..Im a velocity fan, but to be honest of the game I've shot over the yrs, the vast majority
could have been successfully taken with much lower muzzle & impact velocities.
In some areas I hunted, shots have never been possible much over 200yd, more often less,
typically in the 70-140yd range.......but I used a high reving .270WBY regardless.

My interests are swaying to more sedate options for such known conditions,
like smaller cap.rounds(and even then at reduced vel.)
...

Eg;
7mm/08 -160NP 2450mv....2104v/1572e @ 200yd.
280rem -175NP 2550mv.....2225v/1923e @ 200yd.

despite the reduced speeds, they are not exactly slouches, and trajectory aint a big issue at that range +/- some.

....interested to hear from those who have gone the reduced vel. route for their moderate range hunting.

I have not and will not reduce a load in my rifles, I run them at full throttle, but with accuracy being the No. 1 priority.
I have shot many deer at close range with cartridges that work very well at extended ranges, the animals died, maybe I lost a little more meat, but you don't lose much when you use heavy for calibre pills like I do.
The worst mistake I see a lot of hunters do is to buy a magnum and use light weight pills in them, this is not their intended use, a magnum is intended to shoot heavy bullets faster to extend usable ranges.
All I can say is, if you are using a 270 Weatherby, use a 150gr or 160gr pill, I use 150gr Partitions in mine, even on relatively small deer. The same is true with my 25-06, I use 110gr and 115gr pills. A lot less meat damage.

Cheers.

I shoot and hunt with a lot of reduced loads and almost always with cast bullets. But then I hardly own anything newer than between the World Wars and most are pre-WWI. That and for where I hunt 100 yards is a long shot. I don't want to stress the old rifles any more than necessary so if I can get a reduced load to shoot to the fixed sights I use it. Most of the cartridges I shoot are of medium bore or larger so if I can get a 200 gr. or heavier bullet at about 1500 fps or better I'm happy....and so is the rifle. Those loads will kill everything I'm liable to hunt and they're usually very accurate.

I load for four different .300 Win/WBY Rem 700s. All are loaded to give a 180 PSPCL a MV of 2900 to 2950 fps. This came about b/c a) I have about fifty lifetimes worth of that bullet and b) for many years I was shooting at moderate distance and learned I wanted impact velocity max 2700 fps with it.

When I moved to ME was too lazy to change the load and have had some failures to give complete penetration - not failures to kill. Even so am thinking of dropping MV further to 2800 fps.

Yeah, reinvented the '06. But so what.

No animal has every griped. And these guns will all drive tacks.

I started both my sons using reduced loads then worked them up to full power loads.
My oldest son took a very nice Mule Deer buck at 180 yards and a bull Elk at 90 yards or so both with a .284 WIN 130 grain Speers going 25-2400 fps.
Good effects on both animals and the load is extremely accurate.
Try it you may like it. Lot's of data for H4895 and reduced loads on the Hodgdons site.

I don't use reduced loads, just a smaller cartridge. Same results and I get another rifle!

but of course... that is why I handload.. tailor the loads to the game and the distance...

as I always wondered.. why do I need a 500 yd load, with a bullet that will take down an elk or elephant, to take a blacktail deer at 100 yds or less...

last several bucks were taken with calibers and bullets at 30/30 speeds at 30/30 distances... using a varmint weight bullet...shot right thru the heart at 50 to 100 yds or so...

each time dropped like a sack of potatoes on the spot.. minimal recoil allows one to pinpoint where they want the bullet to go...

each head of game shot was on the move...
primary powders used? SR 4759, 4198 or RL 7...

Like Seafire2 the majority of my hunting is relatively small deer and pigs. With all of my rifles I load to a sweet spot of 2750-2800 fps MV.
Game is usually under 200lbs, shots are usually under 300 yards.

My hunting "style" has totally changed in the last 2 years. Living in Alaska and always being around big bears the majority of my rifles were .338 Winchester mag or bigger. Am guessing I shot at least 50 animals using one of my .375's.
Now hunting the timber in Tennessee most of all the big rifles were sold off and replaced with lever actions in calibers such as 300 Savage, 308 Winchester, 30-30, 45-70. None of these are even loaded "warm" as the average deer is shot under 50 yards away.

Yes I use reduced loads for much hunting.
35 Whelen 290 cast at about 1950 fps
30-06 200 and 220 cast and 220 solids at 1900 to 2150 fps
458 Win Mag 435 cast at about 1750 fps
I do this for fun and more shooting for the dollar. No problem killing things with any load above.
I also still use full power in the 30-06 with 180's at 2800 fps

This is a rather interesting topic. The 30-30 has been killing quite well with a 170gr. bullet at 2100fps for over 100 years. The original 7x57 loads were pretty mellow too with a 140gr. bullet at around 2600 fps. The .35 Remington - now there's an oldie driving a 200 gr. bullet at 2000 fps.

None of these loads are "reduced" - they simply do exactly what they do the way they were designed to do it.

So if there was a 30-06 or 308 that was delivering a 165/170gr. load at 2100 fps it might be reduced relative to maximum power it can deliver but the load would still be equally as effective as the 30-30.

I see no reason why the load wouldn't be effective.

I'd say just choose a bullet appropriately for the velocity.

