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The ONLY reason for a 7mm08 is if you prefer a short action rifle.
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Aside from this:
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Taken from recoil chart on Chuck Hawks website:
7mm-08: A 140 grain bullet at 2,860 fps muzzle velocity out of an 8-pound gun has 12.6 ft-lbs. of recoil energy.
.280 rem: A 140 grain bullet at 3,000 fsp muzzle velocity out of an 8-pound gun has 17.2 ft-lbs. of recoil energy.
In that situation, you're giving up only 5% muzzle velocity, and 9% muzzle energy by choosing the 7mm-08, but dropping recoil energy by 27%.
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....there's efficiency: the smaller, more efficient case works better with shorter barrels, losing less velocity per inch than the larger cased .280. I can't imagine a 16 inch barreled .280 Remington amounting anything but an obnoxious flamethrower.....
Also, reduced loads work better in the 7-08, as well.
My Ruger Frontier in 7-08 is just about the perfect kid's deer gun: A 139gr BTSP downloaded to 2400 is mild recoiling, flat shooting, 1000+ ft/lb energy past 300 yards .... the gun is easy to handle even for a ten year old. As he/she grows up, the cartridge can be loaded back up to its potential .... I get 2650 out of 140 gr factory loads, and am thinking 168gr Berger VLD's would make this a 400 yard gun.
There are things the 7-08 does on every shot that the .280 can't (cost less than the latter )..... and very few shots where the extra energy of the .280 matters enough ...... and if someone needs that extra energy, then the 7mm Remington Magnum does that, too. As does the 7mm Weatherby. And a properly loaded .270 or .30-06 .....