I just bought a beautiful 1957 99F in .308 Win. I had a local gunsmith do a trigger job on it and install a fiber optic front sight and a "U" notch rear sight. What an awesome gun to shoot. I want to hunt deer and elk with one load with 165 gr bullets, and load up a plinking load of 110 or 125 gr with a light powder charge so the trajectory is the same as the hunting bullet so I can go out in the woods and play with it and get good.
First question - What is a good 165 gr bullet that would be good on a broadside whitetail, and a quartering elk? All shots within 150 yards.
#2 - What is a good powder for the 308 that meters well?
#3 - What if any is a good brand of dies to use in my Rock Chucker press? I may think of a million more, but help with these three would get me started. Thanks in advance.

Welcome to the forum.

1) I'd start with a Hornady Interlock bullet. That's the brand I usually start with.

2) I've loaded a lot of IMR 4320 in the 7mm-08 and 358 which are both offspring of the 308. H4895 is another option and there are plenty of others.

3) Most any brand will work fine. Mine are a mix of RCBS and Lyman. I'm not impressed with the one set of Lees that I have. Some folks swear by them but I doubt I'll buy another set.

Dale

For the multitudes that are quietly sitting out there but thinking this, I"ll go ahead and say it.

Take the fiber optic sight off.






Just kinda kidding.. if that's the setup that works for you to hunt it in the woods, then go for it. But DO NOT lose the original sights. In fact, put them in a baggy and stick them in the stock under the buttplate - being careful to not bugger the screws.

Also, test the heck out of that trigger and safety if somebody did a "trigger job" on it. If the job was too aggressive in removing material, it may not be safe. I don't know your smith, but easier to be safe than to try to undo an accidental discharge.

Welcome to the forum!

Varget is a wonderful .308 powder.

Welcome!

In the world of 165gr. .30 bullets I have always been a believer in Sierra 165 BTHPs, BUT, I've never shot an elk. On deer they're the tits and the most accurate 165 I ever experimented with. There is a bit of controversy swirling around the Sierra 165BTHP re: use on thick-skinned big game. My thinking is that since lighter calibers firing cup-and-core bullets have dispatched elk one could get away with using it. Honestly though if it were me I would stick with the Sierra for everything all the time-- but switch to a "premium" bullet for that once in a lifetime chance at an elk, if it ever came along.

If you're looking for a powder that meters sweetly through a measure, give BLC-2 a try. It's always been a favorite of mine in .308-class cartridges, though pretty much any of the medium burning rate powders will serve you well in the .308. Just don't try to hot rod it into something it isn't.

I have mixed feelings about fibre-optic sights, but to each his own. My personal preference is for genuine gold- bead or Sourdough- front sights, but that's me. Calhoun's advice re: saving the original sights is spot on.

Huh? They bleeped the common vernacular for women's mammary glands?? I'll be [bleep]!

You won't have to run it wide open then, and a bit of conservatism here will be much easier on the brass in a '99.



People worry about this too much for a lot of applications. With a well developed load, even IMR4064 can provide nice accuracy with thrown charges and it meters about like concrete aggregate.

I've been using a lot of H4895 lately, and I can assure you it's capable of providing very fine accuracy with thrown charges. Ten shots under 1" about as fast as I could shoot them over the chrono, nine more shots into about 5/8" watching the wind flags and being deliberate. And the H4895 burned pretty clean even though the load wasn't full throttle.



A regular two die set from RCBS or Redding will do fine.If you want to treat yourself, the for about another twenty bucks you can get a Forster set.

i've used reloader 15 for 300 savage,250-3000,308.also win 748 for 7mm/o8,not sure what other calibers your loading along with 308 but those powders work good for 308 case size.always heard good things about varget and plan to try it sometime.never hunted elk but if i did i'd want sturdy bullet ,,accubond,barnes,interbond.i'm no reloading pro,,,but i have got lyman,rcbs,hornady,redding dies...and a couple old ch dies.they all work pretty good for me.no low power scope for you?

