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Paul B. · August 31, 2012, 06:23 PM

I've been shooting the .308 for a number of years now and have settled on one load primarlily becaue my favorite .308 Rifle, a Ruger M77 RSI is a one trick pony.

As a matter of fact, I have three of those rifle, all chambered to the .308 simply because their previous owners sold them cheap because they could not get decent groups from those rifles. When I got the first one, it took me two years of tinkering with loads before I had one that would meet my standards. Now rifles that shoot half inch groups are nice but really, for deer and larger, just how much accuracy do you need? For this very temperamental rifle I decided tha 1 1/2" groups or smaller would be just fine. After all, the gun wasn't meant to shoot ground squirrels at 300 yards. fter working with all the usual suspects regarding powder with no good luck, it was time to play with powders not usually suited for the .308, at lest for the most part. I will not give the charge because hile the load shoots safely in four .308 rifles, it is to hot for a fifth, a custom Mauser sporter with match grade barrel and chamber.

I had decided that I wanted to use a 165 gr. bullet and as I had a supply of the Speer Hot Cores, that's what I used. Brass was Winchester and I used the Winchester standard large rifle primer (WLR) Powder was Winchester's W760. The final load that worked was no barnstormer only doing 2550 FPS from the rifle's 18.5" barrel and groups ran right at 1 1/2", sometimes a hair less. The same load shot in a 22" barreled Winchester M70 does 2610 FPS A while back I relieved the metal nose cap on the stock a little and shot a few groups. The gun now shoots closer to 1 1.4" most of the time. I'm one of these people who believe one bullet weight per cartridge. So the .308 gets a 165 gr. bullet, the 30-06 a 180 gr. bullet and I use 200 gr. bullets in my .300 Win. Mag.
How does that "slowpoke" load work on game? Well I've shot deer from about 35 feet to 250 yards with that load from that rifle. The only bullet I've recovered hit the deer as it was checking me out at 250 yards as laser measured by my wife. The bullet hit the deer in the chest and came to a stop against a back leg, breaking the bone. The recovered bullet was perfectly mushroomed and looked like those in the ads. FRankly, if I could get a shot at 250 yards or less, I would have no qualms using that load on elk.

To give you an idea of just how fussy that rifle is, I got a smokin' del one a large batch of 165 gr. Sierra game King hollow point bullets. The RSI spits them out in patterns, not groups. The gun really is a one thick pony. No matter. The M70 just loves them.

Paul B.

August 31, 2012, 06:23 PM	#19
Paul B. Senior Member Join Date: March 28, 1999 Location: Tucson, AZ Posts: 3,802	I've been shooting the .308 for a number of years now and have settled on one load primarlily becaue my favorite .308 Rifle, a Ruger M77 RSI is a one trick pony. As a matter of fact, I have three of those rifle, all chambered to the .308 simply because their previous owners sold them cheap because they could not get decent groups from those rifles. When I got the first one, it took me two years of tinkering with loads before I had one that would meet my standards. Now rifles that shoot half inch groups are nice but really, for deer and larger, just how much accuracy do you need? For this very temperamental rifle I decided tha 1 1/2" groups or smaller would be just fine. After all, the gun wasn't meant to shoot ground squirrels at 300 yards. fter working with all the usual suspects regarding powder with no good luck, it was time to play with powders not usually suited for the .308, at lest for the most part. I will not give the charge because hile the load shoots safely in four .308 rifles, it is to hot for a fifth, a custom Mauser sporter with match grade barrel and chamber. I had decided that I wanted to use a 165 gr. bullet and as I had a supply of the Speer Hot Cores, that's what I used. Brass was Winchester and I used the Winchester standard large rifle primer (WLR) Powder was Winchester's W760. The final load that worked was no barnstormer only doing 2550 FPS from the rifle's 18.5" barrel and groups ran right at 1 1/2", sometimes a hair less. The same load shot in a 22" barreled Winchester M70 does 2610 FPS A while back I relieved the metal nose cap on the stock a little and shot a few groups. The gun now shoots closer to 1 1.4" most of the time. I'm one of these people who believe one bullet weight per cartridge. So the .308 gets a 165 gr. bullet, the 30-06 a 180 gr. bullet and I use 200 gr. bullets in my .300 Win. Mag. How does that "slowpoke" load work on game? Well I've shot deer from about 35 feet to 250 yards with that load from that rifle. The only bullet I've recovered hit the deer as it was checking me out at 250 yards as laser measured by my wife. The bullet hit the deer in the chest and came to a stop against a back leg, breaking the bone. The recovered bullet was perfectly mushroomed and looked like those in the ads. FRankly, if I could get a shot at 250 yards or less, I would have no qualms using that load on elk. To give you an idea of just how fussy that rifle is, I got a smokin' del one a large batch of 165 gr. Sierra game King hollow point bullets. The RSI spits them out in patterns, not groups. The gun really is a one thick pony. No matter. The M70 just loves them. Paul B. __________________ COMPROMISE IS NOT AN OPTION!