A DEER HUNTERS RELOADING GUIDE...

[swerv512]

ok. i'm very new to reloading. i bought my first bolt action, a rem 700 .308, a few months ago with the intent of hunting mainly deer and possibly slightly larger big game, elk. i decided to jump heads first into reloading, seeing that ammo these days costs more than i'm willing to shell out- plus reloading gives me another hobby.

anyways, all the reloading data i see for 308 seems to cater towards benchrest shooting (SMKs and other similar bullet types and functions). do people reload for hunting rounds, speer TBBC, accubonds, etc..? should i be concerned with that 0.75" group if my vital kill zone is as large as a pie plate.
are similar powders and primers used for for benchrest shooting and hunting applications? should i be more concerned with higher velocities (energy retention) than sub-minute accuracy?

[rksimple]

You may not need the BR primers, cool brass, etc. that is used for great accuracy, but it won't hurt. Standard primers, ball powders, and normal bullets will work just fine. You don't necessarily need to worry about .75" groups, that is unless you're shooting things at 500 yards+. You just want SAFE velocities under all conditions. So often you get out on the mountain in the morning and its in the 20's, but by mid-day its not uncommon to hit 75+ degrees. Work up a safe load using starting charges, and see what you get.

Are you in "condor" area?

[swerv512]

thanks for the reply. no, i'm thankfully out of "the condor zone" but i do imagine myself doing some hunting in those regions at some point. i imagine i'll need a batch of lead-free bullets where i travel there. i saw a box of rem premier green's at the local big5 and i gasped at the sticker price.

[rksimple]

If you plan on coming to condor area, check out Barnes stuff, or wait and see what the Hornady offering goes for. Before this year I used to hunt with Hornady Amaxes. They kill stuff dead and have a good BC to boot.

[wildcard]

If all you're doing is hunting deer in CA with the rifle.. you may be better served just buying two boxes of lead-free ammo. Zero with one box and hunt with the other. A box should last you ten years in CA if all you hunt is deer and don't miss (two deer per year)

Else I recommend the Barnes MRX bullet. Behaves just like the 168gr SMK with a duplicate load.

[rksimple]

Else I recommend the Barnes MRX bullet. Behaves just like the 168gr SMK with a duplicate load.

At what...4x the cost? Hope with the competition Barnes drops their prices a bit.

And besides, I hear the MRX doesn't work on bear anyway... (Speaking of which, no new tracks whatsoever. Doesn't look good for this year.)

[wildcard]

At what...4x the cost? Hope with the competition Barnes drops their prices a bit.

And besides, I hear the MRX doesn't work on bear anyway... (Speaking of which, no new tracks whatsoever. Doesn't look good for this year.)

The MRX bullets are about $1.50 per bullet. I said it behaves like the 168 SMK.. which means that you probably shouldn't hunt with it! Well.. at least not bear unless you take a head shot.

Not too many animals roaming around this year unfortunately. Saw a few squirrels.. only got to eat one. Only birds I saw were bluejays.. too bad they're not edible.

There were some poachers roaming around though. Got to see a little fawn in the back of the warden's truck. Wardens were out in full force on the last day. Other than that, the only dear I saw were 4 fawns/does eating together.

[swerv512]

Not too many animals roaming around this year unfortunately. Saw a few squirrels.. only got to eat one. Only birds I saw were bluejays.. too bad they're not edible...Other than that, the only dear I saw were 4 fawns/does eating together.

Too bad. I guess I have alot of time to get my loads right until next deer season. I guess it'll be wild boar for me until then. Maybe I'll start looking into some 200gr. bullets...

[Fjold]

The 308 is not the best choice for 200 grain bullets as the long bullets take up a lot of room in the short case. Try the 165 grainbullets, they will work for pig, deer or elk.

The 165 grain Hornady BTSP with 45 grains of IMR4064 will shoot MOA or less in 90% of 308 rifles.

I've been shooting that combination for over 27 years in my 308 hunting rifle.

[wildcard]

I've been shooting that combination for over 27 years in my 308 hunting rifle.

Dude.. you're old Or I suppose you could have started reloading at a very early age!