Acceptable performance from 308?

I've been developing a load using a Mihec 311180 in a Ruger M77MkII for a good buddy of mine.
The boolits fall from the mold a little light and I've weight separated them. The first lot weighing 171.0-171.9g unlubed and no check.

Using a Hornady check, Bens Red lube, Winchester primer, Hornady match brass and WC 844T I've found the sweet spot at 30.5g. It will shoot a 10 shot group inside 1.5 inches with most holes touching at fifty yards. After 100 rounds three dry patches removed the soot and the bore was sparkling.

Recoil is almost nonexistent. Feeding is flawless.

One round was fired into (4) two liter bottles full of water. The first three were obliterated (seriously! Pieces everywhere!)and the bullet entered but did not exit the fourth. Expansion was picture perfect and the recovered slug weighed in at 154g. Not bad weight retention I think.

I'm not much for a hunter but what do you guys think about that for white tail deer inside 150-200 yards?
I could push it faster but accuracy was starting to suffer badly at 31.5g and 32.0g. As in five inch groups at best.

I'm surprised after 100 rounds , you could even see the rifling shooting with Ben's Red.

You know em' ole lead bullets ain't no good !

Ben

Last edited by Ben; Yesterday at 01:02 PM.

I swear the ole boy for whom I'm loading said he'd heard the same thing about cast boolits but he trusts me and now....well, he just grins and shakes his head.

He doesn't cast or reload yet but he did ask me "Where's all these idiots on the Internet and gun shop counters come from? It's plain as day they don't know what the hlll they're talkin 'bout. Sorry I doubted you. "

I once read of a man who shot in cast bullet competition with a Springfield 1903-A3. He traveled from shoot to shoot.

Seems he fired about 800 rounds through his rifle winning many of the competitions and placing high in the remainder that he didn't win.

Guess what ,.............. he never cleaned his bore.

Yes, there are A LOT of people with exaggerated misunderstandings about cast bullets in center fire rifles.

Through the years, people have listen to ( and believed ) a lot of BS generated in coffee shops, etc. about how bad lead bullets are for a rifle.

Ben

Did you do a rifling setback test also? You need to be able to hit the lungs at any range...that's the size of an 9" paper plate roughly. You should be ok with that level of accurady.

No. Didn't. I seated the boolit out as far as I could without exposing the single lube groove but still giving myself something to crimp on to.

I'd say that was/is a very acceptable load........

Larry Gibson

I remember my first cast boolit hog. I used a TC Encore pistol chambered in 308. With a 170 grain boolit traveling just over 1500 fps, at 75 yards it gave me a DRT on a 220 or so pound hog. My wife witnessed it. Your load is more than adequate for deer and hogs out to 200 yards. Shoot it a lot, learn it, love it.

I came into this world kicking, screaming, and covered in someone elses blood. I plan to go out the same way.

Thanks guys. I kinda figured so, I just want to share another success. We're gonna step it back to 100 and then 200 yards. If all goes well, I'm going to set up some more water jugs and see what it'll do at 200 yards. If he can hit that milk jug at 200, he'll be taking deer with it this winter.

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Abbreviations used in Reloading
Pointed Soft Point "Core Lokt"

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