Want 308 recommendations? Read through this thread.. A 308 in a 99 isn't any different than a 308 in anything else.


http://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php/topics/2255435/1/Good_308_Loads

Thanks for the advice so far guys, I'm taking notes. As for the fiber optics, it reminds me of when I used to make and shoot self bows, traditional longbows made of one piece of wood. I was a good shot, and raised a lot of eyebrows by occasionally shooting aluminum arrows off my bows. This is to be a hunting gun, and I'm partial to the fiber optics for open sights. I saved all the origional sights and screws in a bottle and labeled them. This gun looks like it's brand new, a couple of light scratches on the wood is all. Maybe a single low power scope later, but I'm infatuated with the idea of hunting with open sights. Thanks again for the help.

A lot of articles I have read over the years recomended small base sizer dies, for the 99. Same for the BLR. What say you fellows?

Middle of the road powder IMR 3031 has produced 5/8 inch groups with 150 grain sierra pro hunter pills.If you look at reloading charts, it literally IS middle of the road as far as heat goes, but proof is in the puddin. Varget is top of the heap with simillar results and a few hundred feet per second faster, not that a white tail will know the difference.

I've never needed them. That's a a load of Bull in my book.

Most 99,s I have loaded for had large chambers, working the brass any more would shorten its short life in the 99. IMHO

Not needed, in my experience. At least not with the 99. Don't know about BLR's. (You mean there are other makes of lever actions? Huh. Who'd a thunk it.)

When I reload, I stick with the listed guidelines for a particular load. I refer to "several" manuals for load consistencies. I look for accuracy, first and foremost. But, at the same time, I inspect each and every fired case for signs of excessive pressure. I NEVER "hot-rod" a load. All of my loadings fall into the "middle of the road" class. Except for moose, I never waste money on premium bullets. In New England, shots aren't in the "from one county to the other" catagory. You don't need extreme penetration, and deer are a thin skinned animal. I try to be kind to my 99's. They fill my freezer with neat meat every year. JMHO,,,,,,,,YMMV.

LBK is right on the mark. Use factory loads for a "Max" load. In fact someone recently said to only use Remington .308 factory loads since they had sticky extraction with Federal and Winchester factory loads. There are plenty of good 90% power loads that will be accurate and safe and more than powerful enough. Remember, this is NOT a front locking bolt action.

It is if you expect your brass to last very long.

A 165/168 and H4895 can get 2600 out of a 22" barrel with exceptional accuracy and below max pressure.

You have alot of good advice here. My 99F 308 needs the small base dies when using brass fired in a different rifle. I use IMR3031 and don't exceed 40.5 grains with 150 grain Hornady JSP's. I don't think that you will need 165 grain bullets even for Elk. I got a 610 lb (dressed) cow moose at 120 yards with 150 grain Hornadys. She took two before she realized the seriousness of her condition. Take good care of that 99. Mike

"What is a good 165 gr bullet that would be good on a broadside whitetail, and a quartering elk? All shots within 150 yards."

Barnes 150 or 165 TSX, best game bullets made!

My middle of the road reference is in relation to feet per second rating. In my Richard lee manual, he lists 20 or so powders in decending order of FPS. IMR3031 is pretty much in the middle. You have 10 powders when loaded correctly will give you greater FPS, and 10 powders that will give you less FPS. In all my center fire rifles, I have NEVER found max powder to give me the most accurate groups. With my 99s, its usually 1.5 - 2 grains under max where I get best accuracy. No, I'm not a speed freak. Like I said, you put it in the boiler room, I've yet to see a whitetail than can tell the difference between 2500 fps or 2850 fps.

2 loads I've worked up in my 99C 308 are 125 sierras over 50gr of IMR4895, also my deer load this year was 165 partitions over 45gr IMR4895. The first load is a woodchuck load, but accuracy is really good out to 400, passed that, well I can't shoot that far. The deer load patterns between 1-1.25 inches really consistently.