I need a low recoil load for 125 or 150 J words in a .308 Win.

[koger]

Folks these are not CB loads, but need a soft recoiling load for a .308 win. Ruger compact. I have a friend who gifted this to his wife, and their two younger kids will be hunting with it also. His wife is a very small framed woman, probably weighs 115-120#. All feedback appreciated, on 125 or 150 sp loads.

[Texas by God]

Use 30-30 data such as 30 grs of IMR 3031- easy to remember and you’ll get about 2200 FPS with the 150 gr.

[White Oak]

My wife has killed a truck load of deer with a .308 and 125gr Nosler ballistic tip bullets. I load them with 37gr of H4895. Recoil is next to nothing and velocity is 2,550.

[rking22]

I loaded 60% load of 4895 with the rem 125gr for my son to hunt with at 10 years old. It ran about 2250fps and was plenty accurate for our intended range. I do not remember the specifics as it was a temporary measure for him to hunt with my Kimber. Certainly under 2inches for 5 @ 100, I would not have used it otherwise. Plenty steam for whitetails, I used those bullets in my 10” 30Herret several times to good effect. If I was doing the same again, I would use a 311041 or the like on a charge of RL 7 for about 1800 or so. Still soft shooting but can power thru a shoulder ball and still exit where the 125 may not.

[jaysouth]

I have two loads that have served me well.

1. M-80 147 fmj pulldown or hornday 150 grs fmjbt(3037) over 18 grs. of 2400. Shoots MOA at 57 yards in a local indoor range and MOA at 100 yards on an outdoor range in my Weatherby Vanguard off a bipod. Very little recoil. Takes a long time to heat up the barrel.

2. 150 grs hornady RN over 28 grs. H4895. Up to 100 yards, bullet gives classic mushroom on pigs and deer. I loaded these up for my Niece to hunt deer with in a Remington 7600P 16" carbine.

[richhodg66]

My wife has killed a truck load of deer with a .308 and 125gr Nosler ballistic tip bullets. I load them with 37gr of H4895. Recoil is next to nothing and velocity is 2,550.

This was Hogdon's recommended youth load for deer hunting and I used it for my youngest son when he started deer hunting. Accurate and recoils less than a .243, kills deer quite well.

[5Shot]

4895 starting loads. Used the 125 Nosler BTs for my 13yo daughter...they barely recoil.

[MostlyLeverGuns]

I run 17-19 grs 5744 in my .308's and 300 Savage's as a 'off-season' load. I run an incremental test from about 16 grs to 20 grs, pick the one that groups the best or try half grain up or down. I usually run the 144-147 grain military FMJ's, military brass, large rifle primer(CCI200 usually) but I do load some soft-points in case I want to shoot some vermin. Wife's practice load in .308 Savage 99. With good bullets 150 softpoints) runs under 1.5 MOA in several rifles, usually military FMJ run pretty close 1.6 to 2 MOA at 100 yards. I have also run 15-17 grs 4227 with similar results.

[White Oak]

Keep in mind the weight of a rifle also has a huge effect on recoil. My wife is also small, her rifle started as a compact rifle with plastic stock, no recoil pad. Since she always hunts from stands and blinds that provide a shooting rail or rest a light rifle was really not needed. We changed out the stock with a Boyd’s laminated wood stock with a recoil pad in the proper length for her. This brought the weight with a scope to around 8 pounds, which no problem since she never shoots off hand. The rifle is a joy to shoot with the load from my earlier post.

[izzyjoe]

2400 is a good powder for that use!

[koger]

Thanks everyone for the feedback, will be loading the 37 gr4895 and the Nosler 125BT!

[RickinTN]

Several years ago I had the same dilemma for my then 10 year old son and a new Model 7 stainless in 308. From an Alliant Manual dated 1996 I took a load of 25 grains 2400 and loaded with a Remington 150 grain 30-30 round-nosed bullet. They show a velocity in the 2,250 range but as I recall it produced about 2,050 fps in his rifle. He shot a few of our Whitetail with that load. No shots over 100 yards as I recall and always pleased with the penetration and expansion. A very good and effective load for such an application.
Good Luck,
Rick