Help wanted for 308 reloading

[verminer]

Hi all, i am just about to set out and reload for my .308. i require a good load for fox and roe, i plan to use 110gn heads as i have been told they will shoot flatter over a further distance. what i would like to know is, does anyone have a proven recipe/load that i can use instead of me experimenting to much as i do not have a great deal of time on my hands. i will be using a Midland 2600/Parker Hale sporting rifle, (pic can bee seen in pic section)

 

Many thanks for your help.

 

Verminer

[Dunkield]

I don't have a load for you verminer, but you may want to narrow it down by stating what powder you will be using or primers etc?

Or are you starting from scratch?

[verminer]

I don't have a load for you verminer, but you may want to narrow it down by stating what powder you will be using or primers etc?

Or are you starting from scratch?

Sorry, i am as such starting from scratch, my mate has the reloading kit and i have just bought some dies etc for my calibre. he is going to do the reloading for me.

[Oly]

You need to outline what powder you'll be using and preferably the exact bullet & primer you'll be using.

 

There's a good amount of data here - http://www.reloadersnest.com/rifle.asp

[Dunkield]

I would add, from experience, I would base any load on what you can buy locally and reliably.

[OneEye]

That's a hard one to load for, as you want a fragmentation round for foxes, or the bullet won't expand properly through such a slight animal. And you want either a soft point or something like an SST or a Partition for Roe, or you'll blow great holes in them with a varmint round. You might be better with two loads, and adjust the scope between the two zeroes as necessary.

[Harnser]

Allways but allways down load your powder by 10% .most loads in the manuals are at the top end of the power range .

2500 feet per second is more than enough omph to kill deer clean at sporting ranges . Harnser .

[OneEye]

As for partitions on ROE, waste of money.

.

 

Surely, the lighter the animal, the more one needs to check uncontrolled expansion of the projectile? I got over the whole partition/ballistic tip issue by switching to Hornady SSTs - in the .308, the 150grn is suitable for all species. They also do a V-max in 110grn which should take care of the foxes.

[verminer]

thanks for all the info, i think i am going to have to have 2 loads, one for fox (110gn) and one for deer (150gn) i was hoping that i would be able to have one round for both and not have to keep altering the scope.

 

thanks verminer

[Dunkield]

Even though it is a pain, if you have decent scope you can click between the 2 zero's no problem.

I have to do this for my .223 with mod on/off.

[mry716]

I have used a 308 for 30 odd years and have really only ever used one bullet weight at a time. The inconvenience of changing scope settings and the problems that you can cause yourself by so doing is not worth the effort. A 308 shoots best at the middle of its bullet weight range and although that will vary of course if twist rates are non standard for the normal barrel a 150gn bullet will be optimum. I would use that and suffer a poorer trajectory for the odd fox you shoot. I am sure you will soon be looking to another rifle as the two species are a little further apart than is normal for a 308.

 

I have also used 125gr Ballistic Tips for deer and fox and as they shoot a little flatter than the 150gn may just suit you better but anything lighter will not really be 'best' for field shooting.

 

I have just added a post elsewhere that relates to a similar question so have added a copy of that here for you to read as it may well assist in your request for an answer.

 

Fox and deer pelt offer approximately the same resistance to a bullet's impact so the same bullet will suffice for both species. Always choose the bullet you wish to use for Deer as the base load and use that for fox also despite it usually having a poorer trajectory than you would normally perhaps choose for a foxing round.

 

If you wish to have two different rounds you need either two rifles or an easy method of changing and remembering the different trajectories and of course the zero on one rifle.

 

This way is best obtained with one rifle by having a set of Quick Release bases and two scopes - one set up for each purpose. It also affords you the facility to have the most applicable scope for your fox or deer shooting as well as the best ammo.

 

My Rings/Bases choice, looking to both cost and accuracy of the setup, would be Leupold QR. I use this method myself and find a return to zero as good as my shooting allows me to judge. ie zero stays within 1" at 100yds which for me a fine for all field shooting.

 

http://www.leupold.com/hunting-and-shootin...tems/qr-mounts/

 

If you choose that approach pm me as I may be able to assist with discounted rings if not bases so saving you some money against normal retail prices.

 

You cannot normally have a setup where two bullets offer the same or even closely similar trajectory. Yes you may just be lucky and have two that zero to the same spot at say an odd point of 94.2 yards but at distances above zero the trajectory will show an ever increasing divergence.