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160gr Hornady FTX .308 -- .308 win?

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holdencm9

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Okay so this is somewhat embarrassing. In my effort to find something--anything!--at the store to reload, I picked up a box of Hornady 160gr FTX bullets, item #30395.

Naturally, I get home, look in the Hornady manual under .308 Winchester and don't see it. I also noticed that the cannelure looks to be farther forward on the real bullet than on the box (see picture).

I looked on Hornady's website (see other picture) and...Apparently this is a round designed for 30-30?!?! :banghead:

I missed the tiny little "30-30" in the corner of the label. Of course, 160gr is not really typical of .308 win bullets per se, so there is a clue, but I just didn't analyze it too far in depth.

My question is, can they be loaded in .308 win? I have read online that it is a thinner jacket and could tear apart in a faster cartridge. The manual has this bullet in 30-30 pushed up to 2300 fps. If I stay at or under that, is there any other concern? Aside from the cannelure being way out of the case and looking weird.

Thanks all.
 

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Yes, you can shoot them.

Yes, they may or will come apart at normal .308 Win pressure & velocity.
I would use 165 grain .308 starting load data.

No, I would not seat them to the cannulure.
Seat to something similiar to a normal .308" loaded OAL.

No, it would not be a good idea to use it for big game hunting.

rc
 
RC, thanks for the response!

That was my thought...to use 165gr starting loads, which should keep it well under 2300 fps. I had no intention of seating TO the cannelure. I was just saying, that seated to an normal ~2.75" depth, they will look funny, with the cannelure an 1/8" or so from the case mouth.

I also don't plan to use it for any hunting :) I just needed something to load and shoot! I'll report back if they hit the target in one piece.

Thanks again.
 
HA-HA. ROFLMAO.

I did the SAME thing except... I bought the bullets intended for the .308 Marlin Express #30396, instead of the bullets for the .30-30 #30395. Sooo funny. I would try to sell them in a local classified and get the bullets you really need instead of trying to make it work. Someone out there is bound to trade you. Heck I would trade for some .308 Interlocks except for the cost of shipping.

At least now I know I am not the only one... LOL
 
I started to get some to work up a light recoil in my 308 (30-30 velocity). When I was looking at them I noticed that the ogive taper is more blunt than a normal 308 win bullet. You may have to seat deeper than normal to get them to chamber. I ended up just using 30-30 rn bullets.
 
I use .308 bullets designed for the 30-30 and the .308 round interchangeably. Of course, taking precaution with pointy (the proper technical term) bullets in tubular 30-30 magazines.
 
That FTX was designed to give 30/30s a much better performance by making it "pointy" yet keeping them safe in tubular mags. I hope it works for I have loaded them in '06s and 51s plus the 30/30s.
 
Just to follow up on this, I ended up loading them with the minimum charge according to Hornady that should have given me about 2100 fps. I also seated them to 2.700" and had no issues with chambering.

The result was a very mild recoiling .308! They chrono'd at about 2,000 fps average (although the spread was about 100 fps), so a little lower than published, and were not very accurate to be honest. But, at least the box wasn't useless to me. Maybe I will have a "newb load" for my rifle, in case I ever teach someone to shoot it.
 
I used the 30-30 FTX in 308MX until the MX bullet came out. Couldn't tell any difference even with LeverE powder. The cannular is a problem as you can't crimp there, just FCD them.
 
I did the same thing. I'm picking up any .308 bullets I can find. Here's what I got from my tests....


100 yards, 24" bbl, 1:10 twist
pudu7ygy.jpg

Sent from my CZ85 Combat
 
No need to download so much. Hornady rates that bullet for 1800 - 2600 fps. They publish the spec at the front of their manual. Load away! :D
 
All I have are LR magnum primers. That's the reason for download.

Sent from my CZ85 Combat
 
FTX in 308 Winchester

I bought FTX online because it was one of the few in 160--168gr bullets available in 30 cal. The previous response was correct when he said the ogive (shape of the bullet) is more blunt than most 308 Win bullets. I experimented and used 38 grain of Varget to load the bullent in a 308 Winchester case (overall length at 2.600"). The result was an estimated MV of ~2580 ft/sec much like a regular 30-30. I suspect there are some powders that would do better. I was sure enough of the load to try it in my own rifle. I recognized I was in unfamiliar territory so the first shot was fired from ~15' feet behind the weapon (the rifle in a lead sled with a string tied to the trigger)--better safe than sorry. After that the first two 3 shot groups (fired while holding the weapon normally) were <1" @ 100 yds and the cases showed no evidence of excessive pressure. Light recoil but not the range of a regular 308 Winchester load--like I said, shoots like a 30-30.
 
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