light but good loads for .308 & 7mm-08

[Mr. Friendly]

howdy all, I've a friend I'm going to buy a rifle for so he can hunt.

he's recoil sensitive however, so likely won't be using factory ammo.

if any of you have made lighter rounds, what kind of load out's have you done for .308 and 7mm-08 with, say, 120g/130g bullets?

Thank you!

 

[Papaclaude]

You can get the Remington Managed Recoil stuff, which is very manageable, and would be a reasonable alternative if your buddy does not intend to shoot enough to make reloading worthwhile. IIRC, it gives ballistics similar to a 30-30.

 

[Hirsch]

You can get the Remington Managed Recoil stuff, which is very manageable, and would be a reasonable alternative if your buddy does not intend to shoot enough to make reloading worthwhile. IIRC, it gives ballistics similar to a 30-30.

I'll second this. I've shot the Hornady Reduced Recoil in .308 and was surprised by just how mild it was. Performed well on Deer as well.

 

[Papaclaude]

I wasn't aware Hornady made these as well. I'll have to look into them, as I'd sooner shoot Hornady than Rem any day.

 

[Hirsch]

I wasn't aware Hornady made these as well. I'll have to look into them, as I'd sooner shoot Hornady than Rem any day.

They top them with 125gr SST. Good Deer round within 150 yards.

 

[bearhunter]

OP, be careful with those light 7mm bullets. Most of them are made with thin jackets and not suitable for game such as deer and bears. I tried some Sierra 120s on a bear last spring and it required a second shot.

Both of the shots were lung shots but the bullet expanded so rapidly it didn't make it to the second lung. The animal ran for a couple of hundred yards before it stopped to find out what was wrong. Luckily I didn't have to chase after it. Just put the cross hairs slightly above the spine and the second shot finished it.

I will be trying another bullet this spring. I am recoil sensitive as well. I need a shoulder replacement and hard recoil causes severe pain and is making me flinch before I pull the trigger.

I will be picking up some Barnes triple x 120 grain bullets which should do a good job out to 300+ yards if I do my part right.

 

[Easy 9mm]

Pick up some Hodgdon H4895. This topic usually pops up and I've read good results for this powder with reduced recoil loads. Hope this helps.

https://www.hodgdon.com/PDF/H4895 Reduced Rifle Loads.pdf

 

[BCRider]

I often read that things like .243 are good for hunting and also have a lower recoil level. Do the local hunting regs allow a smaller caliber of this sort for your area?

 

[RonR]

OP, i cant offer much in terms hunting with or developing reduced loads but my experience last fall with SSTs were not positive. Too much expansion and not enough penetration on two whitetail at 100 and 300 yds.

These were roll my own moderate loads 7mm-08 140 grn. I am switching to a bonded bullet and it might be something to consider if reloading ar 140 grn or less.

My 2 cents
Regards
Ron

 

[bearhunter]

OP, i cant offer much in terms hunting with or developing reduced loads but my experience last fall with SSTs were not positive. Too much expansion and not enough penetration on two whitetail at 100 and 300 yds.

These were roll my own moderate loads 7mm-08 140 grn. I am switching to a bonded bullet and it might be something to consider if reloading ar 140 grn or less.

My 2 cents
Regards
Ron

Did you use the SST Interlocks? I find they stand up very well.

 

[rodregier]

H4895 in the Hodgdon link is an outstanding powder for published reduced loadings.

I've made reduced .308 Win loadings with the 125g SST and H4895 to use with my alloy receiver BLR.
It's a relatively light rifle, much more pleasant to shoot with reduced loadings.

My goal is to make loadings very similar to the Hornady reduced recoil loadings.

ht tp://www.hornady.com/store/CustomLite

 

[Lefty Dick]

130gr Speer's

Varget
4064

Go with a listed start load.

That's what my kids killed their first deer with.

 

[wilbar]

I'm just working up a load for 7-08 with 150gr Accubond Long Range and H4895. These bullets are supposed to open up down to 1300fps and with a high BC (0.575-Litz) they still give a decent trajectory even with a low muzzzle velocity. Low recoil without giving up performance. At least that's my plan.

Willy

 

[RonR]

Did you use the SST Interlocks? I find they stand up very well.

Here's a picture, apologies for the size.

Regards
Ron

 

[hometownhero]

Here's a picture, apologies for the size.

Regards
Ron

Where did you hit it?

From my experience they are deadly on game. At 100 yards should have been in and out. They are not a shoulder shot type of bullet though.

 

[RonR]

Where did you hit it?

From my experience they are deadly on game. At 100 yards should have been in and out. They are not a shoulder shot type of bullet though.

Both shots were last year hunting with my son.

