hodgieb

We are currently using IMR 4895 powder in reloading our .308 Win. with 125 grain Nosler Ballistic Tips. I have two young sons who are starting to shoot and are interested in reduced recoil. Does anyone know (or can direct me towards a website) what is the minimum load we can safely use in the above mentioned .308.

Thanks for the help...
Steve

Roskoe

According to Nosler, a starting load of 41.5 of IMR 4895 will give you 2670 fps with this bullet. They indicate 44.0 of RL 12 has the best accuracy potential of the listed starting loads. Although the 125 grain is a little explosive for deer at normal full throttle loads, it might be just the ticket at reduced velocities.

Briman

13-16 grains of 2400 under a 150 gr bullet in a .308 will give you very little if any recoil and a velocity in the 1200-1400 fps range. You'll have to crank your scope or sights up quite a bit- I use similar reduced loads in military rifles and need to crank the rear sight up to approximately 600 yard setting to zero ay 100 yards.

I wouldn't go any lower than published loads for a rifle powder like 4895, you can get anomolies like secondary detonations to occur which will destroy your rifle and hurt/kill the shooter.

BigBob .30-06

Steve,
The best source I know of for reduced loads is the Hodgdon website. You are already using the best, IMHO,powder available for reduced loads, H-4895. The site has a section just for reduced loads and should do the job for you.

48thguns

I understand your desire for reduced loads. Are these loads to be used for target practice? Then regular loads for hunting? If so, I'm all for it, however, if they aren't big enough to handle the regular hunting loads they probably shouldn't be hunting yet. With a recoil pad and hunting clothes, a 308 just doesn't kick that much with decent hunting loads. Regards, Rick.

BigBob .30-06

Rick,
Isn't it great, how honest men may disagree, honestly. While there is some merit in what you say, there are many reasons why some may disagree with you. Just as there are those who may disagree with me. So let me explain my position and if we still disagree, so be it.

I wasn't expressing an opinion, but was attempting to answer Steves question as I understood it. However, starting youngsters on reduced load ammo, IMHO, is an excellent idea. Remember, a load equal to the .30-30, .300 Savage or .30-40 Kraig are all reduced loadings compared to the .308 W. And all have taken a whole lot of big game. Who says the .308 W doesn't kick? I shoot a .308. If that rifle isn't hitting me everytime I shoot it, I'm going to be mad as all get out at whoever has been sneaking up and thumping me and is so fast I can't catch them.I've always thought that experience had something to do with how we precieve recoil. Size, I'm told, also has something to do with it as well. Maybe that's why I seem to recall some rifles that kicked more than a .308, but I also recall some that kick a whole lot less, such as the .243 W. . Perhaps because of when I had young children at home, money was a little tight and we didn't have half a dozen rifles around the house so everyone had their own. Perhaps that is why when someone talks about taking their kids hunting I take for granted that it will be done on a shoe string. I think half of us know what a shoe string is like. It makes no difference how big our outfit is, the only important thing is that we get our kids out there with us as much as possible. As much as I took my kids out, it wasn't enough. I wish I'd done it a lot more than I did.

I wish you a good hunting season.

Briman

Having a kid shoot reduced loads with cast lead bullets will put them ahead of 90% of the other hunters in the woods. I can make a thousand cast bullets for a 30-06 for less than the cost of 1 box of 30-06 hunting bullets. If castingis too much trouble, remington corelokts can be bought in bulk for cheap, and they tend to be accurate enough for everything but competitive shooting. Loaded to 1500-1600 fps, they can be just as accurate as a3000 fps jacketed bullet at 100 yards- a sheet of target paper doesn't know the difference. Shoot more, shoot more often, and don't learn to flinch.When deer season comesincrease the velocities to the 2300 fps range, you'll still have very little recoil and it will be plenty of oomph to kill a deer out past 100 yards.

steve4102

Over at the Accurate reloading site there is a lot of info on reduced loads using Blue Dot. I have tried Blue Dot in my 7.62x39, 7mm-08 and 30-06. They are very very accurate and the recoil in very mild.

http://forums.accuratereloading.com/groupee/forums/a/frm/f/2511043

Do a search for Blue Dotor ask for Seafire. He and others have done a lot of testing using Blue Dot. If you decide to try Blue Dot in your 308 just be very carefull NOT to double charge your load.