Starting in .308

[CMV]

My boy needs a proper deer rifle. TN size deer, not like up north where they're noticeably larger.

Anyway, have a Savage Axis II in .308WIN on order for him that should be here later this week. I have dies & some LC brass but have never loaded .308 before. I do load 300BLK so have an assortment of 30 cal projectiles. I'm thinking I'd like to use Hornady 125 gr SST if that would be appropriate. My 300BLK hates them so I have several hundred sitting here with no good use other than trade fodder.

Seems like IMR 4895 is a real popular choice, but the 125gr maybe not so much. Thinking I probably need to buy a powder for .308 anyway because all I have on hand is H335. Seems like H335 will work, but there are many other flavors of powder that do the job better. Also planning to use LC military brass because that's what I have - along with a few hundred rds of factory Federal M80 which will make more LC brass. As I understand it I do need worry about case volume in this instance due to the thickness of the military brass where that isn't an issue using the LC brass for .223 that I load continuously.

Anyway, goal is to make an accurate, game-appropriate round for this rifle. 22" barrel that I will most likely cut back to 20", re-crown, & thread 5/8-24. 1:10 twist.

So with those variables - 125gr SST, LC brass, X powder, CCI #200, what are the recommendations?

Also to note - I'm not a hunter. I have no idea if a 125gr SST is appropriate for ~140lb deer but I kind of imagine just about anything from a .308 would be considered 'humane'. No idea if that bullet will work well in 1:10 rifling - I know my 1:8 300BLK dislikes it but has no grief with other 125gr projectiles. So if it is just an all-around poor choice for that application, I have these on hand if any would be more appropriate:

110gr VMax
110gr Hornady SP
125gr Speer TNT JHP
125gr SMK
208gr AMax
220gr SMK

 

[Bart B.]

I think....

Any starting load with H335 under 125 gr bullets in a 308 Win is probably best, 42 to 43 grains. That light weight bullet doesn't need to spin fast for best accuracy. This reduced load is what I'd use.

 

[kingmt]

Deer are pretty easy to take down. So 308 bullets at 125gn will do it. However I've never loaded for a 308 Win so I don't know if they will fly right. I also don't know your loading habits but IMR4064 always produce the best groups for me no matter what caliber or bullet I used. I didn't favor that powder only because it was to much work having to use my scale instead of a powder dispenser. I now have an electric one but never went back to that powder. It's also expensive compared to the powders I'm using now.

Good luck to you & your son.

 

[firewrench044]

for 308 1/10 twist

110 VMAX and 110 Hornady -- too light for twist
125 Speerr and 125 SMK -- Too light for twist ( SMK target bullet not recommended for hunting )
208 AMAX and 220 SMK -- Too heavy for 308,( too much drop )
they are target bullets and not recommended for hunting

150gr is a good choice for smaller deer ( hunting bullet )
165 or 180 is a good choice for all deer ( hunting bullet )

I use a 150gr bullet for smaller deer ( Florida ) ( Horn. SST and Sierra Pro hunter )

 

[Bart B.]

208 AMAX and 220 SMK -- Too heavy for 308,( too much drop )

You would have liked watching someone shoot 250-gr. match bullets from a .308 Winchester case. Bucked the wind better than any other bullet to 1000 yards.

 

[Grumulkin]

So with those variables - 125gr SST, LC brass, X powder, CCI #200, what are the recommendations?

Also to note - I'm not a hunter. I have no idea if a 125gr SST is appropriate for ~140lb deer but I kind of imagine just about anything from a .308 would be considered 'humane'. No idea if that bullet will work well in 1:10 rifling - I know my 1:8 300BLK dislikes it but has no grief with other 125gr projectiles. So if it is just an all-around poor choice for that application, I have these on hand if any would be more appropriate:

110gr VMax
110gr Hornady SP
125gr Speer TNT JHP
125gr SMK
208gr AMax
220gr SMK

First of all, you don't have to worry about a load adjustment with Lake City brass. I've compared it with loads in Winchester, Federal and Lapua cases and there is no appreciable difference in pressure, POI, etc.

