160gr 308win loads for a short barrel

29 December 2002, 15:07

A friend of mine asked me to load him 160gr bullets for his winchester lever action in 308win. He says his gun likes 160 gr. best. I also have a browning lever action in 308win that I loan out to friends mostly and it fires 150gr factory loads just fine. Niether of us are worried about premium bullets for our levers and was thinking sst, ballistic tips, or speer btsp. This will be for deer only.

Does any one have a load they can pass on to save me time?

29 December 2002, 15:55

Ol` Joe

I don`t have a load, but do have a question. Where do you find 160gr 30cal bullets?
Are you sure you`re not looking for a 165 or 168gr?

29 December 2002, 19:23

Tumbleweed

....and where did you find a Winchester lever action in .308...?

29 December 2002, 20:33

<45ACPinMN>

I believe the Winchester lever may be the Model 88 Hammerless lever action it was produced 1955-1975 in .243,.284,.308,.358 winchester calibers.
160Gr. Bullet??? Happy Holidays from Minneesotah

29 December 2002, 23:26

boilerroom

It's a model 88. 160 gr.?? He'll have to suffer the 165gr. baltip I load fo 30/06 and 300weath or 150 gr. that seem to work just fine out of my blr.

The model88 has a det. clip does it not? He better hope so because the baltips might give him a bang for his buck.

30 December 2002, 08:04

Hot Core

quote:
Originally posted by boilerroom:
Niether of us are worried about premium bullets for our levers and was thinking sst, ballistic tips, or speer btsp. This will be for deer only.

The model88 has a det. clip does it not? ...

Hey boilerroom, Any of those bullets will kill just fine with proper placement in the front 1/3 of the Deer. Same goes for either the 150gr or 165gr versions of each.

There are many excellent powders for the 308Win which all work well. H4895, Varget, IMR-4064 and WW748 have ALL worked well for me with 150gr bullets. Just use the starting Load shown in the Component Manufacturers Manuals and "develop the Load" using the Audett Method. The Audett Method has NEVER been improved upon by anyone.

With 165gr bullets, most of the above powders still work well, but I've got a fondness for H380 with this bullet weight.

Yes, the M88 has a removeable magazine. You will need it to check your Seating Depth. All the M88s I've loaded for had the bullets hit the front of the magazine before the bullet touched the Lands. That said, it is still important to check out what the Kiss-the-Lands distance is.

Oh yes, you will get more reliable feeding if the bullets are Seated "at least" 0.025" short of the overall magazine length.

[ 12-29-2002, 23:05: Message edited by: Hot Core ]

30 December 2002, 11:34

boilerroom

Thank a million hotcore. That's the kind of reply I'm looking for.

It's easy to pull a load out of the manuals I have but all thier test data is tested with longer than 20 barrels.
Does anyone have a pet load for a short barrel they want to share with me?