.308 Win. loads?

[selmerfan]

I have an FN PBR XP .308 Win. bolt rifle that I love to shoot j-bullets through, but for introducing some friends and family to centerfire rifles, I thought cast bullets in this gun would be a good start. We'll be having a little get-together this summer, and I'll be bringing the 6PPC and .357 Max barrels for the Encore rifle, my .30-06 M70 Classic FWT (w/cast boolits), a .260 Ruger M77 w/cast boolits, and several .22 LR rifles. The idea is to let everyone have fun, make some stuff tip over at 50 and 100 yds, and not get pounded by recoil or muzzle blast - and use much less expensive ammo. So...I'd like to add this .308 to the arsenal. I'm using an RCBS 150-SP-GC in my .30-06 and will use the same bullet in the .308, although I still have to slug the bore. I'm sizing to .311" for the .30-06, and 14 gr. of Unique shoots literally sub-MOA at 100 yds. Any suggestions for loads in the .308? I have Red Dot, Unique, 700x, Clays, Blue Dot, IMR 4895, HS-6, and most of the standard j-word rifle powders. Thanks for the help, I appreciate the input!
Selmerfan

[Larry Gibson]

11 gr of Unique with that very RCBS bullet runs 1550 fps out of a couple of my .308Ws and is very accurate to 200 yards.

Larry Gibson

[Lead melter]

+1 on the Larry load. You can drop it to 10 grains or bump it up to 12 grains with Unique or Red Dot. RD gets the nod for a slight accuracy edge in my guns most of the time.

[selmerfan]

Thanks guys! I figured I'd start in that range with those two powders.

[matty]

what would pressure be like with these loads??
matt

[Lead melter]

Really low pressure loads. Not to worry unless there is a serious flaw in your rifle.

[trickyasafox]

I use 10.3 gr of unique because that way I can use the same powder drop as I do for 44 mag (careful, alliant lists 10.3gr of unique as a max load in 44mag) plenty of room though in the 308.

[GabbyM]

what would pressure be like with these loads??
matt

The Lyman book shows a 150 grain bullet with 11.5gr Unique at 1616 fps and 28,200 C.U.P. That's their starting load. Max is 15gr for 1920 and 39,900.

[rikkit]

Selmerfan, my best load to date in my Savage M10 in 308, is the Lyman 311299, W-W, & Air Cooled, being pushed by 25.5 Grs. of 4895 using a WLR primer.

[matty]

The Lyman book shows a 150 grain bullet with 11.5gr Unique at 1616 fps and 28,200 C.U.P. That's their starting load. Max is 15gr for 1920 and 39,900.

great thanks,looking for a safe load to shoot from my spanish mauser
thx again
matt

[Rocky Raab]

Don't fail to try Ed Harris's "THE load." (please Google) That is 13.0 RedDot, in any rifle cartridge .30-caliber or larger, and cases of .308 Win capacity and larger, with any bullet of normal weight for that round whether cast or jacketed. It is a wonderful load. No need to work up or down, just use it as is.