150 grain 7mm-08 Remington load with the Sierra Tipped GameKing, 20 rounds to the box, from Barnes Bullets. The Harvest Collection is where Barnes loads Sierra projectiles, the two having come under one parent company.

The Tipped GameKing is a purpose-built hunting bullet: boat tail base, polymer tip to force reliable expansion at lower impact velocity, and a tapered jacket that controls how fast it opens. In a cartridge valued for efficiency rather than raw power, a bullet that expands consistently rather than dramatically is the right match.

As value priced hunting ammunition, Barnes Harvest 7mm-08 150gr sits below the copper VOR-TX line, and for most hunters that is the sensible place to spend. Ammunition you will shoot enough of to be confident with beats a premium box fired three times at a paper plate.

• Caliber: 7mm-08 Remington
• Bullet weight: 150 grain
• Bullet type: Sierra Tipped GameKing
• Construction: lead core, polymer tipped, boat tail
• Intended use: deer, antelope, black bear
• Rounds per box: 20
• Manufacturer: Barnes Bullets
• Product line: Harvest Collection

Supply, Rifles and Honest Limits

The practical drawback of the 7mm-08 has never been performance, it is shelf presence. It sells a fraction of what the .308 and 6.5 Creedmoor do, so ammunition selection is thinner and a small town store may carry one option or none. Buy your season ahead rather than expecting to find it in October.

Rifle availability is better than it used to be. Most manufacturers offer at least one short action model in the chambering, and it is a common choice in lightweight mountain rifles and youth models because the recoil is so manageable. If you are buying a rifle specifically, check what is actually in stock rather than what the catalog claims.

On elk with Barnes Harvest 7mm-08 150gr, be honest with yourself. The 7mm-08 with a 150 grain bullet will kill an elk cleanly with a broadside shot at moderate range and good placement. It gives you less margin than a .30-06 or a 7mm Remington Magnum if the angle is imperfect. If elk are the priority rather than an occasional chance, there are better choices.

Deer hunters who want Barnes Harvest 7mm-08 150gr as an efficient, mild-recoiling short action cartridge, and anyone outfitting a lightweight or youth rifle for serious use.

A Savage Axis II XP Compact in 7mm-08 is the short, light kind of rifle this cartridge suits best, and the Harvest 270 Win 140gr is the flatter shooting long action alternative if open country is more your ground.

Store Barnes Harvest 7mm-08 150gr indoors and dry, and buy enough of one lot for the season. Thin supply is the real argument for stocking up here: running out mid-season with a cartridge this uncommon is a genuine possibility rather than a theoretical one.

One last point in the cartridge’s favor. Because the 7mm-08 is built on a .308 case, it fits a standard short action with room to spare, which means the rifles chambered for it tend to be light, compact and quick to the shoulder. Combine that with recoil a new hunter can tolerate and terminal performance that will handle any deer in North America, and you have a combination that is hard to argue against for anyone who is not specifically chasing elk or shooting past 400 yards.