I've recently recieved my custom Mauser from my gunsmith. I went to the range today and sighted in the gun. I was using some old Imperial ammo I had lying around. The idea was to empty the brass so I can make some good handloads.



Couple questions:

1. How come I never see factory ammo for .308 in no less than 150grn? Diminishing returns maybe?



2.Secondly has anyone ever tried 130 or 140 grn. for a .308? I see the bullets are available.



3. Can I get a couple good load reccomendations for deer and another for varmints?



Thanks,



GordM

I think deer hunters and target shooters rule the market for .308 hence few or none light offerings. BC starts to suffer too but the average Joe doesn't know or care about that. There is no reason not to shoot deer with the light bullets if of appropriate construction.

I hunt with 150gr Partitions or 165gr Partitions and formerly 165gr Grand Slams in my .308.

I am at a complete loss as to why Nosler did not introduce a 150gr or 165gr Accubond as many /06 shooters (like myself)like those weights and many .308 shooters (again, like myself) won't bother with a 180gr bullet.

Like with many calibers you'll get a much better selection if you reload. Manufacturers are only interesting in producing what will sell well. I use Sierra 110gr. HPs, and the 125gr. Nosler Bal Tip in my .308Win. and like them both. Best wishes.

Cal - Montreal

Gord, the factory is lazy. They figure one size fits all. They figure all anyone does with a .308 is hunt deer.

Truth is the .308 will do a fine job with almost any bullet you want to drop in it.

The 110 grs, 125 grs and 130 bullets shoot great and come out screaming. All generally very explosive and deadly on varmits. But like ALL light bullets, they can't maintain their zip and flat trajectory over extremely long ranges. So what...most things are shot well within the range where these bullets will give you excellent performance. As a long time .308 shooter, I use 150 and 165 gr for hunting big game and the light bullets for everything else.

Good hunting. And glad to have you as a reloader! Try some 125 grs on crows or something. You'll like them.

150gr. Hornady SST Interlock and 45gr Varget. It is a very accurate load in my rifle, with good perfomance on Kansas deer. (so far)

I can't wait to try some of those lighter loads like the Nosler 125 grn ballistic tips! It should be interesting to see the numbers across the chrony and how they group. And most importantly how well they atomize varmints.



Right now my rifle is zeroed at 200yds with 150 grn ballistic tips so I'll probably stick with these loads 'til deer season is over.



Sounds like the .308 is quite versatile, makes me wish I opted for an AO scope



Thanks,



GordM

I have used .308 Win extensively in Australia for nearly 20 years. It is as good an allrounder as you`ll find.

Like yourself I was not happy with the projectile selection the factories were offering, so I started to reload some lighter projectile weights.

The 130 gn speer hollow point is my favourite projectile. It is able to handle the biggest of feral pigs & knocks wild dogs, cats all over the place. On varmint sized game it is really something else

Like you I have a custom Mauser 98 in .308 & it will consume just about anything I feed it & show good accuracy.

If you want something a little more explosive though, I suggest the 130 gn speer hollow point pushed along by 45.5 gn of VARGET (AR 2208 in Australia).

It`s all about having fun in the end. You may find this load can`t hit shit in your particular rifle. It is certainly worth trying some different powder weights say 0.5 gn either side of the load I mention.

You must verify this load firstly yourself before using it. My book suggests maximum load is 47 gn using AR 2208. It is a compressed load.



Hope this helps, Have fun

I don't care for 180 grain bullets in a .308, but my current .308 shoots 180 grain Nosler BTs w/44.2 grains of Varget like a house afire.

I recently tried RL15 w/150 BTs, and they were really accurate. I used to shoot Hornady 165 and 150s in my old .308, and that was a good all around load. Shot a lot of game with that.

Shooting a .308 is less expensive than shooting a big mag, and even if you don't hunt with one, they are great for practice, esp in the wind. You just need to translate the range of the .308 to the cartridge you are shooting. For example, the wind drift of a .308 at 500 yards might be the same as a RUM at 580.

My go to load for the .308 is 49.0 gr. of W-760 and the 165 gr. Speer Hot-core. it's not the fastst load in the world, but it sure is deadly on deer. While I probably would like to see a bit more velocity, the Ruger 77 International just won't shoot anything else worth a damn. I try any other powder or bullet and I get patterns.
here's a rundown on what has worked and not worked in that rifle. !50 gr. Sierra Pro-Hunter, 49.0 gr. W-760, 2.5" groups. The 165 gr. load mentioned above, 1.25-1.50" groups. The 180 gr. Sierra round nose, .75" groups, and the the 180 gr. Siera Pro-Hunter, 5.0" groups.
Interesting thing about the International and 180 gr. spitzer bullets. I have three of these rifles in .308 Win., and not a one of them will shoot a 180 gr. Spitzer into less than 5.0". I got every one of the rifles at fairly decent prices because their previous owners all shot 180 gr. spitzers and got crappy accuracy.
For those who like to crunch numbers, I have chronographed only the 165 gr. load. Velocity from the 18.5" barrellled Ruger is 2550 FPS 15 feet from the muzzle. The same load from a 22" barrelled Winchester M70 is 2610 FPS.
It is more than adequate for deer out past 250 yards.
Paul B.