The 100 yard shot by my son hit a rib on a second year buck at about 30 degrees angle facing us. There was internal damage but some of the organs not far away from impact did not have any significant trauma, to me anyways. No far side damage on the inside of the ribcage.

At three hundred yards impact was above the bottom of the brisket, just aft of the shoulder broadside. Blood specs on the snow but the deer seemed to move normally not encumbered by injury into the forest fringe. Did not recover the animal with help of two other hunters tracking past dark and that bothers me today.

I have nothing to dispute that the SST's are a good bullet, HTH, just not what I expect. (They are accurate!) The federal fusion bullets out of the box that I have used prior to reloading my own had significant damage and pass thru's on more difficult angles and shoulder impacts. I would certainly give the Interbonds a try but can't seem to find any in a weight that I am looking for.

Just my experiences.

Regards
Ron

 

[jethunter]

7mm08:
120 gr Sierra Pro Hunter
38 gr IMR4064
velocity approx. 2500 fps.

This is the 7mm08 load I used for 3 kids to start deer hunting. .243 recoil level but still a solid 200 yd deer rifle without holdover. About 2500 fps

 

[hometownhero]

Both shots were last year hunting with my son.

The 100 yard shot by my son hit a rib on a second year buck at about 30 degrees angle facing us. There was internal damage but some of the organs not far away from impact did not have any significant trauma, to me anyways. No far side damage on the inside of the ribcage.

At three hundred yards impact was above the bottom of the brisket, just aft of the shoulder broadside. Blood specs on the snow but the deer seemed to move normally not encumbered by injury into the forest fringe. Did not recover the animal with help of two other hunters tracking past dark and that bothers me today.

I have nothing to dispute that the SST's are a good bullet, HTH, just not what I expect. (They are accurate!) The federal fusion bullets out of the box that I have used prior to reloading my own had significant damage and pass thru's on more difficult angles and shoulder impacts. I would certainly give the Interbonds a try but can't seem to find any in a weight that I am looking for.

Just my experiences.

Regards
Ron

As a note if you want the same bullet as the fusion it is a speer grand slam

 

[bearhunter]

OP, those are the same bullets I use. I haven't had the bad luck with them you had. I will be using the lighter version this fall. Hopefully I won't have your experience. Losing an animal is an awful feeling.

One trip I was on with a good friend on the Ft Nelson River we had to cross over to where there had been a big burn off. Thousands of acres of willow/pine/poplar and this was the second summer after it had all burned. There were black stumps and black downed trees in a cross hatch as far as we could see. After we crossed the river and set up camp we walked out for a quick look around and evening hunt.

Now my hunting partner, bless his cheap Norwegian background, didn't believe in checking the POI on a rifle that shot good enough for the girls he went with, more than most, last year. Besides that, he only had 8 rounds left of the box he had bought four years previously (PMC 130 gn 270) at a Canadian Tire sale in Ft St John and they had to last the rest of the season.

In those days the bullets PMC loaded were questionable at best. I don't think the Korean manufacturers had ever heard of bullet expansion. He put three of them into the boilerhouse of a moose at under 100 yards. All of them passed right through without expanding. Needless to say the moose ran away as fast as it could go and with those long legs the downed trees didn't slow it down at all.

Like your case it got to dark to follow the blood trail so we marked the spot with a ribbon flag so that we had a place to start in the morning. What we saw the next morning startled us. We would have to walk right on the carcass to find it. The blood trail petered out and because the ground was covered in tracks we lost the trail. This put a damper on our spirits and we were going to move to another spot before we repeated the scenario. While we were getting ready to leave the which was close to two days after the moose had been shot, the amount of Ravens circling about 600 yards away made themselves obvious. We walked over to the spot and there was the moose. Stiff and cold as well as partially devoured by predators and Ravens. We couldn't find the entry/exit holes until we skinned one side then rolled it over and did the same to the other. All three bullets had passed through ribs going in so that was pretty obvious. On the other side though there were only purple bruises with a tiny black spot where the bullets had exited.

That moose would have yielded around 500 pounds of meat once it was deboned. At least the local fauna got to eat it but it still seemed like such a waste. That took the edge of excitement off the trip for both of us. Luckily we spotted a three point elk on the way out. I shot it with a 338-06 225grn Hornady SPIL, which did everything it was supposed to do.

My friend got rid of his 270 and bought a BAR 338 Win Mag. He was convinced his 270 wasn't big enough and wouldn't hear otherwise.

I suspect a lot of people understand the frustration of losing a fine animal. If the components aren't up to the job, it is even more frustrating. Maybe you had a bad lot??

 

[RonR]

As a note if you want the same bullet as the fusion it is a speer grand slam

Terrific! Much obliged and one of the best pieces of information for me ever. I am going to have to load that.

Regards
Ron