Hello , just wondering If anyone has had much experience with 308 subsonic loads using lead bullets for fox shooting ? If so does it foul your barrel With lead or do the lubes Work really well ? Can you purchase lead bullets the exact size for barrel or would l have to Size them , or have I got to cast bullets ? Finally is there much expansion or do they pass through and ricochet ? Just wondering as I’ve a very sensitive shooting spot where I normally take my 22 rimfire and have to head shoot them . I wondered what a 308 sub would do through the chest.
308 subsonic lead bullets ?
- Thread starter scooby243
- Start date
Subsonic velocity isn’t enough to foul barrels. I forget the magic number, its 1,600 ft./sec or something like that. Someone can correct that if they know better.
I use cast lead in two .308s at 1070fps, don’t have any fouling issues, and switch between subs and full power loads on the same hunt with no ill effects.
I kill deer, goats and pigs with subsonic cast lead bullets and unless your foxes are made from carbon fibre and kyptonite, they will die just the same.
Search for subsonic .308 under my name and you’ll find pictures of expanded 151gr hollow points, dead animals and other relevant stuff.
I use cast lead in two .308s at 1070fps, don’t have any fouling issues, and switch between subs and full power loads on the same hunt with no ill effects.
I kill deer, goats and pigs with subsonic cast lead bullets and unless your foxes are made from carbon fibre and kyptonite, they will die just the same.
Search for subsonic .308 under my name and you’ll find pictures of expanded 151gr hollow points, dead animals and other relevant stuff.
gonzo
Well-Known Member
I have loaded gallery loads, using cast 158gn bullets, with a gas check.
I can't find any chrono data off hand. But they are probably going aound the 1000fps mark.
At that speed they are subsonic and I don't see any leading issues. (I am using a mix of roughly 5% antimony. Though this is a guess from a hardness test. As my mix is coming from range scrap.)
The gas check is possibly not necessary, but the bullet mould throws bullets that have a rebate on the base for the gas check, so I add one, just to fill that void. They are sized to 309thou in a Lee sizer, using mostly the Lee liquid alox. As I don't have any sizing dies for my main lube sizers (so not a more normal wax lube).
They group OK, at the 50yd range I use. Prob a 4" group, which with the iron sights I am using, is prob more my shooting than any problem with the rounds.
If you want loading data, the Lee Cast Bullet Manual is the place to go.
My loads are very experimental, so would not offer them unless someone is a quite seasoned loader.
No idea what the expansion would be or the terminal ballistics. This is just against paper.
I've never looked for commercial cast bullets in anything other than pistol type calibres.
(Though a 32acp pistol bullet makes a fun plinking 308 round. Though the weight/speed/twist rate are all wrong and the accuracy is laughable. But great fun seeing the reactions when you bring one to the little local indoor 25yd range.)
I can't find any chrono data off hand. But they are probably going aound the 1000fps mark.
At that speed they are subsonic and I don't see any leading issues. (I am using a mix of roughly 5% antimony. Though this is a guess from a hardness test. As my mix is coming from range scrap.)
The gas check is possibly not necessary, but the bullet mould throws bullets that have a rebate on the base for the gas check, so I add one, just to fill that void. They are sized to 309thou in a Lee sizer, using mostly the Lee liquid alox. As I don't have any sizing dies for my main lube sizers (so not a more normal wax lube).
They group OK, at the 50yd range I use. Prob a 4" group, which with the iron sights I am using, is prob more my shooting than any problem with the rounds.
If you want loading data, the Lee Cast Bullet Manual is the place to go.
My loads are very experimental, so would not offer them unless someone is a quite seasoned loader.
No idea what the expansion would be or the terminal ballistics. This is just against paper.
I've never looked for commercial cast bullets in anything other than pistol type calibres.
(Though a 32acp pistol bullet makes a fun plinking 308 round. Though the weight/speed/twist rate are all wrong and the accuracy is laughable. But great fun seeing the reactions when you bring one to the little local indoor 25yd range.)
Foxyboy43
Well-Known Member
I use 308 Sierra 168gns with the Hodgdon book load of Titegroup for my subs - so unless you are using large numbers I am not sure why you would take the bother with lead when these do the job well off the shelf?
PS my avatar picture was the result of this load at 50m. Also works well in 7.62x54R and great fun at the range especially watching guys who have not "heard" them before!
PS my avatar picture was the result of this load at 50m. Also works well in 7.62x54R and great fun at the range especially watching guys who have not "heard" them before!
palmer_mike
Well-Known Member
Hornady make a subsonic bullet you might want to try, think it’s called sub-x
phaedra
Well-Known Member
ShellHouse Bullets do a nice 165gr RNFP, I use them in both the 300AAC and 308 at about 990fps, sub 1" groups at 25m.
Loading over either 3.5gr of Viht N310 in both calibres or 9.4gr of N120 for the 300AAC
I also have some of their 115gr round nose but not had a a chance to try them yet.
shellhousebulletcompany.com
PM me your address and I'll send you 10 to try out
Loading over either 3.5gr of Viht N310 in both calibres or 9.4gr of N120 for the 300AAC
I also have some of their 115gr round nose but not had a a chance to try them yet.
165gr .30-30 sized to .309 — ShellHouse Castings
A 165gr .30-30 head sized to .309 available in the following quantities: 100 250 500
shellhousebulletcompany.com
PM me your address and I'll send you 10 to try out
Where did you get the data for these loads?ShellHouse Bullets do a nice 165gr RNFP, I use them in both the 300AAC and 308 at about 990fps, sub 1" groups at 25m.
Loading over either 3.5gr of Viht N310 in both calibres or 9.4gr of N120 for the 300AAC
I also have some of their 115gr round nose but not had a a chance to try them yet.
165gr .30-30 sized to .309 — ShellHouse Castings
A 165gr .30-30 head sized to .309 available in the following quantities: 100 250 500
PM me your address and I'll send you 10 to try out
Foxyboy43
Well-Known Member
For info - a 165gn travelling at 1000fps generates c.360 ft lbs or about the same as a 22 magnum (from memory) though of course the trajectory will be a tad different! As the fox is a pretty lightweight animal I suspect that the 308 sierra bullet will likely not "perform" at all (nor perhaps will a lead bullet??) but is likely to be a greater diameter than the "performed" 22 magnum which, depending on construction and distance, will disintegrate/fragment. In any event assuming you can deliver to where it counts Mr Fox will in every sense not know what has hit him! The question is why subsonic 308 for fox at all??
phaedra
Well-Known Member
The 300AAC N120 load is from Viht's data, the N310 data is from the excellent work by C E Harris and Matten, the info is posted by one of the moderators in the library section of the Full-Bore UK forum,
Cheers.
I did look up the 300aac on Viht’s app after I guess you could use with caution similar loads from the 300 to the 308 for subs
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