Hodgon does list a load for 125 grain bullets with H335 on their web site. That said, if it were me, I'd go with IMR 8208XBR under 150 grain Sierra GameKing or other reputable bullet of the same weight. I might even go with one of your 110 gr. choices with IMR 4064. I have taken deer with bullets ranging from 45 to 70 grains so 110 grains isn't too light as long as it's a chest shot behind the shoulder where one doesn't have to get through much meat.

By the way, a 1:10 twist isn't too fast for 110 grain bullets.

 

[25-5]

Nosler 165gr ballistic tip did great for me on TN deer. Either of the 4895's or Varget powders. A not so lite V-Max is supposed to be good, but I haven't used them.

 

[horsey300]

My boy needs a proper deer rifle. TN size deer, not like up north where they're noticeably larger.

Anyway, have a Savage Axis II in .308WIN on order for him that should be here later this week. I have dies & some LC brass but have never loaded .308 before. I do load 300BLK so have an assortment of 30 cal projectiles. I'm thinking I'd like to use Hornady 125 gr SST if that would be appropriate. My 300BLK hates them so I have several hundred sitting here with no good use other than trade fodder.

Seems like IMR 4895 is a real popular choice, but the 125gr maybe not so much. Thinking I probably need to buy a powder for .308 anyway because all I have on hand is H335. Seems like H335 will work, but there are many other flavors of powder that do the job better. Also planning to use LC military brass because that's what I have - along with a few hundred rds of factory Federal M80 which will make more LC brass. As I understand it I do need worry about case volume in this instance due to the thickness of the military brass where that isn't an issue using the LC brass for .223 that I load continuously.

Anyway, goal is to make an accurate, game-appropriate round for this rifle. 22" barrel that I will most likely cut back to 20", re-crown, & thread 5/8-24. 1:10 twist.

So with those variables - 125gr SST, LC brass, X powder, CCI #200, what are the recommendations?

Also to note - I'm not a hunter. I have no idea if a 125gr SST is appropriate for ~140lb deer but I kind of imagine just about anything from a .308 would be considered 'humane'. No idea if that bullet will work well in 1:10 rifling - I know my 1:8 300BLK dislikes it but has no grief with other 125gr projectiles. So if it is just an all-around poor choice for that application, I have these on hand if any would be more appropriate:

110gr VMax
110gr Hornady SP
125gr Speer TNT JHP
125gr SMK
208gr AMax
220gr SMK

I think that without knowing much about your boy's size, recoil tolerance, experience shooting.... I will start with light loads: hodgdon put out info using H4895 (not imr) reduced 60% they have loads for 125 up to 135 for the .308. Even if recoil is not a large factor, they make good practice loads to develop good shooting disciplines. (See attachment) you could even run those up until season and then load a little hotter. I will instinctively refute any amax or match king for an inexperienced hunter so I strongly suggest passing those up right now there are plenty of .30 HUNTING bullets from 125-165gr that will expand properly without shattering. Match bullets may or may not perform right and that's not a gamble you should take unless you KNOW that bullet is destroying the vitals or cns. I rule out the varmint loads too for an inexperienced hunter. I've even seen experienced hunters fail to realize that a varmint load needs to be slowed down and placed with more care to bones and angles. Your sst should work fine at a reduced velocity, but they are still more of a grenade than a bullet so you'll need to hammer his shot placement (not that this is not important anyway). One of the best bullet designs I have (or will probably ever use on an American herbivore) is the Sierra pro hunter. It WILL shatter every thing in it's path and that flat base will print tiny groups. That's available in a lightweight too. If he can shoulder the heavier loads just fine then I would look at the 150 prohunters (probably somewhere around the min load of imr 4895 should work fine). There's really not much reason to go heavier but in the same weight, a partition would be beautiful too. Good luck to you and your boy!

