Home Forums Reloading Big Game Rifles Reduced recoil for a 308?

I found a Ruger compact in 308 that I am thinking about for my 8 year old daughter.To what extent can the 308 be loaded down?

I am just collecting reloading equipment so have no clue yet.I have read about reduced loads with cast bullets.What other standard rifle caliber would reduced 308 feel like?

Shots would be limited to under 100 yards to start her out so not too much worry about down range ability.

My original thought was 223 or 243 but I ran up on this Compact Ruger.I like the idea of a rifle she can grow into but not if initial recoil can't be delt with.

I load down to 30-30 levels with H4198 and 155 grain bullets, and I get extremely good accuracy to boot. Dropping to 125 grain bullets would reduce recoil even more, I just haven't done much in that direction yet. The reduced charges of this relatively quick powder will give less muzzle blast which is an important consideration with the short barrel of the Ruger Compact.

While back a good friend of mine turned me onto the Youth Load section on Hodgdons web site. You may wanna check it out.

Dober

That's a good tip from Dober. Out of curiosity, I peeked at it and it shows a 125 gr Ballistic Tip at a touch less than 2600 fps. That ought to be deadly. You can go to this site below and do some comparisons of calculated recoil for different hypothetical rifles and loads:

http://www.handloads.com/calc/recoil.asp

I loaded light loads of H322 in my dad's .308 for my daughter. Worked great!

Just for grins the other day I loaded up some subsonic 308 loads with Trail Boss. It was a hoot, not very loud and very light recoil. I tried 9.5, 10.0, 10.3 and 10.5 grains Trail Boss, 180 gr Hornady BTSP (a flat base may be better), with CCI 250. Not so sure this is a hunting load but seemed it would be real good to introduce a young shooter to centerfires.

In the late 90s I had an 7-08 accuracy load using 140 NBT and IMR 4064 and used it to drop a raghorn bull DRT at about 80-90 yards. The bull just collapsed at the shot. Eventually we got a chrono and clocked it between 2200 and 2300 FPS, dad called it my 30-30 load. It was noticeably quiet and very mellow.

I like 17gr Unique for a reduced load in my 308. With a 168gr bullet it gets 1900 fps from a 26" bbl.

If you loaded the same charge under a 110gr bullet it should be a real powder puff, probably 2100 fps or so from a 16.5" bbl. Similar to a 30 Carbine load.

I like 17gr Unique in the 308 for a reason. 32gr of Unique is a full case to the top of the neck in fireformed Win brass. So by using a 17 grain charge, If I were to somehow double-charge the case, I would have powder overflowing. There's no way I could accidentally double-charge the case and not realize it.

With a 15gr charge, it could be possible to double it, throw 30gr without any obvious indicators, and blow up your gun and yourself.

I would look at the speer reloading manual for reduced loads. I used to load up 110's with 28gr's of IMR4198 and it was a nice light shooting load. Great practice load for a beginner...

https://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbth...UNIQUE_for_reduced_308_loads#Post6491171

This thread has some advise on reduced loads and Rocky's formula for reduced loads with Unique.

Just for grins I plugged the Hodgdon load of a 125 gr Ballistic Tip over 38 gr of H4895 at a (rounded) 2600 fps in a 7.5 lb rifle/scope combination. The estimated recoil is 9.6 lbs. That doesn't sound bad at all and the load gives good velocity for expansion and trajectory.

Or you could go with a 125 TNT and see some kind of accuracy.

Dober

Thanks guys,You have given me lots of great info!

I bought blue dot for ultralight loads and H4198 for 30-grain mid-power loads in 7mm-08. No reason they would not work with .308 loads. Looks like I can run a 100gr sierra at 2000fps or so with about 18gr of Blue Dot. Calculates to 223-levels of recoil. I'll be starting my load work soon.

Just for information, my old Dupont Guide shows a maximum load of 32 grs. of IMR 4227 with a 110 gr. bullet in the .308 for a velocity of 2835 fps. With a 150 gr. bullet, the maximum load is 26 grs. for 2260 fps.
I would think a 125 gr. bullet should be easily driven to 2400-2500 fps. with this powder. E

Keep in mind I know nothing about reloading YET.I have just bought a press and will soon have the other necessary equipment.

