.308 hunting load work up

Status
Not open for further replies.
Nature Boy said:
I was surprised to find no exit wound and I didn’t dig through the guts to find the bullet.

Well that's no fun. I shot a mule deer a week and half ago using a 150gr .30 cal solid copper bullet and the bullet broke the humerus or shoulder, clipped the heart and still managed to leave a small exit hole on the far side.

I don't see why more hunters don't use solid copper bullets. I don't like the taste or the side effects of consuming lead.

Very nice load development by the way ... which is the norm from you. I'll be doing a similar workup using Varget and the Barnes 175gr LRX for a new .308 Win hunting rifle this winter/spring. I like Varget for the .308 Win and prefer it despite having plenty of Reloder 15 and IMR 4895.
 
For my Howa 1500 lighting w/a 22" 1:12 I load 45gr of varget for the Nosler 150gr BT and gm 210 works well, for the Nosler 165-168gr I like Bl-C2 still working on those loads the first I tried was 43.5gr of Bl-C2 with a 165gr Nos BT with gm 210 and Nosler brass it shot a 3 shot group at 200 yds 1 1/2" group, not bad for a $350 rifle.
 
Shot was 140 yards, broadside behind the left shoulder. He ran about 30 yards and went down. Lots of blood.

I was surprised to find no exit wound and I didn’t dig through the guts to find the bullet.
Congrats. That sounds like perfect bullet performance to me.
Was the offside shoulder bloodshot? I've noticed a huge issue with that using high velocity rifles. I've never used bullets in the 308 velocity spectrum.
 
Siightly sideways;
I bought a Rem. 783 .30-06, new in the box for $220, mounted a $119 Redfield Revenge 3-9x40 in weaver rings and first group shot 1-1/4" 5-rounds with 150 gr. Sierra GK and 54gr. IMR 4064, CCI 200, new Federal brass.

The quality and performance of even the entry level rifles these days nearly equals the finest rifles of my youngest hunting years. (1960's) Amazing to see.
 
My M70 and Kimber both like the 150 SST in front of 43.5 grains of Varget; 1 hole 5 shot clusters at 100 yards - that is as good as it gets for me. It has become boring to shoot these rifles/ load so I guess I need to purchase another rifle - a nice problem to have.
 
Congrats. That sounds like perfect bullet performance to me.
Was the offside shoulder bloodshot? I've noticed a huge issue with that using high velocity rifles. I've never used bullets in the 308 velocity spectrum.

Not on the first one. The second one was a little closer and did get a pass through so there was obviously damage on the off side

The thing I noticed with both deer was the significant amount of damage on the entrance so these Accubonds seem to be opening up fast!
 
Depends on the county your hunting in. Where I'm at there is only 4 allowed, 2 bucks and 2 doe. But our season has a lot of restrictions. Doe season was only 2 weeks and as ended. The bucks have a restriction on antler spread, must be out side it's ears, or uneven branch. Saw many bucks but none were legal. The does show up after the season for them ended, now no bucks are showing up.
 
Nice deer! I've had very good luck with Accubonds in the calibers I've tried them in, excellent terminal performance and they usually shoot too.

I'm surprised to hear folks saying that they haven't had good luck with Varget. Varget is one of my go to powders in that speed range, a reliable performer over several .308s and .223s. I've started to like AR-Comp and 8208 as well, if I can't get a rifle to shoot with one of those, something is wrong.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top