.308 Light Bullet Varmint/Plinking Loads?

mevoughlian

mevoughlian

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Hey guys

Well first off I'll start by saying I'm familiar with reloading and I know what I'm doing , obviously I don't know everything but I know enough. I was just wondering if anyone has experience with loading lighter bullets in 308 Winchester for varmint shooting and plinking? The lightest I've ever loaded was 147 fmj for my 308 , I'm not looking for crazy speeds a nice high velocity is always nice but I'm not trying to break any records or push my guns and wear them down haha.

So if anyone has loaded light bullets maybe 125s or something around that I'd appreciate some load ideas!
also I'll be shooting it all out of bolt actions one 24inch heavy barrel and the others your 22inch average sized barrels.


Thanks
Much appreciated
 
There is a lot of use of the Sierra 125 PSP as a light accurate load. It was first suggested to me by an American who used it as the bullet for the 200 yard stage of a leg match.

I used it to make target ammo for my son when he was 10. It would only shoot to 600 yards (22" barrel) but it did not kick hard and it was accurate. Load was 36 gr of 4895. That is a very mild load. You can add another 10 gr if you want.
 
Ganderite said:
There is a lot of use of the Sierra 125 PSP as a light accurate load. It was first suggested to me by an American who used it as the bullet for the 200 yard stage of a leg match.

I used it to make target ammo for my son when he was 10. It would only shoot to 600 yards (22" barrel) but it did not kick hard and it was accurate. Load was 36 gr of 4895. That is a very mild load. You can add another 10 gr if you want.
Click to expand...

Alrighty thanks for the suggestion! I was thinking of using 125s just not sure on a brand and the charge . I want to load it light but not to light, just somewhat in the middle I guess. I just don't want to make any hot loads with light bullets because I've been told by a bunch of people that hot loads with the higher velocities will wear your barrel down much faster . Not sure if this is completely true but it would make sense.
 
mevoughlian said:
Alrighty thanks for the suggestion! I was thinking of using 125s just not sure on a brand and the charge . I want to load it light but not to light, just somewhat in the middle I guess. I just don't want to make any hot loads with light bullets because I've been told by a bunch of people that hot loads with the higher velocities will wear your barrel down much faster . Not sure if this is completely true but it would make sense.
Click to expand...

There is an element of truth to that, but your barrel is good for 3,000 to 5,000 rounds. For a target shooter that is 2 or 3 seasons. For most guys, that is a lifetime, so don't be shy about making lots of noise and muzzle flash.
 
130gr Hornady SP @ 3100fps from my 22" 308 and MOA groupings with a sporter barrel. Removed upper half of heart and 1.5" exit on whitetail.
Preparing to load a whack of 123gr FMJ plinker loads in very near future to use this spring/summer for ringing gongs.
 
Ganderite said:
There is a lot of use of the Sierra 125 PSP as a light accurate load. It was first suggested to me by an American who used it as the bullet for the 200 yard stage of a leg match.

I used it to make target ammo for my son when he was 10. It would only shoot to 600 yards (22" barrel) but it did not kick hard and it was accurate. Load was 36 gr of 4895. That is a very mild load. You can add another 10 gr if you want.
Click to expand...

I did not see a sierra 125 PSP
Do you mean?

.30 Caliber/7.62mm (.308) 125 gr. SPT
The 125 grain #2120 has a medium-weight tapered jacket. It is very destructive at high velocity and is an excellent long-range varmint bullet. When loaded to medium velocity, it is an excellent low-recoil hunting bullet suited to medium game. The #2120 bullet is especially well suited to Hunter Benchrest, where it has become very popular. Reliable expansion and deep penetration blended with Sierra's classic Spitzer flatbase profile makes these the bullets of choice with many 30 caliber riflemen

I was thinking might work well in my local clubs hunter matches, 50 to 200 yards.
And the local coastal blacktails.
 
Now I'm excited, I just prepped a bunch of brass and have 100 110 vmax sitting on the bench. Only thing that troubles me is it could be hard on the throat. But whatever, I want a carbon barrel for the modern Hunter anyways.
 
hmm well I think im going to do 110s and 125 or 130s

has anyone ever loaded something that light in a 30-06 too? I like to get 30 cal projectiles that I can use between a few different calibres with confidence. I guess you can say I try to be economical orrrrr you can just say Im cheap hahaha.
 
Well I just bought some 125gr Noslers off of a fellow CGN member, just waiting on them to arrive now. Im going to start working on some 125 loads. hahaha as funny and stupid as this may sound I cant wait making/trying/shooting new loads just gets me so excited.
It just seems that you always have a favourite load/round and sure enough sooner or later something else comes by and changes your mind. Now I just anticipate trying out new ones and wondering what the results will be. hahahah
 
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