So I picked up a Sako finlight in 308win a couple days ago and am thinking I'll load up some lighter recoiling rounds for my lady to use. The Hornaday GMX is what was available locally so I figured I'd start there. Has anyone here tried them in their 308? There's also a lot of powders listed in my manuals that I don't have in stock so maybe we could narrow that down as well?
125 grain Hornaday GMX in 308win
- Thread starter nate123
- Start date
- Location
- Saskatoon Saskatchewan
Sounds like good deer medicine. Might want to try imr4895 blc2 or w748. I don't have experience with that particular bullet but I have used those powders with 110gr vmax and 130gr nbt's with good results.
I just checked on the Hornady website to see if they give the actual length of the 125 grain GMX bullet.....turns out they don't say what the physical length of the bullet is.....I'm interested in knowing if the bullet is 1.2 inches in length or less......which I consider to optimum when reloading my 308.....thanks for you help on this Nate123....
I load the 130 grain Barnes TTSX bullet (1.173 inches in length) with a charge of 46.5 grains of Varget or 47 grains of RL-15 in my 308 with excellent results in both velocity and accuracy.
rojogrande
I load the 130 grain Barnes TTSX bullet (1.173 inches in length) with a charge of 46.5 grains of Varget or 47 grains of RL-15 in my 308 with excellent results in both velocity and accuracy.
rojogrande
Start with the same load you just mentioned, length etc. You should get similar results. OAL will likely not be much of an issue because the bullets just aren't long enough to get to close to the leade.
I wouldn't hesitate using the 125gr GMX on elk or moose, it will probably penetrate about the same as a 165gr Accubond or Partition. BLc2 and H335 both good choices
- Location
- Saskatoon Saskatchewan
Really? I'm sure it would be fine but it seems a bit light to me. I've been thinking about the 130gr ttsx in my 308 for deer but I sure wouldn't mind taking something big with it just to see how it does.
I know GS Custom has been selling and recommending lite for caliber bullets at high velocity for hunting some really big game in Africa. I think the use of light for caliber bullets has been slow to come because of old school thought on meat damage and bullet failure. I know Barnes offered heavier bullets when they first started that they don't offer anymore because most rifles don't have a fast enough twist rate to stabalize the monolithec bullets. I would be interested to know how these work on large game too because I think they will be great and a lot better than most people think. GS Custom has a lot of info on the reasoning for lighter bullets and there afectivness on game. The also have a lot of pictues and stories of animals taken with their bullets and I would think the Barnes bullet would preform about the same.
I recently picked up ten boxes of the Barnes 130 TTSX bullets to flatten out my .308... 54.0 grains of W748 seems to be the ticket in my rifle... very accurate load... if my deer tags make it to the rifle season and bad weather comes into play, I will use this rifle and load on a WT buck.
Of the kills we've made using the monometal bullets from Barnes, everything went down like it was electrocuted.....One was a 250 lb whitetail buck at 100 yards who took one through the boiler room......He made one jump and collapsed dead......I believe the best friend of the monometal bullets is velocity-and lots of it.....Using the 130 TTSX bullet in my 24" barrelled 308 Win with a charge of 46.5 or 47.0 grains of Varget in an R-P case, a muzzle speed of 3,000 is achieved.....Using the mildots on my Leupold VX-II with the LR duplex with this load sets up dead on at 200 yards, first mildot is 300 yards, and the second mildot is 400 yards.....And this is the maximum range for deer with this combo......Impact velocity at 400 yards is down to about 2,200 fps, so reliable expansion of the nosecone becomes an issue beyond that distance. From a practical standpoint, the 130 TTSX bullet turns your 308 into a smaller version of the 270 Winchester....
rojogrande
rojogrande
There are no "mildots" on the LR reticle... those two marks are just aiming points, and they are set for the "average" (or common) trajectory of standard hunting rounds and loads... they do NOT work at those specified ranges for every cartridge/load... so you should be shooting your rifle at those ranges with those points to confirm POI... don't assume they are 300 & 400 yards.
The little booklet that is included with the Leupold LR duplex scope gives certain cartridges and certain bullet weights as a general guideline to utilize the "aiming points".....such as a 150 grain bullet in the 30-06......so I decided to try the 130 grain bullet in the 308 Winchester at 3000 fps......Using my laser range finder, I set up water filled milk jugs at 300 and 400 yards.....sure enough, using the "aiming points", the 130 TTSX bullet vaporized the milk jugs in short order.....Success...!!
Yes ladies and gentlemen, doing one's homework before making "assumptions" is a very good thing...
rojogrande
Yes ladies and gentlemen, doing one's homework before making "assumptions" is a very good thing...
rojogrande
A milk jug is about 10" tall... did you hit the top of the jug, the bottom of the jug or the middle of the jug... any of those hits will " vaporize" the jug. Might not matter on a moose at 300 yards, but it could end badly on a deer. Personally, that is something I would want to confirm, I am not happy being 5" off the mark @ 300.
Oh you think your 308 can equate my 270? The BCs and sectional density of a .277 pill of the same weight are higher than .308 pills... Plus, if you want to talk light and fast, the 110gr .277 tsx has slightly better bc/sd than 130gr 30cal, and can be pushed over 3300fps.
On game performance would be comparable, of course, but it's hard to beat the 270 at what it does best (lighter and faster than 30cals) without stepping up to a magnum.
