Powder for 308 plinking loads
- Thread starter vpsalin
- Start date
Use Hornady 170 grain 30-30 bullets and can be loaded to 2500 fps, this is the top end velocity the bullet is designed for.
These Hornady 30-30 bullets are "interlock" bullets and they did a number on deer here in Pennsylvania and held together like a Nosler partition.
You can use Trail Boss powder for reduced loads and H-4895 for reduced load and up to maximum loads.
I did this with my 1943 Remington 03-A3 30-06, it had a oversized chamber and tortured my Remington brass when loaded to normal 30-06 pressures.
Below Hodgdon's reduced load data using Trail Boss and H4895
https://www.hodgdon.com/PDF/H4895 Reduced Rifle Loads.pdf
https://www.hodgdon.com/PDF/Trail-Boss-Reduced-Loads R_P.pdf
Unique or Universal Clays will work well with about 10 grains for gallery/plinking loads.
13 grains of Red Dot is C.E. Harris's standard reduced load for a variety of cartridges that will work for a wide spectrum of bullet weights.
http://members.shaw.ca/cronhelm/TheLoad.html
13 grains of Red Dot is C.E. Harris's standard reduced load for a variety of cartridges that will work for a wide spectrum of bullet weights.
http://members.shaw.ca/cronhelm/TheLoad.html
As yes the plinker 308 load,
I currently load 4 different "non conventional" loads for my 308's.
Left to Right:
Barnes TSX-FB 30-30 150gr over 42gr of IMR4064 and a CCI-200 primer.
It's a long bullet and takes up a fair bit of case real estate. I have it set about 0.010" of the lands and it will group on average 3/4" @100y. The chrony reads it as 2475fps with minimal spread.
Nice low recoil round that's a bit faster than a 30-30, but it's not an inexpensive bullet.
Speer FN (or Hornady RN) 150gr over 43gr of IMR4064 and a CCI-200 primer.
Nice light recoil, decent accuracy (1.5"), and inexpensive components. The wife uses this round for practice/plinking.
Chrony reads it as 2500fps with minimal spread.
Hornady 150gr BTSP over 25gr of Alliant 2400 and a CCI-200 primer (min 2.600" OAL)
About 40% recoil reduction over a factory round, decent accuracy and inexpensive components.
Chrony reads it as 2300fps with minimal spread. (this one is from Alliants 1999 guide)
Hornady 150gr FMJ/BT over 12gr of Trail Boss and a CCI 200 primer.
The recoil is about the same as a 22mag and the the accuracy is good enough at 50y (1.5")
Chrony reads it as 1430fps with about a 40fps spread.
The Lee book notes a load with a 168gr jacked bullet over 7-8gr of Titegroup for a velocity of about 1000fps. I tried this with a 165gr BTSP and could not get a group worth mentioning. It seems like a too small amount of powder to me (but it worked).
These loads have worked great for me in my rifles. None are near max load, but your rifles may very
I currently load 4 different "non conventional" loads for my 308's.
Left to Right:
Barnes TSX-FB 30-30 150gr over 42gr of IMR4064 and a CCI-200 primer.
It's a long bullet and takes up a fair bit of case real estate. I have it set about 0.010" of the lands and it will group on average 3/4" @100y. The chrony reads it as 2475fps with minimal spread.
Nice low recoil round that's a bit faster than a 30-30, but it's not an inexpensive bullet.
Speer FN (or Hornady RN) 150gr over 43gr of IMR4064 and a CCI-200 primer.
Nice light recoil, decent accuracy (1.5"), and inexpensive components. The wife uses this round for practice/plinking.
Chrony reads it as 2500fps with minimal spread.
Hornady 150gr BTSP over 25gr of Alliant 2400 and a CCI-200 primer (min 2.600" OAL)
About 40% recoil reduction over a factory round, decent accuracy and inexpensive components.
Chrony reads it as 2300fps with minimal spread. (this one is from Alliants 1999 guide)
Hornady 150gr FMJ/BT over 12gr of Trail Boss and a CCI 200 primer.
The recoil is about the same as a 22mag and the the accuracy is good enough at 50y (1.5")
Chrony reads it as 1430fps with about a 40fps spread.
The Lee book notes a load with a 168gr jacked bullet over 7-8gr of Titegroup for a velocity of about 1000fps. I tried this with a 165gr BTSP and could not get a group worth mentioning. It seems like a too small amount of powder to me (but it worked).
These loads have worked great for me in my rifles. None are near max load, but your rifles may very
