First squirrel with a 308!

[davidheart]

I know it's not as glamorous as "first deer with cast," but I thought I'd post this for those of you who want to use one rifle for everything.

In the quest for a "do-all" rifle, I picked up a Model Seven in 308 that started out as a black stainless. After some creative spray paint and a bedding job with JB Weld she was off to the local gunsmith to reduce the barrel length to "19 and thread it 1/2x28 for the Form 1 suppressor I legally built. I could have fluting done cheaply ~$25 and save a couple ounces while I was at it. 308 was not my first choice of caliber for a lightweight stalking, do-all rifle, but the abundance of brass and some help from Cast Boolits members here "urged" me in that direction. (Thanks to George & his friends!)

Wearing a Leupold 2.5-8x36 we weigh in at 6lb 10oz. Add the suppressor and I'm at 7lb 14oz. In the future I'll add a Wildcat Composites stock to reduce the weight slightly and more importantly, stiffen the forend.

With multiple j-word workups at 100 I'm able to group 1/2 to 1 inch consistently. With the suppressor I could shoot full bore, top end 308 loads all day with no flinch or shoulder pain.

Despite what some have said about featherweight barrels, I've found the rifle is accurate as long as I do my part. With this light rifle it takes much more concentration to stay accurate than with my 8.5lb Mauser, but with the suppressor and cast boolits I could easily put in a load of trigger time to perfect my form without bugging my neighbors.

However, cast boolits are where she shines. The Lyman 311041 and RCBS 30-150-FN group within an inch with 22gr of IMR 4227 while 5.5gr of Bullseye throws a 150gr subsonic accurately to 100 yards with or without the suppressor. How accurate?

I thought I'd test my subsonic "small game" loads the other day. I've shot at least 100+ at targets to 125, but I was scared to shoot a squirrel or other small game for fear of wasting an animal. I took 2 small game rounds into the woods and sat at the base of a tree. After some calling a few squirrel popped out at ~50-75 yards. Afraid to spoil meat and waste the life of an animal I aimed for the head. It would be either a clean miss or a kill. The first squirrel was brought low, jittered around on the ground, and then stopped. I watched it all in my scope. The other two squirrel were only mildly phased and the subsonic shot sounded like a spitball in the woods. No human or deer would know the difference between it or a small branch dropping from moderate height. 5-10 minutes later the other two squirrel came back out. Based on the results from the last squirrel I felt comfortable shooting my second round. I aimed again for the head. Perfect shot and the squirrel dropped. The other squirrel hung around without running this time, wondering what just happened. If I had more than two rounds I would have had three squirrel that day.

I walked up to the spot where both were shot. Both perfect headshots. Zero gross overkill. Two nice squirrel for the pot. I will never hesitate again to use this round in the woods on the deer stand, stalks, or otherwise. My 22 Hornet with solid boolits or 22lr with hollowpoints are more destructive than this.

This year this gun has taken 8 deer and two squirrel now. Tomorrow is a Black Bear hunt in a local WMA I plan to visit. I truly have a combination I could confidently use for absolutely any hunt I feel may come up in my lifetime with cast boolits and J-Words, be it small game, deer, black bear, or elk!

Without this forum I would have never gotten into reloading as I did or been able to shoot as much as I have. Thank you all for your help and support!

[Hawks Feather]

A .308 will require to to continue to be a good shot when it comes to squirrel and will serve as great practice for your bear. Nice shooting.

[Kylongrifle32]

Nicely done. Wish I could hunt small game with a reduced load center fire cartridge. I have a Handi rifle in 30-30 and love plinking with the Lyman 311414 over 6 grains of Unique.

[John McCorkle]

Nice!! Planning, testing, fiddling and achieving your goal! Man there is something sweet and satisfying about thinking a think and following through that makes this a great milestone

Congrats and continued success

Sent from my moto g(7) power using Tapatalk

[William Yanda]

Great job and thanks for the report.

[trapper9260]

This is interesting for how you did .I had went with lighter boolit for a 32 cal and size down for my 308 win. ,also on 30-06 and 30-30. I done it with 00 buck shot too. I did not put it in the field yet for small game. But only on paper. Glad to see how you did and how the squirrel looks. That great shooting and keep you up on shooting and put meat in the pot.Thank you for shearing.

