Home Forums Reloading Big Game Rifles Subsonic loads for 308???

150 gr, 200 gr, 220 gr. If you have them? Book data is OK but your personal loads are great ! I think this 16.1" barrel has a 1/10" twist rate. Need to get some Dacron in case filler is called for. TIA Brothers, RZ.

Hodgdon had some sub data online. I have had good luck with h322 and 190gr SUB-X bullets

my subsonic loads for 308 are 300 blackout subsonic loads.

you're shooting the same bullet at the same velocities with the same effect why not do it with much less powder.

I also get if you only have a 308 and don't want to add to the collection I get that.

My local shop said he heard that thr factory for making trailboss burned down. Don't know how true it is but you can't find it anywhere. It would have good case fill for 308.

Are you guys using any filler to keep the powder near thr primer? So you don't get a flash over effect and inconsistent burn?

Hodgdon load data list 3 powders for 220 grain projectiles A 5744, A No. 2 @ Tight group.

190 gr Sub-X with Trailboss.

With the 190 Sub X Hodgdon offers loads with 5744, A No. 2 @ Tight group As well as Benchmark H4895 & H322

I use Trailboss

I reckon Trailboss too. Don't need to fuss with fillers.

Thanks guys. RZ.

170g RN (30/30 bullet), 7.5g Titegroup, Fed 210, 2.650 OAL.

5744 never worked well in my attempts for multiple cartridges and it's LOUD. 220's were borderline on stability in my Tikka and CVA. You want short and heavy bullets unless your twist is really fast IMO.

Are you adding Dacron or some sort of filler?

Fillers are a bad idea, actually a terrible idea. The fast powders which are dense and good for subsonic loads are not position sensitive. To develop a subsonic load start above where you think you need to be powder charge wise and work your way down to subsonic.
Good Luck,
Rick

I’m glad I have a half dozen cans. The subsonic loads are great for killing trapped pigs during deer season

Be very careful with fillers. One slip up when filling the void and you run the very real risk of ringing your chamber. (The mass of the filler constitutes a secondary projectile and when it slams against the base of the stationary bullet something has to give in that nanosecond before the inertia of the body at rest is overcome and the bullet starts moving. That something that gives is chamber steel, exemplified by a circular indentation in line with the bullet base. Sometimes it's inconsequential and goes unnoticed, sometimes it's dramatic enough to impede/deny case removal.

Charlie Dell, a noted experimenter in the world of single shot target rifles, conducted extensive tests on the subject and got to the point where he could produce chamber rings on demand. His conclusion: case fillers are just too chancy for the very slight improvement in SD and ED and accuracy on paper, and he said the use of kapok/polyester/etc will eventually ring a chamber - not a matter of if, but when. The only powder positioning appliance he actually used in his own shooting was a thin cardboard wad placed exactly 1/10" above the powder column, no more no less. That's pretty easy to do, and I know a couple guys who employ it (but they're also hard pressed to prove it aids in ignition and accuracy) - but mind you it's done with straight wall cases, how could you do that with a bottle necked case? Besides, that trick is best left to careful gents who sit at the shooting bench and shoot all day with but one case by re-charging it right there for each shot and breech seating the soft cast bullets directly into the rifling separately from the case. You wouldn't want to do this trick at home at the loading bench and transport the cartridges afterwards.

As for powder, y'all can have Trail Boss. I quit that stuff ages ago and can't care less that it's kaput. Poorest bang for the buck powder out there (except maybe for Tin Star), and less than stellar accuracy compared to a host of other powders. I tried to like it and gave up. For subsonic in a .308 I would stick with any number of fast burning pistol powders, check & re-check powder levels before seating bullets, and don't try to go too damned low in velocity - stuck bullets are another real possibility, ask me how I know.

OK Gary, how do you know? I would like to hear the story. I see there must have been a distressing moment or two involved? RZ.

As for powder, y'all can have Trail Boss. I quit that stuff ages ago and can't care less that it's kaput. Poorest bang for the buck powder out there (except maybe for Tin Star), and less than stellar accuracy compared to a host of other powders. I tried to like it and gave up. For subsonic in a .308 I would stick with any number of fast burning pistol powders, check & re-check powder levels before seating bullets, and don't try to go too damned low in velocity - stuck bullets are another real possibility, ask me how I know.

This right here....Couldn't agree more on Trail Boss.... I think I still have a container of it somewhere in my cabinets. I'd give it away for free, if someone near me wanted it.

Subsonic loads are not that hard to develop.

I NEVER use fillers in any load.

Haha. It was years ago, back in the dinosaur age - 1969 and 16 years old, I was messing around with subsonic loads in a .30-40 Krag (similar case capacity as .308), not because it was the "in thing" to do rather because I was a cheap/poor kid looking to save money on backyard plinking loads. My standard load was 5 grains Red Dot and a 160 grain plain base cast bullet. (Crap, there's another story about how I made those bullets!) Very quiet, never bothered the next door neighbors. One day I was hankering to do some shooting but had no bullets cast up so I simply grabbed the Old Man's Sierra 170 grain flat nose .30-30 bullets and loaded up a pocket full of them with that same powder charge. Sure as sh*t the second or third one down the tube stuck halfway.

Into the basement I go, and proceeded to wreck a jointed cleaning rod trying to beat it out with a claw hammer. About that time Pop came home, caught me in the act, and after calling me everything but Number One Son, dragged me off to the local gun shop. That's when the real fun began. The old gunsmith (who had sorta been mentoring me over the years, but evidently not enough) took the Krag and said "wait here, I'll get it out. But I make no guarantees that I won't f*ck up your barrel in the process." An hour later it was done - he pulled the barrel, chucked it into the lathe and drilled the core out of that bullet with a 1/4" gun drill supported by bronze bushings to center it in the bore (evidently it was not his first rodeo). After that it was just "tap tap tap" with a cleaning rod and the hollowed-out jacket popped out. Never so much as as scratched the bore.

I was relieved as hell and stood there and took that old man's abuse gladly. I mean he turned the air blue (and did add greatly to my vocabulary of cuss words) and told me if I "ever did another dumbass trick like that again to take it somewhere else. Oh and by the way that'll be $10 - I wasn't gonna charge you anything but you need to learn a lesson, fork it over."

Never have I dared to "go too low" with jacketed bullets again.

Oh, and I still shoot that same load with that same cast bullet out of Krags. More funner than ass-kicking Joe Biden around the backyard would even be, I should think.

when talking fillers, one needs to be specific about what they are using....

loose dacron stuffing used as a filler to hold the powder back, taking up all the extra space in the case simply works with no risk, when used in an appropriate situation

because it is so loose, it simply cannot act as a plug and ring a chamber

in fact, powder alone has caused ringed chambers, and is probably the reason chambers were ringed using loose dacron

there may be a sweet spot where the powder is forced forward into the bullet base before the burn gets to the front of the powder. too little powder and the flame front pushes through the whole powder column. too much powder and the pressure is not high enough to cause a ring. Just right, the powder plug rams forward into the bullet base

another reason to never jam your bullet into the leade to prevent ringing your chamber. always allow a bit of bullet free movement.