The 7mm-08 is nothing but the .308 Winchester necked down to 7 mm or .284”. This wildcat was adopted by Remington in 1980.
The 7mm-08 is closely connected with metallic silhouette shooting. This sport has a Mexican origin and the trick is to knock down animal-shaped targets made of iron plate. The targets are placed from standing between 100 and up to 500 meters from the riflemen. The shooting is done off-hand. Accordingly the demands for a metallic silhouette cartridge were all met by developing the 7mm-08. It has a high precision potential, a flat trajectory, a light recoil and sufficient power to knock over the silhouette even when hit at the extreme range.
The case capacity of the 7mm-08 is slightly smaller than in the 7x57, and accordingly the muzzle velocity of the heavier bullets will be 100-150 fps. less than in the Mauser design.
For hunting purposes this cartridge is well-suited to medium game at long range and therefore also a popular choice for light-weight mountain rifles as it works well in short actions.