 

[kingmt]

I personally was using a 30-06 when I was 8 years old. I've let it hit me in the face a couple of times. Lol It hurts but it never stopped me. I remember hearing big arguments over what size of a fun you had to have for deer growing up. I don't remember ever hearing that a 30-06 was to small but I have heard people talk about a 30-30 being to small. I've seen deer take 10 shots from a 30-06 factory hunting ammo & still ran out of site. Seen a buck one year that his shoulder had been blown away & it looked like the placement was good from a 30-06 that I jumped up the next day after that shot.

Dressing these deer taken with larger calibers I found a bunch of damage to the outer mussel of the deer but not much to the internals. Sometimes the wasn't much damage anywhere. It seemed to me almost all of the energy was being spent into the ground & but into the deer body.

I was a little mischief in my younger years & use to take deer often with 22LR. A shot to the eye was very effective. I could drop them & load them really quick to clear the seen. I've experimented with 17HMR body shots also.

I find 223 Rem with a 55gn V-Max @~3000fps to be about the smallest I'll use but if it is slowed down it works much better. I prefer a 243 Win with a 65gn V-Max slowed down to about 1500fps. I find it to be far more effective then anything I've seen.

This is just a lot of information to maybe help you understand more about how different bullets perform at different a velocity.

I don't know how big your son is but light bullets with slow powders are usually going to cause more recoil if they are loaded per the book. IMR4064 seemed to be an exception to this. If I remember right I don't think any of my loads per the manual has much recoil. It's been a long time tho.

 

[1stmarine]

At the average ranges the 308's amazing versatility can take the role of the 7.62x39, 270 and even 30-06 ... and everything in between. 120gr-130gr solids hit like a 270 while you can use a reduced 125gr soft point for very confortable deer load. Keep in mind for hogs is ok a light bullet but better to be a solid at fast speeds.
110gr are better for varmints at high speeds.
Also consider a heavier 140gr-160gr ftx /sp even at lower speeds in reloads because with ssts there is the potential of jacket separation and fragmentation with bone so the wounding is more consistent with more grain even at slower speeds.work better than 125gr at higher speed for comparable recoil. The 125gr soft jackets like sst and speer bt shoud be better left for high speed and small game or coyotes. While 120gr and 130gr solids can even be more efficient than heavier solids since higher impact speeds compensate for less sd and momentum with their more stout construction.
Can also add some lead shot inside a polymer stock tightly wrapped as this will work as a dead blow hammer and supress felt recoil. Later on you can temove as the kid grows into the caliber.
Good luck

 

[SamT1]

Sst is a great deer bullet. Like others say it's a little light, but it will work great for the boy. 308 is pretty forgiving to having the wrong twist and such for a bullet.

I use 4895 in most my 308 loads (mine all have 16-18 barrels)

I also use LC brass (I have a fal and it only likes LC) in my opinion it's the the best brass available and I don't load them down any. I haven't seen a significant velocity spread going from commercial 308 to LC to necked up 243 even. Standard starting loads should work. Excellent longevity too.

 

[Steve S.]

I shoot plain old WW PP 150 grain out of my Kimber 84M; have killed two large deer so far (both at about 150 yards) - passed thru the deer like it wasn't even there - both dropped instantly. Point being that I cannot imagine that a lighter .308 load/ bullet for the youngster would not do the deer job handily. In my opinion, the .308 in most load configuations is more than enough deer fodder. Ps, I miss the days of deer hunting with my young son - the Navy has him now - cherish the time. Good shooting.

 

[Walkalong]

My suggestion? Use your 4895 and any good 150/155 Gr bullet intended for deer sized game.

Grumulkin gave some good advise.

 

[Gtscotty]

If it was me I would pick up some 150gr Gamekings and your choice of IMR 4064, H4895 or Varget. If you don't find an accurate, easy shooting, fast killing load with those components pretty quick, I'd suspect a rifle/scope issue. The 125gr SST might work fine at reduced velocities, but there are so many good 150gr deer bullets out there that, specifically for a new or first time deer hunter, I wouldn't risk using anything less. You can always load the SST's up for practice ammo.

