What are you guys shooting ? I’m not liking blood trail with 120 grain Barnes….i shoot mostly behind shoulder if possible. Thanks

140gr Accubonds and shoot shoulders. Exits every time. You'd get a lot better results with those Barnes if you start shooting shoulders as well. Those ttsx love to break bones and will stay together when they do it

Unfortunately a variety due to my perverse love for the caliber. I have multiple rifles in that caliber with 2 more on the way! Each rifles likes something different.

140 gr fusion in the Winchester
140 gr ttsx in the model 7
140 gr Norma in the xbolt
139 gr hornady sst in the Kimber

Not sure I’m liking the Norma. Bought a bunch on gunbroker cheap a while back. Have had great blood with the others

I’ve had great blood trails with 120 grain Nosler Ballistic tips(NBT) and 140 grain Partitions and Accubonds. I too shoot behind the shoulder. Never had a problem with them performing when hitting shoulders or not.

My 7-08 is a Model Seven and it’s a great cartridge.

I’ve killed several whitetail bucks with these setups and a big mule deer with the 140 grain Accubonds. My next elk will be killed with my Model Seven 7-08 and 140 grain Accubonds.

I've had great success with 150 Hornady ELDX. Several bucks in the last few years and great performance.

I have not had any personal experience yet, but all the research says the plain Jane speer 145 BTSP is a heckuva bullet out of a medium 7mm cartridge. I am shooting them out of my 7x57.. just haven't shot a deer with it yet to confirm. Looking to do that this weekend and I'll report back.

I also shoot the 120gr TTSXs in my 7-08. Unfortunately I can’t give you and information on a blood trail because every deer dropped where they stood. However I did have a decent blood trail on the 245lb boar hog I shot with it. And then there was that poor coon. Let’s just say they are extremely brutal on a coon at 60yds.
I was impressed with the damage the bullets done on the deer but I was not real impressed with the hole size the was left on the exits. It didn’t matter in these cases but if they hadn’t dropped I wonder about the blood trails. Plenty of blood at kill spot so I would think there would have been a trail to follow. I’m planning on loading some 140gr Accubonds to see how they shoot. I really liked how they performed on deer in my buddy’s rifle.

140gr Sierra GameKings

140 grain Federal Fusion
140 grain Nosler Accubond
140 grain Federal Premium Trophy Bonded (nickel plated with Speer bullets)

All perform very well and all are devastating on the deer they hit.

139 grain Hornady SST has performed well for me.

So I’m the odd ball with the 120 grain?

No coach I always felt Remington was onto something with 120s when they released the cartridge in 1980. But everybody wanted to shoot heavier bullets and so the 140s up took over. A model 7 with a 22 inches and 120s is just about perfect but *sigh* Big green went 20&18 5 inches ruining a good setup. Then they overcorrected and went 24 inches. You can see why they went bankrupt.

140 grain Federal Fusion in mine. Were really hard to find for the longest time but now can be found easily now.

Why do you say that a 20” barrel on a Model Seven ruined a it?

N2 I'd guess 95% the bolt guns are 22 inches perhaps ruined was the wrong word. Yes we all love the lever 30/30and a 20 inch model 7 is ballistically superior even without Magnums so don't beat me in the head with your model 7 I think you have the 7 SAUM?

If you search hard enough and are persistent enough, you can find one with a 22” barrel. I did 😁

I shot 120 barnes ttsx last year and was happy with the accuracy but wasn't happy with not getting a drop of blood with the 11 point I shot with it. This year I swapped to the nosler 120 ballistic tip after reading so many good reviews and I am very happy with with them. I shot an 11 point this year on new years day with one at 180 yards and it left a blood trail that a blind man could have followed.

We were shooting the 120 grain fusions and were happy with them

I was genuinely curious why you thought that. That’s why I asked. Yes, I have a Model Seven in 7 SAUM with a 22” barrel. 160 grain Accubonds travel at 2950 fps out of it. My 7-08 Model Seven has a 20” barrel. It shoots 120 NBTs at 3000 fps and 140 grain Partitions and Accubonds 2850 fps.

It’s amazing how much more handy the 20” barreled rifle feels in a shooting house/treestand and out west on backpack hunts.

140g Winchester Ballistic Silvertip for DRT.