Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Long Range Hunting Hornady 225gr BTHP in the 308 Win

I picked up a box of the Hdy 225 BTHP mainly for the 30-06, but figured I'd give them a go in the 308Win for R&D.....grin.

Here's a quick report of my findings today. The biggest surprise was that they were stable and accurate at 308 Win velocities, in a 1/12 twist bbl. It's a fairly long bullet at 1.585". I ran the data through the JBM stability calculator, and it calc'd stability in the "marginal" range.

Rifle used:
Rem 700 308 Varmint bbl, 1/12 twist, cut to 20.5"
McMillan HTG stock
Bushnell 3200 10X Mil/Mil


Load:
Hornady 225gr BTHP (moly'd)
Win brass
CCI 200 primer
RL-17 Powder, 48.0gr
MV: 2500 fps
OAL: 3.08" (.008" off lands)


I only loaded up 17 rounds for a quick test. The plan was to shoot two over the the chrono, five at 100 yds, five at 600 yds, and five at 1200 yds.

Two over the chrono clocked 2486, and 2492 fps at 10 yards. Call it 2500 fps MV for practical purposes, warmer temps, etc. Temp was about 30F, wind near calm. No signs of excess pressure. Primers looked normal, bolt lift normal.

105 yards: four of five went into .5". Based on the consistency of the four, I believe I pulled one shot that opened it up to 1".


590 yards: dialed 4.2 mils, and was right on the money on a melon sized rock. 5/5 hits.

1185 yards: Dialed 12.3 mils, three hits and two misses at 12 oclock on a 15" rock.

Hornady published BC for this bullet is .670. I read a couple reports over on the Sniper's Hide that it shoots closer to .710.

I did a traj table up using a BC of .700, 4500' el, std atmo. The predictions were right on at 590 yds, and a couple high hits at 1185 yds. Pretty close.

Great info Shane...

I just picked up some of these as well... After your results I think I'll try some in my 308 for chuckles...

Good stuff MM, thx for the update. Did I hear that Horns doing a 190 BTHP as well this year?

Dober

Mark, I haven't heard anything about a 190, but they have a 195gr BTHP that is available now.

http://www.midwayusa.com/product/76...-grain-boat-tail-hollow-point-box-of-100

As far as I know the Hornady lineup is 155, 168, 178, 195, 208, and 225gr for the AMax/BTHP stuff in .308"

Thx, that's what it was a 195 have you worked with it yet?

Dober

No, I haven't.

Shane, always enjoy reading your homework! Mighty fine shooting to boot!!

I'm interested to see how they do when someone runs them on game.

Bb

Wow I can't believe you can push em that quick! Sweet stuff... your new LR load perhaps?

I've got a bunch of 208 AMax in the inventory, so I don't see a wholesale switch to the 225 anytime soon.

I tend to lean toward the heavier high BC bullets, so this was one I had to try out.

Very efficient... what's the difference in BCs of that pill and the 208 AM?

The 208 AMax BC is .648, and I get 2600 fps with it in the 20.5" rifle.

Comparing that to the 225gr, .7-ish BC at 2500 fps, it pretty much a wash as far as downrange ballistics to any reasonable distance.

I think the 225 was mainly offered to give the 300 WinMag longer legs, in keeping up with the big 338s.

What do you think of that scope?

I was thinking about one.

I think it's a good serviceable scope. For $199, you get reasonably good durability, decent glass, mildot reticle, and .10 mil graduated turrets. Parallax is fixed, but no biggie if you stay somewhat centered behind it.

I bought it to have something inexpensive to try out the mil/mil thing. I'm very satisfied with it.

Do you prefer mils or Minutes? I've always wondered what the benefit of mils was...

I'm seeing something the '06 will have to get a turn with. Hmmm.... 225 grains, .7BC, and in an '06, 2650+ fps? That, equals THUMP downrange.

Mils or MOA, either is good. I don't have a solid preference. .25 MOA is a finer increment than .1 mils (which equals about .34 moa), but for my purposes, it's not relevant.

The big advantage is when your reticle, turrets, and drop chart are all in the same unit of measure. At long range you can typically see your hits/misses on steel/rocks/PDs, etc. You can measure the distance of the miss vertically and horizontally, and then apply the correction to your turret in a straightforward manner without needing a calculator, or rough estimates. Most shooters prefer to dial the elevation correction, and hold the wind via the reticle.

Having a mildot reticle, MOA turrets, and a drop chart in inches, really slows down production....grin.

The 225s do carry the freight....grin. I'm thinking 2600-2650 fps in my 22.5" 30-06.

Cool thanks for that little explanation... Hoping to be able to print out a comeup sheet in Minutes for the little 243 thing I've got going.