Hornady 30 Cal 125 SST

[K22]

My 308 Tikka T3 at under 7 lbs belts me fairly hard with full power loads so I've been seeking a reduced load that's more pleasant to shoot and might also serve as a deep wood hunting rifle where shots are rarely over 150 yards.

I recently tried the 125 SST Hornady's behind 40.0 grains of H4895 and was pleasantly surprise by my initial testing. The load had a mild recoil. It clocked at about 2,570 ft/sec. in a 22" barrel. I shot three / three shot groups which averaged .91" at 100 yards. This won't win any matches but it's more than adequate hunting accuracy.

I have no idea how it would perform on white tail but I plan to try it to fill a doe tag this upcoming season.

 

[Kermit in Va.]

Ain't tried them but the 125 BT's do a good job on'em.
Going to try the 125 Accubonds this year...


Kermit

 

[snert]

It always made me wonder why in the same deer camp there were arguments between the 30-06 180 grain crowd and the 270 130 grain crowd.

Seems to me both did it. Now why wouldn't a 125 grain 308 caliber do it just fine too? Most deer in the US are not zebra. I see no reason why a 100-120 grain from 243 to 25 cal would not do the same thing a 130 grain 308. Except maybe it won't jar the shoulder as much as a 180 grain 308....

 

[rebel]

125 SSTs work fine on whitetail. At much lower velocities to, I killed a buck at 98 yards with one loaded in a 300 Blackout a few years back. Recovered the bullet under the offside hide, great expansion, decent weight retention at a MV of 2250 fps. You might get a bit more fragmentation, but I am sure it would kill them dead.

 

[Texas10]

Took my son on his first deer hunt last Christmas. He bagged a very nice mature White Tail buck at 220 yds measured, shooting a Savage 243 and 87 gr V-Max. He put one in the ticker, the buck took two steps, shot him again and he fell dead.

I've developed a load for my light weight Savage 308 that doesn't feel like it's trying to kick me to death every time I shoot it. 150 gr Sierra BT over IMR4320 doing just under Sierra's max load. Very, very accurate out to 300 yds, the max I've tested it. I tried Sierra's recommended hunting load using IMR3031, but the 4320 groups better (1/3 MOA) and is just as fast.

 

[nbkky71]

125gr pills are great in .30 cal rifles! While I'm not a hunter, I used them when shooting the M1/M1A service rifles competitively. They were quite accurate at 200 yards with minimal recoil... especially in the rapid fire strings.