.308 reduced recoil loads

[Deerhunter#1]

Well I got a handi rifle in 308 and was going to shoot some 150 nos bt over some h4895 and reduce the load to somewhere in the 2500 ft second range instead of the 2900 range. The bullet has a high bc and in looking at a ballistic chart it shows that at 2400 ft it will still be holding 1000 lbs energy at 300 yards. I will never shoot at a deer past 200 let alone even be able to see one that far here in PA. thats said I went to get the powder and stumbled upon the nosler book and it showed imr4831 at its starting load pushing 2550 ft second in a 24 inch barrel. And that was market as the most accurate. This is close to where I want to be and this load is still 103% full case. Has anyone tried this combination.

[LanceR]

Remember that the "most accurate" load in the factory test barrel does not mean a thing in your barrel.  All guns are unique individuals.  Also, there is never any indication of what "most accurate" means.  Was it a difference of .001" over a 10 shot string?  A 1" group versus a 3" one?  What distance?

For what it is worth H4895 is likely the best choice on the planet for reduced loads.  Hodgdon has tested it (and nothing else) for significantly reduced loads.  You can load it down to 60% of the published maximum charge for any given load showing H4895 and still get uniform ignition and velocities.

The info is at    http://hodgdon.com/PDF/H4895%20Reduced%20Rifle%20Loads.pdf

There's an article on using it at   http://www.chuckhawks.com/reduced_recoil_H4895.htm

My experience has been that the velocity drop is generally pretty linear with the propellant drop.  Cut and pasted below is the H4895 data for your bullet off the Hodgdon website.  I hope it posts in alignment but you could cruise over to Hodgdon.com and get it yourself.

Bullet Weight (Gr.)    Manufacturer    Powder    Bullet Diam.    C.O.L.    Grs.         Vel. (ft/s)        Pressure      Grs.    Vel. (ft/s)    Pressure
150 GR. NOS BT     Hodgdon     H4895     .308"             2.800"     43.0     2742     43,200 CUP     45.5     2870     51,000 CUP

Your barrel is a little shorter than the standard .308 test barrel so it would be safe to assume your potential velocity is about 50 FPS or so less than the 2870 shown.  In any case, each grain drop in charge equates to just about 50 FPS for this load.  The max charge shows 45.5 grains and you want to loose 350 or so off of that.  Pulling 7 grains off of the max and using 38.5 grain of H4895 will get you right in the ball park.

The minimum charge of around 29 grains would have you down to 1900-2000 FPS and still be consistent in terms of velocity.  I don't know of any other powder that gives you that kind of flexibility, especially since H4895 can be used from 204 Ruger to 458 Win Mag and beyond.

Good Luck and happy hunting.

Lance

[shot1]

For reduced recoil and still get a high velocity flat shooting load go to the 125 gr Nosler ballistic tip with 46 grs IMR 4895. This will do right at 3000 fps and will plain HAMMER deer in their tracks. I have been using this bullet in every 30 cal I have for a number of years for deer. I use this load in my 308 Win. I lost track of how many deer I have killed with this bullet but it is in excess of 30 and I have only had three move out of their tracks and they did not go over three jumps. Just keep it below 3000 fps impact velocity and it is a great deer bullet.