.308 Subsonic Question, If I may?

[nra_guns_winner]

http://members.shaw.ca/cronhelm/DevelopSubsonic.html

Above I have tried to attach a link on developing subsonic loads. I'd like to mess around with this stuff sometime for my remmington VSF 308, 26" 1:12. Has anyone done this and lived to tell the story. I have about everything I need, but the time. I got this 308 to hunt with but like to reload I hope to play around with some reloads over the next few years. (FYI The Pro trigger this thing came with sucks, I've ordered myself a jewell). I'm thick skinned you are not going to hurt my feelings. My ultimate goal is to reload so I can stay at the range longer. Live to hunt, Love to shoot!

[Whisper 300]

OK, first lest I fib, I have never downloaded the .308 as I usually shoot a 300 Whisper(hence the "tag"name used here) to shoot a 30 cal projectile sub sonically BUT I have shot 223, 243 and 30-06 way down low using the formulas that a "seafire" found on Accurate Reloading Forums has worked up.
The man has done a yeoman's job and documented all of his work so it is worth a look-see.
Seafire's thing is Blue Dot powder and yup, it works. I have NOT drilled out primers but mostly due to wanting to re-use cases again without segregating
them lest I do a big no-no and mix them in the general populace.

Next question is-do you have a "can",i.e. suppressor?

If not, you may be disappointed with the results of simply scaling down the powder charge as even a 243 with a lead round going 1000 fps is pretty loud-somewhere in the 22 Hornet area-yes, quieter but not the mouse fart of a suppressed round going sub sonic.

An almost better choice is to go full throttle speed with a suppressor-in that case you don't hear a BANG but still get the sonic crack, however, almost impossible to pinpoint the direction of the shot and deer, at least, don't seem to be nearly as spooked by it as they do a gunshot unsuppressed.

Anyway, I digress.

Go give a look as Seafire's data and then go out to play safely.

Gary

[HOGGHEAD]

I have had great success with Seafire's blue dot loads also in my 223. I have had great success with red dot in my 45-70's. Tom.

[joneb]

I have loaded 16gr of Blue Dot behind a Nosler 125gr Ballistic Tip using Fed 210 primers in a unmodified 308 Win case; http://www.thefiringline.com/forums/...4&d=1210486176
This load is not sub-sonic but it shoots 1" groups at a 100yds in my Howa 1500.

Here is a some info using Red Dot which I think would be a better powder choice for a .308 Win sub-sonic load;http://members.shaw.ca/cronhelm/TheLoad.html

[BerdanIII]

I have loaded a few using published data from The Handloader's Digest and gotten good results with Bullseye, large pistol primers, unmodified cases and a 150-gr RNSP designed for the .30-30. You may run into a problem with that 26" barrel; the first cold-bore shot with subsonic cartridges using jacketed bullets can be of much lower velocity than the succeeding ones (fired within a short period of time) and longer barrels exacerbate the problem. If you try for velocities much below 1000 fps with jacketed bullets, the first shot may not make it out of the barrel. On the other hand, if you load so that the first shot is just barely subsonic (about 1050 fps, depending on ambient temperature) to make sure that the bullet doesn't get stuck in the barrel, subsequent shots may be supersonic.

As Whisper 300 says, subsonic loads fired without a suppressor can still be pretty noisy, with the exception of gallery loads like 3.7 grs. of B'eye and a 95-gr LSWC or the Speer 100-gr. WC or Hornady 90-gr. LSWC and 4.0 - 4.5 grains of Unique. These are are at about .22 Short level in terms of noise and you may only hear a ripping sound from the bullet going through the air. Plus, if a round squibs for some reason, you can knock a cast bullet out of the bore yourself.

[azredhawk44]

Never with .308 since my only .308 is a gas operated M1A.

But, I have done it with a Winchester 94 in .30-30. 20" barrel, 150gr Barry's plated flat nosed bullet. I used Titegroup, 9.0gr and got mousefarts out of it. They were still loud enough that I wanted hearing protection, but I'd guess they were only doing about 1200 fps, maybe less. I don't have a chrony, so I don't know for sure.

I was shooting computer hard drives at 50 yards with these, standing off-hand, making them jump like frogs. Lots of fun. The soft Barry's bullet would either ricochet or shatter on the hard drive, leaving it intact for the next shot.

Then I loaded a "real" cartridge, 170gr Hornady FN bullet behind a generous dose of 4895 and shattered each of the drives at 75 yards.

The 150gr Titegroup loads dropped A LOT at 100 yards. They were about 10" low compared to the "real" 170gr loads I had to compare against.

It was a fun experiment, but ultimately I fail to see the utility of sub-sonic rifle ammunition without a silencer to go with it.

[overkill556x45]

I was just about to post a similar question on this topic. I saw a load on IMR's website that I thought was a typo! The load was a 168gr HPBT over 8.0 grains of titegroup or Hogdon Clays. Listed velocity is 1080, which, if my mental math is correct, is just barely supersonic at my elevation and temp here in the midwest. I can't see how this load would be accurate because it is leaving the barrel into trans-sonic turbulence, and would (in my guestimation) remain in that turbulence for quite a while before dropping back to sub-sonic velocity. I'm not sure what this load would be good for, but I was thinking about loading some for fun. I doubt it would tear up the brass very much, and as long as the bullet left the barrel, I don't think it would hurt the bore much. I am still apprehensive because I love my Savage 10FP and don't want to mess it up with a rookie reloading error (especially since I have yet to load my own ammo- my press and kit will hit the front door by tomorrow hopefully).

Does anyone actually shoot these loads often? Are they safe?

[Hook686]

http://leverguns.com/articles/paco/small_charges.htm

might help