[M700]

Decided to load up some lighter-recoiling .308 rounds for a friend's wife. She wants to start deer hunting, and he just treated her to a terrific SAKO rifle! The load is 48 gr Reloader 15, in a Federal case, with CCI 200 primer and the 125 gr Nosler Ballistic Tip.

As a check, I ran the ammo through my .308 today, and found it to be very accurate, with lighter recoil than my heavier bullet loads for the .308 Win. Velocity was pretty decent too with an average of 3043 fps and very low SD figures.

Things were looking good from the first shot! (This is just the cold bore shot - not the group.)

I'll have to try some more of these at longer ranges. Believe it would make a dandy deer load.

Regards, Guy

 

[Heavy Metal Guitar Hero]

awesome dude. all my .308 that i have loaded up right now are 125 gr speer softpoints with a charge of H322 that I can't recall right now. I'm at work. They clocked out of the 99 right at 3k or 2900. I shot them out of my 99 then bought a FN 20" bolt gun and was a little concerned about the twist but no problems whatsoever. shot good out to 200 yds with the ol K4 on top, though....not as good as your picture there.....should be hell on deer and hogs. outstanding (understatement) pics in your pics thread btw.

 

[twodot]

I have killed a couple of mule deer with this bullet shot from a 30 Herrett TC Contender at 2200 ft/sec.
stepping it up to 3000 might not be a good idea as this bullet may come apart when it hits an animal and not penetrate to the vitals.
just my $.02
..

 

[M700]

Thanks for the info - I haven't tried the bullet on deer yet myself. Several who have, tell me that it works fine, but that's a question to be sure...

 

[Pard]

How big is this girl? Mrs Pard is a wee Asian woman that has shot the 30-30 and 308 both with 150grs and never said ouch.
She did fire the 06 once, and said never again, and cringes at the 45-70 ;D

 

[twodot]

since you are handloading, how about 30-30 bullets at 30-30 velocity?
..

 

[Hipshot]

Check out Hornady and Hodgdon's websites for reduced recoil loads. I have some such loads for my 7MM RM and they shoot supurb!

Hip

 

[mesaman]

My rifle from beyond the Ural Mountains.

awesome dude. all my .308 that i have loaded up right now are 125 gr speer softpoints with a charge of H322 that I can't recall right now. I'm at work. They clocked out of the 99 right at 3k or 2900. I shot them out of my 99 then bought a FN 20" bolt gun and was a little concerned about the twist but no problems whatsoever. shot good out to 200 yds with the ol K4 on top, though....not as good as your picture there.....should be hell on deer and hogs. outstanding (understatement) pics in your pics thread btw.

I'm ready to take my lumps, so here goes. Have only one .308, (don't laugh) a Remington SPR 18. Had to take it to my gunsmith for some smoothing out, put a Burris 3x9 scope on it and started shooting Sierra 110 HP at 100 yards. It is good for 1.5 groups but at 200 yards, not so good. Still, for quimp (also called potguts, locally), jackrabbits, and paper targets, I really enjoy it. Using 42 grains of H4198, it is economical and has a light recoil. Unfortunately it is now summer on the southwest desert (102 this weekend). So I won't be doing a lot of varminting, but will be working up some loads for the .308. I have a Howa 1500 spotted for a fair price and might grab it. Damn I wish I hadn't traded my model 99e for a Marlin 336SC. Anyone want to trade back?

 

[M700]

Welcome to the forum!

And if anyone had any question about the performance of this 125 gr Nosler Ballistic Tip on deer, Dani did a fine job of taking a whitetail buck at about 120 yards. The bullet performed very well, did not exit, but dropped the buck instantly.



The bullet is pretty flat, but still has some shank left intact. Weight was 71.5 grains and expanded to over a half inch.


I thought it was excellent bullet performance! This is a hunting bullet, not a varmint bullet. Nosler labels it appropriately.

 

[Sparky civil]

I have a ruger compact 77 308 that shoots very well with the hornady custom lites. 120 gr SST puts a whuppin on a deer. In fact its the one I grab many times if I'm gonna do much walking. I've been meaning to try to copy that load somehow. I have some of the sst's and the noslers, just haven't got around to it yet. Maybe I will pick up a good load on this thread.

 

[Crusty Deary Ol Coot]

M700,

I take a bit of a different and I think better approach to the reduced load situation.

One reason would be the integrity of your bullet at velocities of over 3000fps. Your on the ragged edge without question.

I have for ladies in the family, as well as the daughters of friends and a young male hunter friend, loaded reduced loads with NO intention for that load to be hunted with.

A shot or two with standard velocity hunting bullets/loads will never be felt in a hunting situation - making sure they won't nipped by the scope of course - so I make the reduced loads for their practice, and if needed an experienced shooter makes the pre-season scope adjustments before they go to the field.

