Hi guys, I don't seem to see much for lighter loads in a .308 win. Nothing factory loaded under 150gr and I can't say I've seen anything like a 100gr even on this forum unless I've missed it. There must be some out there. Anyone care to share their loads. Something that could be used on prairie dogs, jackrabbits, yotes etc.

Thanks, Barry

The only "light" loads I have done with mine were for my grandson who started shooting my Ruger Compact when he was almost 4yrs old. They were from the Hodgdon sight under Youth Loads.

Now he is up to 8 we have shot the same powder and 130gr Barnes TTSX up to 2650 form the little rifle. I must say that they do work very well even at the modest velocity. I would imagine that a similar load would work just as efficiently on small game as it does on the feral hogs we shoot with it. I would however suggest looking at a different bullet for cost reduction.

The loads use H-4895, and can be loaded from the lowest load listed in the Youth Loads up through the full power loads listed in their Standard load section. While I only have the one rifle in .308 with the 16.5" barrel, with the lighter pills it will get up to a decent velocity with the lighter bullets. for the most part however I simply use it for a stalking rifle and most shots are with factory ammo at under about 50yds. IT has reached out to over 400 on a couple of occasions though and done very well anchoring hogs in their tracks.

I use 125gr Nosler Bal Tips 0ver 49gr of Varget. It shoots very accurately and I have taken Florida Whitetails "BANG FLOP".
GOOD LUCK and GOOD SHOOTING!!!!

I shoot the 110 grain VMAXs out of my 308W just for paper. I live at the very end of the supply chain for bullets and the VMAX were all I could get for a while. They shoot quite well. I was loading them with H414 (again all I could get) and a fairly low velocity load but am now loading them with RL15.

After some research I got several published loads for 110 grain heads but there was quite a range of starting and max loads. I started with the lowest minimum and found that I got low pressure signs for about 2 or so grains above this minimum (black cases). Eventually I ended up with a load about 3 grains below max (I think it is 48 grains but can't remember for sure and don't have my notes here so don't use that without checking/working up) and it shoots well. No idea of velocity and didn't try working up any further as it was just for paper but it shoots about the same POI as factory 150 grain loads at 100 and 200 yards. I think the published loads put their max loads about 3150 - 3200 fps range so would imagine I'm in the real world 2700 range, more than enough for paper at 100 and 200 yards.

I imagine the VMAX would work pretty good on the creatures you mention. If you are interested I can check my notebook later for hard facts.

quote:

Originally posted by BarryG:
Hi guys, I don't seem to see much for lighter loads in a .308 win. Nothing factory loaded under 150gr and I can't say I've seen anything like a 100gr even on this forum unless I've missed it. There must be some out there. Anyone care to share their loads. Something that could be used on prairie dogs, jackrabbits, yotes etc.

Thanks, Barry

Barry! send me your E-Mail address and I'll send you a whole lot of .308 light bullet and reduced load data roger

Roger, you can e-mail me at bwgreen@myibocs.com I would appreciate any loads you can send us. Thanks, Barry

quote:

Originally posted by bartsche:

quote:

Originally posted by BarryG:
Hi guys, I don't seem to see much for lighter loads in a .308 win. Nothing factory loaded under 150gr and I can't say I've seen anything like a 100gr even on this forum unless I've missed it. There must be some out there. Anyone care to share their loads. Something that could be used on prairie dogs, jackrabbits, yotes etc.

Thanks, Barry

Barry! send me your E-Mail address and I'll send you a whole lot of .308 light bullet and reduced load data roger

quote:

Originally posted by BarryG:
Hi guys, I don't seem to see much for lighter loads in a .308 win. Nothing factory loaded under 150gr... There must be some out there. Anyone care to share their loads. Something that could be used on prairie dogs, jackrabbits, yotes etc.

IIRC CorBon loads a 125 Ballistic Tip in the 308, or did once. The usual manuals have plenty of data for 100-125 gr bullets. Nice idea, especially if a fella throttles back a bit.

The Speer 130 gr. HP over WW-748 has worked for me. Very accurate and soft recoil

I've found that any of the 125 gr. bullets from Sierra, Speer and Nosler do very well with 49.5 grs. of Win. 748. The Speer TNT is especially accurate. The loading books say you can go for more powder, but the groups started opening up more in my rifle...49.5 was the sweet spot. The Winchester 70 Sharpshooter delivered 3060 ft/sec. or so if I recall correctly, but it punched some really nice .3-.5 inch groups for five rounds per target.

Barnes makes a 110 grain bullet in .308 now. Whether you want to drive it fast or back off some for recoil mitigation it ought to be a good bullet. For fur it would be pretty good, Barnes don't seem to make big holes in the hide most of the time. They'd be pricey for Pdogs though