Reloading the 742 Woodsman in .308

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Needing some advice to load for these finicky little Remington semi-autos. My brother has the 18.5" Carbine barrel version and he's wanting me to load his ammo on the cheap for it.

It is used mainly as a ranch rifle, mostly used on coyotes so I was angling towards the 100 or 110gr varminter bullets. What would be the charge I should set into them to be safe but still work the action? Would there be a better projectile I should use for that particular kind of rifle?

Bloody semis...
 
Load them decent - no real fear against full power loads and the gas operation takes out a lot of recoil not to mention the weight of those things.

Mine wasn't finicky to load for at all - I did have small base dies but that was the only concession I made to loading that bloody semi..... What I did discover thought is that it wouldn't shoot worth beans with anything lighter than about 180 grains.
 
tgt40 said:
What I did discover thought is that it wouldn't shoot worth beans with anything lighter than about 180 grains.
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I can believe it; the factory-load 150s were giving me gyp. I'm hoping I can tweak the lighter bullets to fly true enough for varminting out to 150yrds, but if all else fails we'll just go heavy-grain.

My brother isn't wanting to keep pelts anyway, so blowing the critters in half isn't much of an issue; I was just hoping to have the flatter trajectory for better range performance.
 
Yep, if he wants to run what he brung then it's the heavies for sure. Now having said that, a minute of 'yote should be good enough!
 
I have had good results with the Sierra 125 grn spitzer (#2120) in various 30 calibre rifles. I have been told that the Hornadys of similar weight are also good but I do not have direct experience with them.
 
tgt40 said:
Yep, if he wants to run what he brung then it's the heavies for sure. Now having said that, a minute of 'yote should be good enough!
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Yeah that's the problem; my brother is a decent shot at best, when everything is in his favour, so I'm hoping to get the gun firing well enough to compensate for it. There is a reason he'll only use semis; needs to have a backup shot ready to go right after the first.

Also, I just noticed that he had actually been using 180gr hunting loads before, not 150s... and the accuracy was rubbish. Maybe the lighter bullets will work out well. Hiredgun's Spitzer 125gr's will be on the list of things to try, after those little 100gr SJs.
 
Similar issues with a Voere semi-auto rifle

hiredgun said:
I have had good results with the Sierra 125 grn spitzer (#2120) in various 30 calibre rifles. I have been told that the Hornadys of similar weight are also good but I do not have direct experience with them.
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I have a grumpy little Voere 2185 30-06 semi-auto rifle made in Kufstien Austria.
It shot very poorly with most stock factory ammunition. In fact Winchester Power Point 180s rarely chambered smoothly and groups looked more like buckshot patterns at 100 yards.
I've since realized this odd rifle has a short throat and a match chamber.
(Bloody eurotr@sh! Not a warm and fuzzy for a hunting rifle! ;)) I've come to experience that it shoots factory Federal Classic 125s, with this Sierra #2120 spire point bullet about the best. I'm going to try my best to duplicate this factory load in my handloads. The largest animal I plan on shooting with it, are whitetail deer.

This is a rather odd situation for sure. Often in the recent past it shot the Garand pressure handloads, with the NRA recommended handloaded powders, pretty darn good. This rifle shoots very poorly with bullet weights over 168 grains, and at lower velocities than the average bolt action owner could expect.

Edit: Yes, echoing what tgt40 said, small base dies & full length resizing with every single case.
 
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senior said:
Are you sure it's the rifle not shooting well!!
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:p

Yes, it is the rifle; Me firing from a rest at 100yrds give it a spread that is about minute of toilet bowl. At 150yrds, on a wide target, there was only one hole from eight shots fired, and it wasn't a wide hole. My Mosin from irons does much better than that.
 
I had a smilar Rem semi in 308. About 10" at 100 yards. Put hi viz iron sights on it and took on hunts as my driving rain -heavy snow rifle.

My 308 7600 (pump) get almost 1" groups with hunting bullets.

Your brother would be better off with a rifle that does not miss on the first shot.
 
Interesting, mine wouldn't shoot 150's for beans but the 180's were almost bolt action respectable. I didnt' have it long enough to do serious accuracy testing but it sounds like you might have a nice project on your hands.

Have you measured OAL on that particular rifle?
 
tgt40 said:
Have you measured OAL on that particular rifle?
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Not yet, no. I haven't had the tools in or my bench set up to do anything in-depth just yet. My dies are on the way right now, as is a fresh batch of bullets to go with all the brass we have. I've already pulled a 180-grain out and cut a case neck up with a jeweler's saw to get it done.

I can't say I'm all that surprised if there is something off with the rifle, though. My brother is so cheap he can make a penny cry - his criteria for me to find his rifle? Has to be less than $350, come with a scope, and be semi-auto. Then he wonders why I have to work on the damn thing to get it to work properly...
 
Hey! I think I know him!!! Lol...I still say you've got a good challenge ahead of you but you should make him split the cost on bullets!

All you need to measure OAL is a cleaning rod. Here's a decent description that saves me a lot of typing:
http://www.sportinggun.co.uk/shootinganswers/395402/How_do_I_find_out_the_OAL_for_my_rifle.html

Start a few thou back and start working up your loads. I also liked to crimp the bullets.
 
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