 

[Sunray]

A 110gr V-Max is a varmint bullet and is not suitable for deer sized game. Neither is a 208gr A-Max match bullet. A 200+ grain bullet isn't necessary and will give the kid significant felt recoil out of a bolt action.
"...have never loaded .308 before..." Same as any other bottle necked cartridge. That LC brass will require him to remove the primer crimp. One time nuisance thing. And you'll have to reduce all data by 10% and work up due to it being slightly thicker than commercial brass.
As mentioned, a 150 grain hunting bullet is what he needs.
"...will most likely cut back to 20"..." Don't bother. Two inches won't make any difference. If he, not you, wants shorter barrel there are lots of rifles around with 'em. Oh and what are going to do if he hates the Axis? A 6.5 lbs. rifle with a synthetic stock may not be his idea of a deer rifle.

 

[CMV]

A 110gr V-Max is a varmint bullet and is not suitable for deer sized game. Neither is a 208gr A-Max match bullet. A 200+ grain bullet isn't necessary and will give the kid significant felt recoil out of a bolt action.
"...have never loaded .308 before..." Same as any other bottle necked cartridge. That LC brass will require him to remove the primer crimp. One time nuisance thing. And you'll have to reduce all data by 10% and work up due to it being slightly thicker than commercial brass.
As mentioned, a 150 grain hunting bullet is what he needs.
"...will most likely cut back to 20"..." Don't bother. Two inches won't make any difference. If he, not you, wants shorter barrel there are lots of rifles around with 'em. Oh and what are going to do if he hates the Axis? A 6.5 lbs. rifle with a synthetic stock may not be his idea of a deer rifle.

I'm cutting back to 20" because that's what I had to do to the other 2 savage axis .308 barrels I've worked on for other people. had to turn back about 2" to have enough meat for 5/8-24 threads. Rifle will be suppressor-ready in hopes of HPA becoming a reality. But those barrels were so thin at the muzzle that's what was necessary.

As far as him not liking it? Its an entry-level rifle so he might outgrow at some point. I have no idea. but all he has now is a 12ga benelli supernova. He took a deer & bobcat this year with it. 12ga is very versatile but he might have more opportunities or different ways to hunt with the option of a rifle in the mix.

 

[1stmarine]

+1 150gr.. It is better to leave the 110gr-125gr for what they do best that is high speed varmint /small game loads. Even with modern bullets the same long established directives apply. Match bullets to game type and body weight.

Here is a good yet mild load to hunt at the typical ranges...

Bullet speer spbt 150gr

http://speer-bullets.com/ballistics/detail.aspx?id=89

 

[J_McLeod]

My Savage Axis shoots both 150s and 168s well. I think I got better results from the 168 but both were plenty good enough for deer. Because of the light rifle and my small frame, certain loads in my .308 had some considerable recoil. I've thought about downgrading to a 7mm08 but missed this hunting season.

 

[1911 guy]

.308 is forgiving of a wide variety of powder and bullet weights. But just because the rifle will shoot it doesn't mean it's a good choice for deer. I'm going to make a vocal second of the previous recommendations for using the 150 grain softnose.I like the SST or Interlock over Hogdon Varget powder.

 

[homatok]

I am sold on Nosler bullets!

 

[z7]

Standard 150g bullets work, if you want a more accurate, higher end bullet a sierra game king or nosler would be a good choice, but no real need unless you plan on him shooting game at 300yds. A good soft point in the boiler room will not fail

 

[Newtosavage]

It really doesn't take that much to kill a deer, so long as the round is accurate.

125's are fine, if you can get 2" or better groups at 100, then take him hunting.

I loaded a lot of reduced loads in my .308 and they were all more accurate than the equivalent full load with the same bullet, plus more fun to shoot.

H4895 is a great, accurate powder. I've loaded as low as 27 grains (60% , as recommended starting load) and it shot like a .223 and was accurate as heck. I would imagine somewhere around 35-40 grains under that 125 would be just right.