My blog-bud, Graumagus, up in Yankee-Land is gonna hate my big ol’ Rebel ass.
I’ve got the enviable task of sighting in a brand-hammer new Remington 700 SPS chambered for the sweet lil’ 7mm-08 Remington cartridge. This fine rifle is topped with a
Tasco 6-24 power x 42mm Adjustable Objective scope.
Please, Grau! Don’t hate. [insert evil grin here]
The entire beast is matte black in finish. Even the bolt is blacked out! A 24 inch, target crowned, barrel should wring every last bit of veocity out of those streamlined 7mm bullets. The synthetic stock will help make sure they all continue to drop on target even with the humidity at the Pascagoula DCM range down on Bayou Heron in Moss Point, MS. I can’t wait to see what she’ll do!
This isn’t my first 7mm-08. That dubious honor belonged to an fugly Remington 788. Probably the ugliest rifle to ever be shipped out of the Remington Rifleworks. At the time it was all I could afford. It had a birch stock – barely finished – that pressed on the barrel in a thousand places it shouldn’t. Speaking of its barrel, it was 18 1/2 inches long, heavy, and still retained all of the tooling marks from the lathe from which it was born. The finish looked like it was someones first effort with a cold-bluing solution. It was crowned straight though. Just to make things consistant, the rifle had a detachable box magazine, which I detest in a bolt gun. The bolt itself used nine small locking lugs, all on the back of the bolt. Guaranteed to stretch brass into next week. Being so poor at the time to be stuck with this kind of rifle it only made sense to top it with the cheapest scope I could find at the time – a Simmons 3-9 power x 40mm. The dog-gone gun could shoot though. I mean really shoot!
My much wealthier bud, Mike Bottoms, bought his new rifle on the same day. A Remington 700 Classic in 7mm Remington Magnum. He spared no expense on the optics either. A Redfield 3-9 on rock-solid rings and bases. We both reloaded every round that passed through those guns. Wouldn’t you know it? My fugly lil’ rifle shot rings around that beautiful gun of Mike’s! Everyday. Mike is a helluva rifleman, too.
Daresay my experience with the then-new 7mm-08 Remington was exceptionally good. I believe it will be so this time as well. The round is another in the line born from the .308 Winchester cartridge. It is well balanced in bullet weight vs. case capacity and offeres enoough power for anything on this continent short of the big bears. Accurate too! I’ve not started reloading the round yet, but as I recall it did quite well last time on a diet of IMR 3031 and IMR 4350 powders. I’ll likely try the ol’ 3031 again, but I want to try Varget as well.
As the Gods would have it, there is a Gun Show this weekend at the ABBA Temple in West Mobile. If I’m a good boy perhaps I’ll be able to pick up components for loading the 7mm while I’m there drooling over firearms I don’t own. Come to think of it, I need pistol primers while I’m at it. I’m down to 300…
Omar*