The popularity of the cartridge means there is a fairly wide selection of factory loads, making it a choice even for those who do not handload.

[citation needed] With the wide range of bullet weights available, the 7mm-08 is suitable for "varminting, game-hunting, Metallic Silhouette, and long-range shooting.

"[5] The 7mm-08 Remington works in most hunting environments, including dense forest areas and large open fields.

Howard Brant of Shooting Industry magazine wrote: "the 7mm-08 is a real sleeper as far as the hunting field is concerned.

It is a grand cartridge which packs more than sufficient wallop to efficiently down all medium-sized big-game animals found in North America and elsewhere.

David E. Petzal of Field & Stream, wrote, "The virtues of the 7mm/08 include very light recoil, not much muzzle blast, plenty of bullet weight to do the job, and gilt-edged accuracy.

In a self-defensive situation requiring stopping power for dangerous game at close range, use of a larger and heavier caliber is strongly advised.

Edward A. Matunas, who was involved in developing reloading manuals for Lyman described the 7mm-08 Remington as "an efficient round [that] competes effectively against the .308 Winchester.

American rifle handloading writers such as Ken Waters,[15] Frank B. Petrini,[16] John Wootters,[17] Clay Harvey,[18] Bob Milek,[19] and John Barsness [20] vary on which cartridge generates higher velocities with top handloads in modern rifles with equal barrel lengths.

Layne Simpson, an American handloading gun writer who has worked with the 7mm-08 since 1979, earlier considered it and the 7×57mm as ballistic equals,[21] but more recently has noted that the 7x57 is faster by 100 fps.

"[23] Any significant difference perhaps reflects more variations among individual rifles than a clear winner between two quite similar cartridges.

[24] In January 2002, Dave Anderson of Guns Magazine compared four of his favorite 7mm cartridges (7×57mm Mauser, .280 Remington, .284 Winchester, and 7mm-08 Rem.

John Barsness says, however, that his wife Eileen has "recently discovered that the 7mm-08 kicks noticeably less than her old favorite the .270 WCF with similar results in the field.

"[29] Bob Bell says "the little 7mm/08 equals or surpasses a surprising number of popular loads and is so close to the others that it makes one wonder if their edge is worth their attendant muzzle blast, recoil and rifle weight" when hunting deer, antelope, and caribou.

[30] The caliber has found loyal adherents in Europe, such that Prvi Partizan (Serbia) offers an economical 140-grain (2860 fps) SPBT loading (available in the United States as well).

The 7mm-08 is popular in countries whose laws prohibit the civilian ownership of firearms chambered for military cartridges like the .308 Winchester/7.62×51mm NATO or .30-06 Springfield.

On April 20, 2022, the United States Army adopted the new Next Generation Squad Weapon, designated as the XM7, which will use a .278-inch bullet in a necked down 7.62×51mm NATO (colloquially .308 Winchester) case.

[32] In addition, both the 6.8×51mm and the 7mm-08 Remington share the same parent case of the 7.62x51mm NATO, necked down to accept the respective bullet of each cartridge.

[32] Since the 7mm-08 is fairly popular, most major hunting firearm manufacturers in the USA have one or more bolt-action rifles chambered for the round.