Help with .308 load

[MThuntr]

Powder or bullets?

I think he means bullet. 180gr GMX don't expand real well at low velocity. The gilding metal is harder than standard copper and needs some oomph to do the job.

 

[Redmt]

Looking at Barnes data for 180's they run minimum load to about 2300 and max almost 2700.
With no knowing exactly what these bullets are is going to be tough but I figure that if I can get them up to 23-2500 safety then I will do the milk jug expansion test.

 

[N2TRKYS]

Powder or bullets?

Bullets

 

[Redmt]

Ok,,,, I'll save the 180's for .300 win mag or.300 Weatherby.
I have some 165 GMX and 165 Barnes. I'll look at the book loads for IMR 4064 and work the minimum charge minus .5 grain and work up with the 4166. Sound reasonably safe?

edit. Hogdon has a book load for 165-68 with 4166 powder. Thanks all for the help. I'll probably fool with some 180 gr. loads later!

 

[N2TRKYS]

The crazy thing is, the Barnes 168 grain has a lower minimum velocity than the 165.

 

[Redmt]

I loaded 1 each of the 165 GMX at 41, 42, 43, 44, 45 gr. of 4166. I'll run them through the chronograph tomorrow. The 45 gr. Was a compressed load, I may not fire it if the lower loads reach an acceptable speed around 25-2600 and don't show any overload problem.

 

[Addicting]

You also may not have enough twist to shoot those 180s.

 

[MTLabrador]

150s are what you want for copper in a .308. You need velocity to make them work, and you don’t need a lot of bullet weight for them to penetrate.

 

[N2TRKYS]

Alot of folks around here love the 130s, but they’re only shooting whitetails and hogs.

 

[Redmt]

I've taken countless hogs and quite a few black tail with my
.223. shot placement is key.
I've been building the 308 for a while. Now it's done I want to come up with a decent load with the components I have. I do have Barnes 130,150,168,180s and GMX in 165 and 180.

 

[Redman]

That seems awful heavy for a mono out of a 308. Good luck.

Yep to get the best effect push a lighter mon as fast as you can. So since your OP said you got a bunch of these and assume this is the only cartridge that you have for these bullets keep shots on game closer. I have found with a mono in .308 150gr seems to be the sweet spot.

 

[N2TRKYS]

I've taken countless hogs and quite a few black tail with my
.223. shot placement is key.
I've been building the 308 for a while. Now it's done I want to come up with a decent load with the components I have. I do have Barnes 130,150,168,180s and GMX in 165 and 180.

I bet you’d be happy with a fast 130 grain ttsx.

 

[Caseknife]

According to QL, looks like starting for the 180GMX would be in the neighborhood of 36gr and topping out at about 40gr with IMR4166, max speed will only be about 2500.
I would load the 130 Barnes in the .308 and get the speed up to about 3-3100, but you are not going to do it with 4166, need something a bit faster. I worked up loads for my hunting partner's .308 Kimber Montana with AR-Comp, just shy of 3100. Definitely stay with the lighter mono, they need speed as others have stated.

 

[ImBillT]

36gr seems like a perfectly okay starting my point to me. A 180gr mono however seems more like something for a big magnum not a 308Win.