My go to rifle when deer hunting is my model 700 BDL Varmint Special. It is heavy, bulky but accurate as hell.

I have my dad's model 7 in .308 that he bought in the late 80's because it was lighter and he wanted and easy carry rifle. It has been sitting in my gun safe since he passed away 2 years ago. I want to get it back into the rotation. He always had accuracy problems but he usually blamed it on too much of a caliber for the gun's weight.

I shoot federal fusion 165 grain through my model 700 but would like anyone's thoughts on ammo to start with for the lighter/shorter barrel gun. He shied away from the heavier loads because of the recoil for him.

Hornady, Barnes, and Remington make reduced recoil loads in 110 and 125gr.

Check torque first, Tubb Barrel Lapping kit or develop some hand loads, possibly both

https://www.midwayusa.com/product/1006409224

I love a model 7. Shot my first deer with one and so has my oldest. what do you plan to shoot with it and how far away? that will affect bullet answers

too light to be accurate is simply not true. now that particular rifle may have accuracy issues or your dad's ability to shoot a light rifle consistently/accurately may be at play but there are plenty of accurate light rifles including many model 7s. Do you know if he did anything to try to get it to shoot (bedding, custom loads, etc.)? If not, that's where I'd start. It's also much easier to shoot a light rifle that has a light trigger. I like to be in the 2-2.5lb range for a lightweight hunting rifle (although I set it a bit heavier on the one my kid hunts with). My model 7s have triggertechs.

I think it had a lot to do with his ability and comfort shooting a lighter rifle with a decent sized round. My initial look is to start with lighter loads and go from there. As far as the gun initially will likely be trigger work.

I read once that if a 308 won't shoot federal gold medal match 168 accurately it won't shoot anything accurately, and I've found that to mostly be true, though i had one 308 that was partial to 150gr winchester super-x power point (but that rifle tightened up further with 165 gameking handloads)
Maybe buy a box of each of those and see if it likes either before you start grabbing at straws
Edit: good advice above about checking torque. The m7 action is a little goofy because it has one screw that's smaller? Edit2 here it is, been a while since i tinkered with my model 7 " torque the front down to 35 inch pounds and the rear to 10 inch pounds and shoot a group and see how it goes and then add 2 inch pound increments your groups should get smaller then open back up then you will know where the rear screw likes to be."

I have a Hornady AP lock and load press with 7mm 139 grain btsp bullets if you are interested in trying some.

Nothing to add other than I grew up shooting a model 7 in .223 and I love that gun.

I have a model 7 in .260 rem that I got from a fellow Texag-er. I glass bedded it and added a TriggerTech trigger. I would say the accuracy is adequate but not great. I think maybe it's due to the pencil barrel but who knows. I still like it a lot and it's perfectly good for shots up around 300 yards which is about all I want to shoot anyways. There may be an ammo out there that it loves and I just haven't found it yet

Is it the 18.5" or 20" model?

If you're just hunting thin skinned game like deer, just go with a 150 Nosler BT, 150 Hornady, or 150 Sierra.

This season I've taken a pronghorn and my daughter a whitetail doe with a 150 Nosler BT our of a 24" .30-06. The pronghorn at 254 and the whitetail at 110 yards. The whitetail doe was quartering away and she hit her in the rear half of the ribs and it exited out the offside leg. I was sincerely impressed with the NBT on that one. 3/4" entrance and exit, great blood trail.

That bullet at the reduced speeds from a shorter barrel 308 will hold together well and still expand enough to get good results. It's also very accurate.

Having said that, any of the above mentioned bullets would work as well. Same daughter's main rifle is "her" 20" 308, which has worked well on our Oklahoma deer with the following:

150 NBT
150 Sierra SBT
150 Sierra Prohunter
150 Norma Whitetail (I don't know what the bullet is called)

Also, you could always just shoot the Federal Fusion 165 out of it to determine recoil for yourself. It may like the heavier bullet weights more than the 150s.

I do like the nosler BT for thin skinned stuff. If your shots are close you can slow them down and still get great results. My son's model 7 in .260 is shooting the 100gr BTs at a blistering 2245 out of the 18" barrel. It performed perfectly on a doe at 75 yards.

That gun will pop you. Buddy had one and struggled with accuracy. I shoot 150 grn fusion from a 16" barrel with extremely good performance on big bucks. But the fusion loads are known for not being the most accurate.

I would start with the basics.

First, if you're not a pretty good gun smith, consider having a good pro or DIY :

• Clean the barrel to shiny bare metal, check that the throat is in good shape, check bolt/firing pin, etc.
• Make sure the barrel is free floated and check that the action's fit is not binding anywhere. I love old guns with wood stocks but I've had plenty of experiences with both issues with those guns.
• Consider replacing the trigger with a timney or trigger tech.
• Consider having the barrel re-crowned.
• Check the twist rate of the barrel.
• If you can, install a known good scope and mount and get it bore sighted.

Once you have a good foundation, then start your ammo testing.

I would start with lighter loads for the reasons your dad mentioned.

And for the initial testing I would use something like a lead sled so that recoil doesn't color the results.

Before I fire the first round, I would practice dry firing until I'm satisfied I am able to minimize my technique's impact on results.

After that, I would also remove the bolt and check the bore site, walking it out from 10-20yds to 50yds.

And then try one round of each ammo I wanted to test at 50yds. If you're happy, then start your testing at longer distances.