reloading for a 1903 springfield

sean69

sean69

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ok - just bought a 1903 springfield that had not been fired by it's previous owners, so I thought I would work up some very light loads.

Bought some 100 grain .308s from Hornady the box says 100 GR SJ - whn I opened the box they are lead bullets with a gas check on em .... hmmmm no data in the Hornady guide on reloading them in a 30.06 cartidge. but some in the speer data, running 3000, 3100 & 3200 fps minimum listed loads with the powders I have. Now it seems the cartridge was supposed to be 150 grain bullet at 2800 fps.

So thoughts? Will these things work ok? can I load up a few grains shy of the minimum listed loads and still be safe? [51 grains of IMR 4895 should give 3000 fps 55 gives 3268, so -I'm looking at 46ish grains to be in the neighborhood.]

-thanks
-sean
 
what have you got for powders? including pistol powders??

10 grains of unique with that bullet will work well for you.....so will 2400 powder, but for that I will not rely on memory and I would have to get up and read the master book.........
 
Hi;

IMR 4350, 4895, 4064
Vihtavuori N145, N150
A very little bit of Varget left and all LGSs & suppliers are out right now.

no pistol powders at all [no pistols!!!]


won't I have weird issues with that little amount of powder in a case that large? I read somewhere that there could be inconsistencies & ignition issues... ??


yodave said:
what have you got for powders? including pistol powders??

10 grains of unique with that bullet will work well for you.....so will 2400 powder, but for that I will not rely on memory and I would have to get up and read the master book.........
Click to expand...
 
The SJ stands for short jacketed. They are a swaged jacket bullets so they are different from gas checks but yeah they do look like gas checked.

Lots of people use those exact bullets for light loads in several .308" cartridges. AFAIK you should keep velocities down like for cast bullets as the large proportion of exposed soft lead can loose it's integrity at higher velocities. 3000fps sounds a tad extreme to me, I would try to stay below 2500fps.

The Lyman cast bullet handbook has some data for 115gr bullets which could be used from the starting loads. They use mostly shotgun powders and velocities are kept to 1600-2300fps.
 
4895

28 grains-45 grains 1706-2656FPS

4064

29 grains-46 grains 1713-2731FPS

start low and work your way up............
 
sean69 said:
ok - just bought a 1903 springfield that had not been fired by it's previous owners, so I thought I would work up some very light loads.

Bought some 100 grain .308s from Hornady the box says 100 GR SJ - whn I opened the box they are lead bullets with a gas check on em .... hmmmm no data in the Hornady guide on reloading them in a 30.06 cartidge. but some in the speer data, running 3000, 3100 & 3200 fps minimum listed loads with the powders I have. Now it seems the cartridge was supposed to be 150 grain bullet at 2800 fps.

So thoughts? Will these things work ok? can I load up a few grains shy of the minimum listed loads and still be safe? [51 grains of IMR 4895 should give 3000 fps 55 gives 3268, so -I'm looking at 46ish grains to be in the neighborhood.]

-thanks
-sean
Click to expand...

The velocities you are talking about and cast bullets, should not appear in the same sentence.
Not much over 2000 fps is about tops for gas check cast bullets. If you are lucky, maybe 22, or 2300 at absolute max.
With cast bullets it is not the pressure in the rifle you worry about, it is accuracy.
And by accuracy i don't mean the difference between a 2" and 4" group at 100 yards, I refer to accuracy difference of between 4 inches and 4 feet, when they are loaded too heavy!
Too much pressure behind a cast bullet and the gas blows by it, gas check or not, creating a groove down the side of the bullets. The bullet will then make groups measured in feet, instead of inches.
This is not just some theory I have read. I have had this happen and know what the bullets look like, because I caught them undamaged in the snow. Picked them up in the spring and learned why I got those terrible flyers.
100 grain bullets in a 30-06 are strictly for light plinking, with a powder at least as fast as unique.
 
4064 29 grains-46 grains 1713-2731FPS


Start at 29 grains... & do some plinking.... Looks good! thanks.

@H4831 ~ duly noted, thanks. never short or tinkered with a cast anything. I would up with these because I didn't know what the 'SJ' meant on the box [I sure do now!!]


yodave said:
4895

28 grains-45 grains 1706-2656FPS

4064

29 grains-46 grains 1713-2731FPS

start low and work your way up............
Click to expand...
 
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