308 youth rifle project success

[ccoker]

I had posted about a little project around a youth rifle in 308 I had been working on

Browning Micro Hunter and a Vortex Viper 2-7

well, it all came together

Update:
Got to test my accuracy load over a chrono
2754 average
nice, 150 FPS over my targeted goal and it feels about like a 243 shooting it..
I ran the numbers and I am good out to 300 yards with a 200 yard zero
.7" high at 50
2" high at 100
9 down at 300, still going 2200 FPS which is 200 over the minimum opening speed of the Barnes 130 TTSX

Went out to the lease for a hunt, wanting my 13 year old to take a deer or hog with it, unfortunately, he ended up being sick and missing out.

Everyone that checked the gun out at the lease really, really liked it
"this is a perfect grab and go gun" commented one guy
my dad was like "it's very light, points and handles nice, I want one!"

We hunted a few days and I got to test it on a 160lb boar on Sunday morning..
about 75 yards out, aiming for the neck and it took a step right as I sqeeezed the trigger and it went down hard, DRT.
Upon inspection it hit the front of the shoulder, took out the heart and exit the neck far side (it was quartering away)

textbook perfect performance and why I love Barnes bullets.
That shot may have been fine with a high stepping 243 SP, or, it may have blown up on impact which may have resulted in a tracking job, lost pig, or, DRT.... who knows..
What I do know, is that I have absolute faith in the Barnes TTSX


My little super Dave..

[The Annoyed Man]

Very nice! Are you sticking with 130 grain bullets, or have you worked up different loads for it?

[ccoker]

sticking with the 130s

I loaded up 150s with 2g less powder (both starting loads with Reloader 10x) and could feel no recoil difference)
the 130s will shoot flatter and I know they will do the job
I hunt with a 6.8 for hogs and have killed a ton of them with a Barnes 110 at 2650 and 95g at 2800FPS
Both are wicked deadly on hogs, so the slightly larger diameter and heavier I have absolute confidence in

I have a complete writeup on the project on our site

[The Annoyed Man]

sticking with the 130s

I loaded up 150s with 2g less powder (both starting loads with Reloader 10x) and could feel no recoil difference)
the 130s will shoot flatter and I know they will do the job
I hunt with a 6.8 for hogs and have killed a ton of them with a Barnes 110 at 2650 and 95g at 2800FPS
Both are wicked deadly on hogs, so the slightly larger diameter and heavier I have absolute confidence in

I have a complete writeup on the project on our site

What about the stability of the lighter bullet in a 1:12 barrel? I would think you would want a different twist rate than that for a bullet lighter than 147 grains.

[ccoker]

worked fine..
the ideal twist rate for a 130 would even be slower, like a 1 in 14
faster twist rates like a 1 in 11 or 10 are better for the heavier bullets
It shot an honest 1" group pretty much right away with out playing with seating depth and a new barrel
sure that could be tightened up, but given that it's not going to be used for long range use, it's good enough
Now, MY 308, better (and it does) put 5 shots into the same hole, but given the intended use of this gun, it's good to go for hunting