I see 110gr available for the 308.Are you telling me that with a similar load to what you plan for your 7mm-08,I could have recoil close to a 223? I assume slightly more than with your 100gr bullet but would it still be less recoil than a factory 100gr 243 load assuming same weight rifles?

Should be a few of the same gun available used in other calibers which might be more appropriate and better, like 243, 260, or 7mm-08. But, if you don't reload, stay away from the 260.

Several members here run low charges of Blue Dot for reduced loads. Member Seafire has done a lot of work with that powder. The only drawback I'm aware of is the possibility of double charging a case, as 16-22gr of powder doesn't fill much of the case. Others prefer RL7 or 4198, as a 30gr charge gives 30-30 performance more or less, but a 308-based case cannot hold two 30gr charges without overflowing. Less room for error. A "normal" charge of typical powders in 7-08 or 308 is going to be about 41-47gr of powder, give or take.

I ran the recoil numbers on 7.5lb rifles, one being loaded with a typical 55gr 223 load, the other being a Blue Dot 100gr 7-08 light load. Both came out to about 3.5lbs of recoil. A full-house 100gr 243 load in that instance is 8-10lbs of recoil, depending on powder charge.

I'll try to shoot you some links to previous posts a bit later today.

JP

Here is what Hodgdon says about their choice of H4895 in their youth loads:

"For all cartridges we chose H4895 because it is the slowest burning propellent that ignites uniformly at reduced charges."

May be just me, but if I were wanting reduced loads for one of my children, I would have a strong bias toward pressure-tested data developed by one of the powder manufacturers.

And based on what JPro posted above and the calculation I ran, the reduced load in the .308 ought to recoil about like a full-bore load of a 100 gr bullet in a .243. That really ought to be manageable.

I've gotten good accuracy with H4198 and either 130 or 150 grain bullets. The accuracy I've gotten has been better than with 4895. It's easy to approximate 30-30 ballistics. I do use 150gr bullets designed for the 30-30 for hunting as these bullets are designed for performance @ these velocities. If you look, there is published data for H4198 and 150's in the .308. Recoil is very mild and something you will probably enjoy as well.
Good Luck,
Rick

Hodgdon pushes H4895 for reduced loads for ONE reason and ONE reason only... the data that they give out, was tested... by ADI who makes the powder for them...

Australian Defense Industries...and their testing of it was based on military uses...

however if you want more accuracy ( as H 4895 suck for accuracy).. and you want to use Hodgdon powders made by ADI, then use 4198 for accuracy...

Hodgdon also sells IMR 4198 and IMR 4895... both can use the same data as the Hodgdon's two, and if you go with IMR 4895, you can use the same as H4895 and get better accuracy and more consistency over the chronograph...

I've asked Hodgdon why they push H4895 when they also sell H 4198, which will do a much better job...and they told me exactly what I already suspected, they had been given the info via ADI, they haven't tested it themselves...

but in a 308 sized case, 30 grains of a LOT of different powders with faster burn rates than H 4895, can give you better accuracy and still be under the pressure limits of the cartridge and give much better accuracy and consistency, than H 4895 reduced loads..

such as 3031, H 322 ( both excellent choices), Benchmark, Varget .. I could go on, and have tried them all, from 243 to 308, and in between...

Myself, I stick with RL 7, IMR 4198 and SR 4759 as my main choices, besides Blue Dot..

and with any reduced load, same safety practices of loading pistol rounds that can be double charged should be used...

Its not rocket science and safety is not an issue, if one uses their head and watch what they are doing.... and don't allow yourself to get distracted .. ( especially by the wife with the old "oh honey can you help me, it will only take a minute!" routine...) asking wifey to come help you at the reload bench, and " it'll only take a minute honey" will usually cure that problem...

I shoot more reduced loads than I do full power loads ( by a large margin), as most of my stuff is tailored to the job at hand....

gets the job, is easier on the equipment and the powder budget...allows more trigger time, without as much wear and tear on the equipment again...

reduced loads can triple barrel life, at least according to what 3 or 4 local gunsmiths have explained to me....
say compare the lift span of a 30/30 barrel vs a 308, over normal service life...

also considering most game is taken within 200 yds...

then when you need to crank it up to full potential do so..