Since moving from Alaska (after 27 years there) to Texas I still use the rifles I used up north because I have them and I like them. My .338-06 now fires a 200-grain Hornady SST around 2200 fps, and the .338 WinMag a 200 Hornady SP at 2400 fps. Both loads use BlueDot and recoil is much reduced over full-power loadings. Killing power is NOT reduced, the terminal performance is awesome on Texas deer and hogs.

Yes, I have less powerful rifles (.260, .257 Weatherby, .250 Savage) but I like the rifles I used on game in Alaska so I use them with appropriate power (and appropriate bullets). I choose to use reduced loads in these rifles because I am a HANDLOADER, not a reloader.



.

Yep. Same reason I use my Whitworth 458 on whitetail deer. I like the rifle and enjoy using it.

I have been a hunter for more years than I care to remember and have been reloading almost all the ammunition I shoot (except shotgun) since 1952. I have made 8 safaris to Zimbabwe and killed most of the game it offered except Lion (though I tried hard). I was lucky enough to take several Elephant though and a couple of Leopards. In all these years I can't really remember a full charge load ever being loaded. That's everything from 17Hornet to 470NE. I always started with a middle of the range load with the bullet I wanted to use and developed the most accurate load I could with it. That's what I then used. I have lost several animals through the years including an Elephant but none from under performing ammunition - all from poor shots by me. I have always used the book values and have never had a chronograph. It has worked for me and definitely is easier on the shoulder. The main problem I have is I am a poor judge of distance and anything over 200yds looks like miles to me. So I always kept my shots short and could more or less use point blank aiming points.

I loaded some 125 Sierras in my 308 win at 2800 to start one of my kids on. I shot a whitetail buck with it.

I do not shoot reduced loads. And I never use kapok, cream of wheat, polyester, "Puff-Alon", Dacron, sawdust, popcorn, grits, goose feathers, horse dung, snot, hamster poop, ear wax, toe jam or any other non-gunpowder case filler. I believe in using a proper bullet and proper powder and adequately filling the case to a reasonable capacity.

But neither do I make a habit of loading to the maximum velocity a cartridge and rifle can withstand before bursting. Instead, I tend to work up an accurate load somewhere between a published starting load and the corresponding maximum load, usually well below maximum. I see no advantage in hot loads and high pressures just to squeeze a few extra fps out of a rifle. That extra last bit usually isn't worth the added recoil, muzzle blast, and wear-and-tear on the rifle. Maximum loads also increase the chance of getting a difficult to extract or stuck case.


I also like TX Nimrod's statement, "I am a HANDLOADER, not a reloader".

My Pop, who is in his mid & 70's loves to hunt deer with his 1952 Mannlicher-Schonauer 30.06, told me last year he dosen't want to/can't take the recoil anymore. So I told him lets make it into a 300 Savage power wise. We loaded up 150gr. bullets to 2650 fps and now he enjoys it again. He still shoots out to 300 yards without any problem.

quote:

Originally posted by Samuel_Hoggson:
I load for four different .300 Win/WBY Rem 700s. All are loaded to give a 180 PSPCL a MV of 2900 to 2950 fps. This came about b/c a) I have about fifty lifetimes worth of that bullet and b) for many years I was shooting at moderate distance and learned I wanted impact velocity max 2700 fps with it.

When I moved to ME was too lazy to change the load and have had some failures to give complete penetration - not failures to kill. Even so am thinking of dropping MV further to 2800 fps.

Yeah, reinvented the '06. But so what.

No animal has every griped. And these guns will all drive tacks.

Over 20yrs ago, I throttled my 300WBY to well over load book max...when I got loose primer pockets I then backed it off some,
and that became my hunting load( young and silly)
then strange thing, I met a fellow and began hunting wild boars with him, his favourite rifle for such was a 22/250.
I ended up buying a 22/250 myself, loaded it with ordinary 55gn ballistic tips and 55gn Hornady and together we killed a heap of pigs.

Strict Rule was; make sure its under 70yd, be patient - and put the plane jane pill in the right place....they were good challenging times.
The only thing we really felt we lacked, was some range capability.
so reflecting back, i reckon .250savage 80-100gn premium, would have been a real gem for the type of hunting we did together then,
and .257 Roberts about near ideal.

When hunting central Tex on the ranch I hunt on the deer run about 125 lbs. for a nice buck. On occasion you will shoot a 150 lb. deer. I load down my 06, and 270 to about 2600 to 2700 FPS with the 150 or 180 in the o6 and the 130 or 150 in the .270..My most used two whitetail rifles are the 250 Savage with 100 gr. factory Silvertips or Corelokts at 2600 FPS and it kills well at up to even 300 yards. Also I use my 25-35 with Factory or Hornady 117 gr. bullets, and its deadly at 100 yards but you must keep the shot in the heart lung area, but that applies to any caliber including the big bores. Its my favorite stand to feeder rifle.

Its a good idea to load most of the calibers down to prevent meat being blood shot and lost. but few folks these days actually eat what they shoot, or they have salami made out of it and give it to friends so what they use is intended for an instant kill and meat loss is of no interest to them. Its surprising to this ranch raised kid how many don't really like deer meat if you pin them down.