308 Win 184 gr cast boolit load good for deer?

[hicard]

I am loading a 311041 cast 184 gr LFPPB boolit for 308 using 13.6 grs of Alliant 2400 for an approx. velocity of 1400 fps out of my 18" Ruger American rifle and am wondering if it will be good enough for close range shots at 40-80 yards? I am an experienced reloader but not so experienced at deer hunting. Would appreciate some expert deer hunter opinions.

[Wolfer]

I shoot the 311041 cast soft bhn 10 with a small HP out of my 3 30 cal rifles. 30-30, 30-40 Krag and 30-06 with 2400

mine are gas checked and all will start losing accuracy above 1800 fps.

In my 30-40 which is about the same case capacity I use 17 gr of 2400. This gets me somewhere above 1700 fps.

Ive shot about 10 deer and coyotes with these three rifles and terminal performance has been superb.

The only boolit I've recovered in a deer was shot by my neighbor with my rifle beyond 200 yds. The boolit traveled about 20" before lodging in the hide on the far side. It was mushroomed about 2/3rds of the way back. Considerably below the HP which is 1/8 x 1/4" deep.

I don't know what the impact velocity was but it can't be very fast. He fired 2 shots one of which exited. First shot knocked it down, when it got back up he fired again putting it down for good. Both shots were farther back than I prefer but still ahead of the diafram.

Where I hunt 75 yds would be a long shot so these loads work for me. I personally am not comfortable with these loads at 200 yds and beyond. However I do know that they will work at any distance I'm certain of putting it in the boiler room.

[jhalcott]

MY 311041 mold drops them at about 170+ grains from a 13-15 bhn alloy. Add about 5 grains for a GC and 3 t0 5 for lube. I shoot them out of .30-30, 308 and 30-06 barrels. From a 14" contender barrel I still get more velocity than 1400 fps and decent results on deer at less than 100 yards. MY normal RIFLE velocity is above 2000 fps with this boolit. I'd test it on wet pack at 100 yards and 50 yards to see what expansion and penetration it has. That low speed will affect how they fly especially at longer ranges

[quilbilly]

I have a round nose (Saeco) plain base 185 gr. mold as well and have tried it in my 308. I showed no leading at an MV of 1450 fps and was getting 2-1/2" groups at 100 yards. That boolit should be more than adequate for any deer at any terminal velocity of 1000 fps or higher so you should be fine out to about 125 yards.

[Silvercreek Farmer]

Wound channel probably won't be much bigger than a golf ball. Put it in the right spot and it should work fine. Not that much different than a 357 mag load out of a revolver. Doubt you will recover a boolit on a broadside shot.

[petroid]

I mentioned in another post that my son just harvested a button buck with a Lee C309-170F that weighed in at about 180grains and was probably doing 1600fps or so. Shot was 30 yards or so and it did a great job. The boolits were cast from alloy very similar to 50/50 COWW/Pb. Nice mushroom in water jugs, penetrating three and stopping in the fourth. I wouldn't want to use it on a long shot, but inside of 100 yards should be ok. If it was only going 1450fps, I doubt it would have performed as well in the water jugs. I shot one that was loaded subsonic and it penetrated four jugs and kept going. Didn't seem to have expanded at all. Terminal performance has a lot to do with alloy and boolit design as well as velocity. I highly suggest testing some in wetpack and/or water jugs and determine for yourself if you think it is an effective round.

[wmitty]

At the ranges you are looking at you will have no problem. Not an expert deer hunter by any means, but that is .32-40 velocity and deer killed with that cartridge all agree that it was adequate.

[samwithacolt]

I run 30 gr of h4895 in my .308 with a boolit about that weight, kills deer as good as store bought bullets.

[hicard]

Thanks for the replies guys. The only reason I wanted to keep it at 1400 fps is because I was using plain base boolits and wanted to try fro accuracy. If I want more velocity, I will switch to gas checked boolits and throw in some more powder.

[petroid]

If your alloy is soft enough to expand but tough enough to hold together, that load will do the job, but shot placement will be very important. I'd be worried about getting enough penetration on a shoulder shot, and getting expansion in soft tissue. Do some terminal ballistics testing

[MT Chambers]

Without speeding it up a bit you are on the light side and trajectory will see a big drop at over 100yds, I'd use a gc and up vel. to over 1600fps.

[runfiverun]

at 40 to 80 yds a 180 gr soft boolit should do quite well, the length [and weight] of the 30 caliber boolit will give you very good penetration.
if you are really getting 1400 fps, your basically shooting the same 357 mag load I shoot in my 357 20" lever gun and 40-80 yds would be a gimme shot with it.
a high shoulder/neck shot should plant anything deer sized you run across, a heart shot will stop it a little further in the bushes.
a lung shot will take about the same amount of time for it to lay down as the heart shot and another minute or so to expire.
I'd prefer a softer alloy for the latter 2 shots.[8-9 bhn]