[jaysouth]

I wish:

I could hunt were it was safe to shoot up in trees

My state would let us use centerfire for small game.

Good job on your "project".

[rking22]

Nice project, I agree with the concept too. I picked a Kimber 84 Classic in 308 for my do everything hunting rifle. As it played out for me, I discovered it was more about liking different rifles than being logical. Glad your choice played out to your satisfaction. Would be really nice if Tennessee would let us use centerfire for squirrels. Good shooting, sure are easier to drag out than deer, ain’t they

[richhodg66]

Hard to beat a .30 caliber as a do all. The .30-30, .308. 30-06 etc., all load down real easy with cast and can still be thumpers if need be.

[brewer12345]

Nice shooting.

I have done similar with cast in a 357 lever using 38 special standard pressure loads. They seem pretty forgiving since the boolits aren't hitting game fast enough to blow them up or cause expansion, so they just drill a 36 caliber hole through the critter. Have taken bread basket shots on cottontails that show less meat loss than a 22LR hit. I have worked up a load with the lee soup can and my 30-06, but it is definitely supersonic and haven't tried it on game yet.

[davidheart]

Thanks guys! I felt oddly very proud of these two squirrel! It's such a cool feeling.

I wish:

I could hunt were it was safe to shoot up in trees

My state would let us use centerfire for small game.

Good job on your "project".

Oh golly, I wouldn't shoot a rifle, center-fire or rimfire up into a tree. I wait until the squirrel are on the ground or close to it or have a solid backstop for limited bullet travel (thus using a squirrel call). No matter what when firing a rifle one needs to be sure of his target and what's behind it!

We're only allow to hunt small game with a centerfire during large game seasons or designated large game hunts on public property.

[skeettx]

GREAT report
Thank you
Mike

[wch]

The first rule: "Use enough gun".

[s mac]

It's legal to use center-fire here, I have used a 308 for years, 125 gr bullet and 4 grs of Promo. Lots of fun.

[Tripplebeards]

Sounds like I need to switch to a 308 being you made some nice small holes...here’s my first cast rabbit i shot at 136 yards with my Ruger 7744 with a Lyman devastator.

[skeettx]

PLENTY of meat left for the stew pot
Mike

[Treetop]

What a great story, davidheart! One of my absolute favorite hunting past times is hunting bushy tails using cast boolits. My most accurate squirrel load, so far, is the old standby 311291 in front of 5.5 gr. of Alliant Red Dot in .30-30 caliber. It will shoot < 1" at 50 yards which is plenty accurate for my squirrel needs here in the Brazos river bottoms of central Texas.

Thanks for posting your experiences and congrats on your first 2 cast boolit squirrel kills! Treetop

[Murphy]

Sounds like I need to switch to a 308 being you made some nice small holes...here’s my first cast rabbit i shot at 136 yards with my Ruger 7744 with a Lyman devastator.

Think ya' used enough dynamite there, Butch?

Murphy

[15meter]

Not enough gun.

A guy at the local gun club used to talk about hunting squirrels with a 338 Win Mag and cast boolits. He liked to sit at the base of a tree and wait for one to sit on a branch above him.

Then shoot it through the branch.

One of his nicknames is squirrel bait, because he's nuts!!!!

[smoked turkey]

davidheart I too like the .308. Mine is a TC Encore with the ProHunter barrel. I used it to fill my buck tag with a 311291 over 12 gr of Unique. It did a sensational job. Our whitetail are not as heavy as some in the northern part of the state, but I scaled mine at 175 #. It was a nice racked 6 point. It came in directly straight at me and I don't like chest shots but I felt I had no choice and shot it at about 40 yards. It ran about 20 yards and piled up. I finally got it processed and just tonight I made 6# of summer sausage. I also made 6# of breakfast sausage. I have probably a dozen bags of burger and several packages of steaks and a few roasts too. We will get a lot of good eating from it. I got off track but wanted to let you know that I am encouraged by your squirrel report. I need to do that as we are over run with them.