.308 Winchester: 7.62mm stuff

[cliffy]

Okay, I cry uncle regarding ever considering enlarging bore-size to a shoulder-busting .30 caliber. A .243 Winchester has always served well downrange, but as I get older a .308 Winchester seems more a ball-busted at up to 400 yards that I could possibly handle. RECOIL difference: about 13 ft/lbs against 19 ft/lbs. I plan to not exceed 165 grain bullets @ 2800 fps. A far cry from my .243 105 grain screamers of 3100 fps. Slow Velocity vs Massive Bullet Blob. Am I growing up or growing old? Cliffy

 

[uncleduke]

Don't know about you but I'm ; growing out. :-\ Spice things up a little the .308 is a great round to play with.

 

[cliffy]

Dear Uncle, I am slowly agreeing with your synopsis: the .308 Winchester may well be the perfect Elk - Moose- Black Bear cartridge up to 300 yards. Is a 180 grain projectile practical regarding .308 Winchester prowess? I think a 165 grain projectile may meet the limit of .308 Winnie Pooh ultimate potential. If I'm WRONG, please explain the virtues of 180 grain fare. I'm a newby regarding HEAVY bullets. Cliffy

 

[uncleduke]

Well for me, I use up to 200 smk's in 1,000 yd. competition. I would never use a target bullet for hunting. But I would consider a berger 185 vld at 2750 fps for hunting out to 300-350 yards on elk. BC is the key. If I were to use a 180 accubond at 2600fps I would stay in the 300 yard zone. But also, I would be shooting a match chamber with quality components and a high end barrel. So take this with a grain of salt. I know my loads and come ups by heart. Wind is the deciding factor! If I'm not confident with the shot, I don't take it. The reason I choose heavy bullets is for assuring a clean kill. Heavy bullets are more likely to penetrate bone and not deform or lose velocity as fast as the light weights. Other hunters with more knowledge might disagree. Shot placement is crucial.

 

[Johnboy]

hey Cliff go ahead and man up my friend.shooting the 308 like I just did will wake you up.I was shooting a 208gn A-max with R17.and I have to say that I loved each minute of it.YES I will have to say that they are punching me a little but it shows me what it will do when the trigger is pulled on a deer.and would even shoot it at a bear or elk at 300 with out thinking twice about it.

just as the other guy said the heavier bullet will walk out there with a lot of energy.so yes try them.you may not like it but it can grow on ya.and the next if not the best part about it is that they will fly for a LONG WAYS my friend.but it does take a longer barrel to really get them to fly with out haveong a pressure problem.even my 24 inch barrel shoots them great with out getting into pressure.but the 26 and 28 inch barrels shoot them a lot better.but hey this part is just an opinion of mine.the guys who started this may say different.

but if you just really want to push out the 165-168gn bullets you can push them at a good Fps like you want too.heck for my 100-300 deer loads I have to say the 165gn NBT works good for me.and thats useing the same varget load of 45gn that I shoot with a 168gn SMK.or you can give the 175-178gn bullet a thought.they too fly great at a long distance.but for me I would use a 178gn A-max.they fly better for a hunt'n bullet.and yes I know the A-max isn't a hunt't bullet.well they work great for it and do the job just as good as any poly tip hunt'n bullet out their.

so here you go my friend you give all of this a good thought and make you call on what you want to do.all we can do is give our opinions to ya.you really need to make the call.

 

[Rust]

Cliffy - I considered a few of the usual comments about "cruel eld and palsy doth tremble limbs" or in more modern vernacular "old fart" but lately I'm starting to resemble those remarks so you get at least half a pass. But really, recoil too heavy with a .308? Cowboy up, man!!!!

Of course, 5 lbs of lead strategically place in a stock doesn't hurt.

 

[deadlyswift]

Cliffy, Just the other day I shot 100 rnds threw my .308 I have been playing with the 190 bergers above RL 17. I found a load that was showing promise at 300yrds. So I loaded up enough to see what the load would do at 500, 600 and 700yrds. I shot 2 twenty round strings at 500, and 600yrds. Then just 1 twenty round string at 700. Making the total count 100 for the day. I was trying to stimulate a f class match. I am pleased with my results at this point. The only thing is I was shooting from the bench so I could better see how consistent the load was. I think I'm going to go back and shot 1 twenty round string at all 3 ranges laying prone and see how consistent I am. before I go any futher!
Anyway and getting to my point. The recoil wasn't bad even shooting the 190gr and a stout load of RL 17 wasn't to bad. I really didn't pay any attention to the recoil until I got to 85 to 90 rounds. Even then it wasn't bad but it was enough that I was having to force myself not to worry about the recoil, and focus on the wind, trigger break etc. You should be able to handle the 165gr or 168gr bullets just fine. Myself I'm not as old as you but, I'm only 5'7 160lbs. I had no major problems with handling the recoil of the heavy 190s. I say just go for it see what happens.

Good luck to you!
Deadlyswift

 

[Gman]

After shooting my 16.5 lb 6BR for the last 6 years, shooting my 13.5 lb .308 Win with 155 Scenars rocks my shoulder pretty hard. But the .30 caliber hole does help with score shooting.

 

[acloco]

1 - buy a GOOD recoil pad.

2 - one of the items overlooked and rarely covered, go up in bullet weight and use a slower burning powder. More of a push than a whack in the recoil department.

I PREFER shooting my 300 Win Mag with 208 AMax's or 180 gr Nosler's than 165/168's.

 

[uncleduke]

acloco makes a very good point about using a slower powder with heavy bullets. IMR 4007 works well in a .308 with 185gr. and up loads. My powder of choice for the 200smk. Recoil is a little less sharp than with Varget. Something I notice after a match.