I have a prety cool old .308. its a 1953 vintage model 70 featherweight. It has a recoil pad but aside from that its all origional. I took it out to a nice range on saterday, trying a few loads with IMR-4064. I have had a few .308s and most liked the usual Varget and RL-15, but this one did not shoot real well with those powders. It had the old 4 power leupold scope that was on the rifle when I bought it and that hamperd my shooting more than I expected. But using several bullets I was able to keep 7 rounds into 1.5 moa, and when I switched to my 06 with a 3X9 nikkon, I realized I was about as steady as a chiwawa, (you know one of thoe mexican dogs that shake all the time, you try to spell it)in a snow storm. So i switched back to the .308 and got some sand bags for the but stock with 5 rounds left of a 150 grain speer hot core, squirted them into an even inch. Had 3 barnes 168 grain tripple shocks left and put them into .75.
When i got home I put my Burris FF2 3X9 on the old winchester, and I bet I do better next week. I would love to try the tripple shocks some more but at 30.00 a box I think I will try the speers and hornady,s first for mule deer.
I like RL-15 and varget and when I could,nt get them to shoot, I thought about trading my pre 64 for either an 88 or a savage 99 in the same round. now i am glad I did,nt...tj3006

I've been shooting the 165 grain Hornady BTSP and 40 something grains of IMR4064 for over 20 years in my 308 and haven't felt the need to try anything else. My old 788 Remington will still hold < MOA with over .300" jump to the lands in the worn out barrel.

BTW, it's Chihuahua. LOL

Mine shoots good 180s into 1.25" at 200 yards over 4064.


Okie John

My favorite load is a 165 Nosler BT over 42.3 grains of IMR 4064, Fed 210Match and Lapua brass. The VSSF will hold .35 with this one, and for close to 40 years it puts venison in the freezer. Can't beat it.

My pet load for the .308 is the 165 gr. Speer Hot-core 49.0 gr. W-760, Winchester brass and standard primer. Not the fastest load on the block, but at 2610 FPS from the muzzle of my 1951 Winchester M70 Featherweight, every mule deer I've hit with has just about been bang-flop. Only one moved more that straight down and it only went about ten feet. Accuracy from several .308s has run from one inch to 1.25" depending on the particular rifle. The only bullet recovered was a deer shot at 250 yards facing me and the bullet dang near passed though that deer. If it hadn't stopped on a back leg bone, I'd have never recovered it. It's my go to load for the .308.
Paul B.