During the practice sessions, shoot at SMALL targets, close in and it is likely there will be little if any scope adjustment needed.

I prefer to go to bullets of 100 - 110gr and have found RedDot to be a good powder for these loads, providing velocities below 2000fps.

One added advantage of loads at this level is the increased practice time before needing to allow for barrel cooling and the shooter will never become gun shy because of painful recoil.

In the case of my young male friend and the RUGER American 30-06 he was using, there was no scope adjustment needed for the close in targets. Just made sure the hunting range point of impact had remained where it should be before season and he was good to go.

Crusty Deary Ol'Coot

 

[Sweetwater]

Good job, Guy! That bullet did it's job, period. When I moved to Wyoming in '85, my sister, who had moved to Wyoming in '75, had developed a terrific flinch from her 30-06 and some 180gr handloads driven hot. I took apart a box of 110gr HP's that "her friend" had also loaded and took out several grains of powder as they were severely overloaded for her. Like CDOC, I reset the 110's under 2000fps and when hunting season rolled around, I loaded 125gr Sierras at 2700fps. She loved them and they "worked" on antelope, deer, and a close in shot on a spike elk. Your approach is fine and obviously worked. Nice pics, as always.

Jeff

 

[OLSKOOL]

a few years ago i tried a 130gr. speer hp. out of my 30-06 they are bad to the bone. the inside of deer shot with them looks like a bomb went off inside. they die real quick. i killed deer also with a sierra 125 sp. in 06 and a 308 sako. same result, and these bullets, speer and sierra are extremely accurate.

 

[M700]

This year, the new hunter, is not only determined to tag another whitetail buck, she's got her eye on elk and black bear too....

I think we're bumping up to my favorite 165 gr .308 loads if she's serious about elk & black bear, and maybe mule deer...

Am completely satisfied with the performance of that little 125 gr .30 cal Nosler though. Penetrated through both shoulder blades, caught in the hide on the off-side, retained over 50% and had great expansion. Lungs were toast, backbone fractured. Instant drop.

I just favor some more bullet for the bigger, heavier animals. Dani has also done quite a bit of shooting, with her .223, a heavier target-type .308 and this lightweight .308 Sako hunting rifle since I first loaded that 125 gr ammo for her several years ago, back in 2011.

Best of luck to all, and a special "thanks" to all you experienced hunters & handloaders who take time to mentor newer shooters & hunters!

Regards, Guy

 

[Crusty Deary Ol Coot]

Hope I didn't leave anyone with the impression that I would load 100 - 110gr bullets for game in cartridge such as the .308 or 30/06.

Not at any velocity and for sure not at hunting velocities. NO WAY!

No, the reduced loads were only for practice, for as I've already said, the shot or two taken at a game animal with standard hunting level loads and bullets will never be felt.

It is the repeated firing of hunting level loads during what should be a more relaxed and fun practice session that leads to the flinch.

When hunting time comes, use a bullet worthy of the game and not one that is marginal in integrity and design.

A 165gr bullet of reasonable design is a good match for the .308.

Crusty Deary Ol'Coot

 

[whitewater]

Thanks for the report. Outstanding results. I need to keep this load in my records. The .308 is an awesome round. The entire .308 family of calibers are good.... 243, 260, 7mm08, 308.
The only one I don't have is the 7mm08, but with the other family members on hand it really isn't missed much...lol

 

[papajohn]

The entire .308 family of calibers are good.... 243, 260, 7mm08, 308.
The only one I don't have is the 7mm08, but with the other family members on hand it really isn't missed much...lol

Don't leave out the .358! It doesn't have a huge following, but its users are VERY devoted, and it can also be loaded pistol bullets and light charges for certain uses, just like the 35 Remington.

I have some 110 and 125 grain bullets on the shelf waiting for some load development, my only problem might be locating some Reloder 15 to use. But there are a lot of powders that could be used in such an application, and after just returning home with a sore shoulder from putting 70 loads through my M700/308, the light bullets are beginning to pique my interest.

I always find it interesting when a 3-year old thread is brought back up, mostly because I forget what I forgot to test a few years ago. This one sounds interesting! I think I have a box of Berger 125's on the shelf that would be a good load to toy with......

As I don't hunt, and am more of an accuracy buff, I'm always looking for new recipes, and this one would be a dandy for my students who want o explore high-power rifle loads without all the blast and recoil.

Apparently I can't ever die.......I have too many interesting loads to test, and various guns to test them with!

 

[Crusty Deary Ol Coot]

Papajohn,

You need a sissy bag!!!!!!!!!!!

I have for years used a sand bag between me and the rifle butt for most anything bigger then the .243, but the sissy bag the wife made me is a big improvement!

Makes extended bench times a breeze!!!!!!!

The mags or the 45/70, even the .270 and 30/06, still buck and snort, but no shoulder pain involved. :congrats:

Crusty Deary Ol'Coot