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Alright, now that my 7mm load development is on the way im wanting to perfect my 308 some more. Right now the rifle has shot wonderfully with out of the box premium ammo. Best being the Federal with 165 grain Trophy bonded bullets. Now that my press and everything is ready to go I want to load up some hunting loads. This rifle is my goto rifle for anything from Whitetail to black bears. I had the rifle zero'd @100 yards with the federal ammo and could get sub MOA groups pretty easily. Since then I have added a new stock and bedded the action into the H-S stock. The barrel has been free floated and a trigger has been installed. With this additions my groups got significantly tighter. But with how my mind works, I wonder if I can demand more out of my rifle with a hunting load. Until the trophy bonded tip is released for reloading. Im going to be using 165 Nosler accubonds. Do you guy think I can develop a load to shoot 1" or less groups at 250-300 yards in hunting trim with this bullet? Gun has a short barrel so it lacks a little velocity than most 308's, but its not enough to worry about. | ||
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There is no such thing as a "hunting load". There are reloads you make up that you hunt with. There are bullets more designed for hunting than target shooting. The accubond is an accurate bullet and so are ballistic tips, barnes tsxs, interbonds, and interloks, and other bullets. Having said the above, you need to adjust your expectations not for hunting bullets but for the rifle and yourself as a shooter. A 1" group at 250 yards means a .4" group at 100. That is a pretty tall order for any rifle. If you can shoot 2" groups at 250 yards from your hunting rifle with any hunting bullet you should be ecstatic. Mike Legistine actu quod scripsi? Never under estimate the internet community's ability to reply to your post with their personal rant about their tangentially related, single occurrence issue.  What I have learned on AR, since 2001: 1. The proper answer to: Where is the best place in town to get a steak dinner? is…You should go to Mel's Diner and get the fried chicken. 2. Big game animals can tell the difference between .015 of an inch in diameter, 15 grains of bullet weight, and 150 fps. 3. There is a difference in the performance of two identical projectiles launched at the same velocity if they came from different cartridges. 4. While a double rifle is the perfect DGR, every 375HH bolt gun needs to be modified to carry at least 5 down. 5. While a floor plate and detachable box magazine both use a mechanical latch, only the floor plate latch is reliable. Disregard the fact that every modern military rifle uses a detachable box magazine. 6. The Remington 700 is unreliable regardless of the fact it is the basis of the USMC M40 sniper rifle for 40+ years with no changes to the receiver or extractor and is the choice of more military and law enforcement sniper units than any other rifle. 7. PF actions are not suitable for a DGR and it is irrelevant that the M1, M14, M16, & AK47 which were designed for hunting men that can shoot back are all PF actions. 8. 95 deg F in Africa is different than 95 deg F in TX or CA and that is why you must worry about ammunition temperature in Africa (even though most safaris take place in winter) but not in TX or in CA. 9. The size of a ding in a gun's finish doesn't matter, what matters is whether it’s a safe ding or not. 10. 1 in a row is a trend, 2 in a row is statistically significant, and 3 in a row is an irrefutable fact. 11. Never buy a WSM or RCM cartridge for a safari rifle or your go to rifle in the USA because if they lose your ammo you can't find replacement ammo but don't worry 280 Rem, 338-06, 35 Whelen, and all Weatherby cartridges abound in Africa and back country stores. 12. A well hit animal can run 75 yds. in the open and suddenly drop with no initial blood trail, but the one I shot from 200 yds. away that ran 10 yds. and disappeared into a thicket and was not found was lost because the bullet penciled thru. I am 100% certain of this even though I have no physical evidence. 13. A 300 Win Mag is a 500 yard elk cartridge but a 308 Win is not a 300 yard elk cartridge even though the same bullet is travelling at the same velocity at those respective distances. | |||
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I worked up a 308 load that's about .46 @100 yrds 44grs Varget 165 Nos Accubond New Rem Brass CCI #34 Primer Col 2.795" FPS 2780 The gun is a Sako A7 | |||
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I want to second the thought that 2" at 250 yards is great to go! I have a pre-64 M70 based custom in .338 Win Mag that shoots 2" at 300 on days I can shoot and I am tickled to death with it! Yes, I have some rifles that hold better groups. And I have some that don't. My .308 doesn't shoot that well ... abt 1 MOA ... but that is plenty good for a hunting rifle! My .375 H&H M70 SS Classic load is not that good at only 1.25" at 100 yards and even that has been easily good enough. Mike -------------- DRSS, Womper's Club, NRA Life Member/Charter Member NRA Golden Eagles ... Knifemaker, http://www.mstarling.com | |||
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 Most all of my Loads are "Hunting Loads."Maybe! Varget is a great Powder for the 308Win along with IMR-4064. But, I've always had better accuracy with H380 when stepping up to the 165-168gr Bullets. Dosen't mean you should abandon what you are using, just remember if you reach a "Limiting Size" which is difficult to reduce, there are other options to try. Best of luck to you. | |||
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