Really light load or new rifle?
Posted: Tue Apr 30, 2019 12:14 pm
Hey guys,
My boy drew a sweet western elk tag for this fall and I'm trying to figure out "the best way" to arm the kid. He's 12 yrs old and on the small side, about 85#. So the rifle weight and recoil are still part of the equation.
We've already got...
1) Tikka lite compact in 243 that is a tack driver (thanks to advice from the guys on this board), but I've decided that 243 is too light for elk.
2) The Garand in 30-06, kinda heavy for the kid to carry.
3) Browning A-Bolt in 300wsm, which generally has too much recoil for the 85#er, but he's OK with the size and weight of the rifle.
I think I'm stuck with either reloading the 300wsm down to 308 energies or buying a new rifle.
So what about loading the 300wsm to fire a 180 gr Partition at about 2400 fps (a medium-light load in 308)?
The Nosler (7) book indicates that a minimum load (60 gr) of IMR 4350 would fill 89% of the case and result in 2736 fps for the 180 gr Partition, which is still 120 fps faster than the hottest 308 load for the 180 gr Partition. There are other loads in the book that fill the case as little as 80%.
Do I try to find a power that has lower density so I can load fewer grains without having a mostly empty case?
Does one use filler materials, like cotton wad to keep the powder stuffed down at the base of the case by the primer?
Is this kind of reloading too close to funky burn behavior and pressure spikes for a 'casual' reloader?
Thanks, BillL
My boy drew a sweet western elk tag for this fall and I'm trying to figure out "the best way" to arm the kid. He's 12 yrs old and on the small side, about 85#. So the rifle weight and recoil are still part of the equation.
We've already got...
1) Tikka lite compact in 243 that is a tack driver (thanks to advice from the guys on this board), but I've decided that 243 is too light for elk.
2) The Garand in 30-06, kinda heavy for the kid to carry.
3) Browning A-Bolt in 300wsm, which generally has too much recoil for the 85#er, but he's OK with the size and weight of the rifle.
I think I'm stuck with either reloading the 300wsm down to 308 energies or buying a new rifle.
So what about loading the 300wsm to fire a 180 gr Partition at about 2400 fps (a medium-light load in 308)?
The Nosler (7) book indicates that a minimum load (60 gr) of IMR 4350 would fill 89% of the case and result in 2736 fps for the 180 gr Partition, which is still 120 fps faster than the hottest 308 load for the 180 gr Partition. There are other loads in the book that fill the case as little as 80%.
Do I try to find a power that has lower density so I can load fewer grains without having a mostly empty case?
Does one use filler materials, like cotton wad to keep the powder stuffed down at the base of the case by the primer?
Is this kind of reloading too close to funky burn behavior and pressure spikes for a 'casual' reloader?
Thanks, BillL