308 Varmint Load

icanuck

icanuck

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Has anyone tried putting together a 308 varmint load with light bullets? My Speer manual lists data for a 100 and 110 grains bullets, but I wonder how they actually work in the real world. I have a Remington 700 in 308 with a 1-12 twist. Will the bullet stabilize? Will it be accurate? What kind of range would one expect from it? Ultimately, what could I expect from such a load? Any input is very appreciated.

Thanks.
 
100's and 110's are really for the M1 Carbine. Look at a 125. Don't think your area has the silly calibre restrictions, but make sure.
 
I use 110 v-max in my .308 win with 49 grain of varget velocity is 3200 FPS out of a 28" tube. They good less than 1 inch at 100. I can't remember the ballistics of it but its not hard to calculate to get an idea. The light 100 grain will have no issue stabilizing in a 1:12.
 
40 years ago I was loading 110 grain Sierra bullets in my .30-06 with a 1 in 10 twist. Under an inch at 100 yards but I do not recall the load. They were deadly on crows at 200 yards. I fired one into a cedar shake bolt and it almost exited after about 15 to 16 inches. Pulled off the sliver to see the bullet, grabbed a hold of it with bare fingers, and burnt myself. So I am going to suggest you will get penetration on coyotes.
 
I tried 130 gr. Speer HP bullets in my .308 .

Shoots MOA with 44 gr. of IMR-4064 . This is one grain below minimum according to Hodgdon so use at your own risk. (Fair amount of pressure in my gun)

Your results may vary.

I have some IMR-4320 sitting around doing nothing so that I will test that next.
 
I tried 110g bullets in a single shot .30-30 and had them up to 2800fps, but found that the 125g bullets at 2650fps worked better after 150 yards. I think the 110's are just too short for a .308
 
icanuck said:
This was my next concern as I was looking at COAL. The cartridges would end up being pretty short!
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I don't think he meant the COAL was too short. I think he meant that a 110 grain bullet in 30 calibre was too short to be very efficient.
If that is what he meant, I agree.
 
H4831 said:
I don't think he meant the COAL was too short. I think he meant that a 110 grain bullet in 30 calibre was too short to be very efficient.
If that is what he meant, I agree.
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Interesting. Why is that? Not enough surface to contact the rifling?

The COAL isn't a significant factor then? I would think sitting that far off the lands would matter?
 
icanuck said:
Interesting. Why is that? Not enough surface to contact the rifling?

The COAL isn't a significant factor then? I would think sitting that far off the lands would matter?
Click to expand...

A bullet that is light for its diameter, such as a 110 grain 30 calibre, loses velocity much faster than does a heavier bullet in that calibre. Thus, they are inefficient, as compared to a heavier bullet in the same diameter. The lightest I ever used with a 30-06 was 130 grain, and I considered them to be too light.
Lighter bullets are generally not as accurate, either. Did you ever see bench rest shooters using 110 grain bullets in their 308?
The longer jump to the lands is often of no great concern. Some rifles, such as early Weatherby's, had bored out throats, called free boring, allowing the bullet to travel something like ½ inch before it hit the rifling. It didn't seem to hurt the accuracy.
 
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