225 grain bullets in a 308 win?

TargetNorth

TargetNorth

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Hi everyone

I've come across 3 boxes of .308 cal 225 grain hornady bullets and am wondering if they are usable in a 308 with 1-11" twist? The max load I can find listed in books is 190 grain.

Anyone have any ideas? Guys over at Snipers Hide were testing 220's in a 308 successfully.

My main concern is starting loads. I don't want to blow up a gun experimenting. My range has some big tractor tires you can put a rifle in, pull the trigger with a string and there is no danger of a person being hurt. But, I'd hate to wreck a rifle for a few boxes of bullets.

Thoughts?
 
I doubt you would wreck your rifle, but you may be less than thrilled with the results. My loading specs only go to 200gr and I find with a bullet this heavy in .308 is over the top and will get less performance and energy than lighter bullets unless its really close range. Perhaps in a different cartridge a 225 will do better, but its past its optimum weight for performance in .308, IMO
 
My main load for my Ruger 77 international 308 is a 220 Sierra R.N. it works great and is very accurate.
 
If they are round nose, they should stabalize ok. If bullet holes are round at 100, you are good to go. I would start 4 gr under the 190 Start Load data, and go from there.

But expansion would probably be poor on game.
 
Out of my TC Icon Warlord with a 1 in 11 twist i get my 400 metres load with 208 gr Amax 48 gr of 760, CCI br-2 primer OAL at 2,920, that get me a tad over 2500 fps and the best grouping of all my loads for that rifle... JP.
 
the other question is can you seat them deep enough to feed through the magazine without having the bullet sit in the powder?- most 308's with short actions can't handle a bullet of more than 190 without that problem-
 
Those bullets will work just fine. As mentioned, they won't go screaming down range as fast as 150 grainers would but so what. They will be plenty flat out to 350m. If they are round nose bullets, they may have been built for the 30-40 Krag or even the 30-06. If that is the case, they will be built to expand at lower velocities.

Check out the bullet description number on the box and go to the website of the manufacturer and get a description of construction and the velocities it is meant to perform at.

Don't expect velocities any faster than the old 303Brit or 30-40 Krag with them though. Actually, the 303Brit has about the same case capacity as the 308Win or close enough, that you can probably get the load information you need from there.
 
Ganderite said:
If they are round nose, they should stabalize ok. If bullet holes are round at 100, you are good to go. I would start 4 gr under the 190 Start Load data, and go from there.

But expansion would probably be poor on game.
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That sounds like a great idea. I will probably fire the first shot with the rifle in the tractor tires (can't be too carefuly right?), but who knows it might work great!

Barry
 
TargetNorth, is it this bullet http://www.hornady.com/store/30-Cal-.308-225-GR-BTHP-Match/

If it is, then "by the book" it won't stabilize (US manufacturers tend to be extremely conservative w.r.t. their recommendations on minimum required twist rates). Whether or not it will actually stabilize in a 1-11" can be predicted/guesstimated by running a decent stability calculator (will need the bullet's overall length for that and my 25-second google search hasn't turned that up yet), or measured by just shooting it at 50y or 100y and seeing if you can or cannot hit a target.
 
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Shoot em, if they work keep using them if you like their performance. Consider loading with ball powder though, as extruded might use up too much case capacity to seat them short enough (2.8"?) to cycle through your magazine. HPBT bullets with high BCs tend to be on the long side, but shooting them will answer your questions. I would work up loads starting at about 40 grs with W-760 or at about 38 grs with W-748.
 
225gr bullets in a 308 win

according to one reloading text you could go as high as 250 gr with velocities down to about 2000FPS, but I think the wise choice as mentioned would be to investigate with the manufacture as to their recommended use.
 
caramel said:
Out of my TC Icon Warlord with a 1 in 11 twist i get my 400 metres load with 208 gr Amax 48 gr of 760, CCI br-2 primer OAL at 2,920, that get me a tad over 2500 fps and the best grouping of all my loads for that rifle... JP.
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I have used 208s out of AICS mag length and a 700 short action with a 11.25 twist as well. Quite accurate.

I have some heavy round nosers that I am going to try this weekend.
 
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