Hunting varmits w/.308....

[dlbarr]

...like coyotes, groundhogs...anybody do this? What size CB and what mould recommended?

[bmortell]

groundhogs probably recommend a howitzer, ive hit them with 4400fps j-words and they can still walk afterword's with no organs to speak of.

[Bazoo]

I shot a groundhog once with a 270weatherby magnum. It all but skint him.

[bmortell]

on a more serious note it really depends how mild or quiet a load your looking for. some like the 90gr pistol designs at 1kfps for critters, or you could use a more standard weight at more like 1500. either way id pick a good size meplat and soft lead. personally ive used lee 170gr at 38 wadcutter speeds for squirell and critters because its as quiet as a 22 with a much bigger bullet but you probably want a bit more speed if you don't want it to drop fast. that's the lightest mold I had at the time but you can make most any work reduced as long as your twist rate supports it.

[barrabruce]

I’m hoping the ness safety bullet with the cavity filled with wax.
Paper patched with soft alloy and a case full of medium burn rate powder in a 30-30 (2000fps)will do something.
Hoping for a little expansion on waabbit sized game.
Don’t know if that would help you thou.

[trapper9260]

I have taken them with cast in my 22-250 without any problems it drop in its tracks. I have not yet shot them with a 30cal .Will in time .

[725]

dlbar,
Have thought about the same thing. I'm thinking of using about 115 cast and a mild charge. Haven't worked out any details, but will pay attention to this thread in case a real answer comes over.
I have made a .308, 125 gr. Sierra load of less than 50.0 gr's of H-414 that is very accurate. We have coyotes out in western Maryland and I hope to go after a few.

[barrabruce]

May help if you can tell what you are looking for.
Quiet and close quarter stuff or medium long range.
A few grains of bullseye and a 150-180 grn bullet will give most things a awefull head ache up close.
How far do you want to go?
A 150-170 grn would be the norm but 130’s seem to have come in vogue at present.
I paper patch my high velocity loads as I can use simple alloys and no special voodoo lubes gas checks etc.
Simply works for what I want to do.

The lee soup can is supposed to be quite good but I have never used it.
The 308240 150 is accurate in my gun.
The 308403 pope bullet is accurate as well.
About a hand span size group at 300 metres. Holdover is huge but it bucks the wind well with some verticle stringing showing up.

[Sig556r]

I have taken them with cast in my 22-250 without any problems it drop in its tracks. I have not yet shot them with a 30cal .Will in time .

How fast are you pushing your .22 CBs (PC'd/lubed? & how heavy?) in your 22-250?
TIA

[5Shot]

One thing to think about is ricochets (with groundhogs/gophers)...big bullets that don't explode on impact will be skipping along for a while.

[Reverend Al]

One thing to think about is ricochets (with groundhogs/gophers)...big bullets that don't explode on impact will be skipping along for a while.

That was my thought too ... you'll have to look carefully at your background area to see where any misses or ricochet's might go. Big boolits can go a long way ... and still do a lot of damage.

[quilbilly]

If you are hunting to take hides, most any boolit will do if the terminal velocity is under 1500 fps to minimize pelt damage.

[country gent]

I have loaded 125 grn ballistic tip noslers in 308 and 300 win mag for wood chucks. Very spectacular hits on them. These were pretty much full power / velocity loads for distance hunting of the varmints. For a light load a 100-125 grn cast lead bullet at around 1300-1500 fps should work well.
At home we shot woodchucks from the roof of the lean to on the barn. Shots would reach from 100 yds to a little over 400. The 22-250 and swift really shined here but the big guns pressed into use did well also. The cast loads will be accepted easier with the quieter report also when hunting others property.

[Tripplebeards]

I’ve shot pronghorns with 125 grain nosler ballistic tips out of my 300 RUM at 3950fps. They made coffee can size holes completely through them. Same with my buddy using them out if a 30-06 on deer with max loads. You can shoot anything with anything. I’d tell tell you to pick a smaller calibers, 223 to 243. My buddy shot a tote last year with Hornady factory loaded red tipped ammo. Don’t remember what grain...165 or 8? Blew a fist size hole through it.

Guess it just depends on how much destruction and stopping power you want.

Here’s what a 265 grain GC, PC, Lyman devastator cast hollow point did loaded a 1750 FPS out of my Ruger 77/44 using AC COWW on a rabbit a 136 yards. If your saving pelts a hard solid boolit will probably be better on hides at slow speeds but I’m sure you’ll get runners. If you don’t care and want destruction like ballistic tips I’m guessing a pure soft HP with a GC and pc to keep it from leading and ran fast enough for explosive results. I loaded up a bunch of 7.5 Bh devastators at 1700 FPS VS the 13.4 BH ac COWW I used on this rabbit. Can’t wait to see the varmints get hit like they stepped on dynamite!

[popper]

I'd be looking at a 150 or so gr mould FP. Something you can load full or light. Fast for yotes and long shots, slow for close and plinking. Most 308 are 1:10 but a 1:12 might do better for what you want. I'm using a 31-142C in my BO and 30/30(for plinking). Nose is designed for 308W, I shortened for less weight. Could get in a GC & PB mould. RD & 041 style are good hunters but BC is terrible.

[trapper9260]

How fast are you pushing your .22 CBs (PC'd/lubed? & how heavy?) in your 22-250?
TIA

I did not check how fast I push them. It is the mold of Lyman 225646 55gr GC Size and lube .In Rem 700.

[Texas by God]

I can't hit crows at 300 yards with cast and if I could ricochets would be a concern with .30 cal- the smallest I cast for. But for close range coyotes or pigs heck yeah. I like my 22-250, .243, and 25-06 with jacketed only. They are easy to hit small targets way out there and the correct bullet breaks up on impact. Instead of continuing into a cow, house, or worse. Out West in the wide open it would be fun to Quigley some p-dawgs with cast.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G930A using Tapatalk

[dlbarr]

Appreciate all the input. I really don't know much about any caliber outside of 45/70 & 45LC. But I just bought a .308 barrel for my handi rifle and thought I'd like to try it for critters other than deer/elk. I guess I was hoping for load data using a lighter bullet but, like I said, I don't really know about this caliber range w/lighter projectile....anyway, whatever other input is available - I'm still listening. Thanks

[trapper9260]

What is the twist of the barrel? that would help for some one to help you better.

[popper]

All the load books have good resource for 308W. With the light handi, 130-150gr GC is lower recoil and you can get 2500 fps easy. BC will be ~ 0.3 for any FP boolits. Ballistic prog. will give trajectory & energy. You can carry jax or cast in the pocket, chose what load you want. You could load 100-110 gr but it doesn't leave much in the neck and a long jump to the lands. You only get one shot at the yote so impact and accuracy are important. Haven't seen a G.H. since I was a kid. Ricochet is a problem cast or jax.