It does pay to be cautious

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I've been feeling a bit nostalgic about my ole BLR 308 lately , she's had very little use for the last 7 or 8 years or so since i bought a T3x 7rm and more recently another T3x in 243. My BLR was my main hunting rifle at one time for a good 20 years especially through the 1990s . Back then i reloaded for it using 47.5gr of W748 behind a 150gr Hornady Spire Point .
Been thinking i should take it hunting again and see if i can shoot a deer just for old times sake, i did have some factory Precision hunter ammo with the 178gr eldx that the rifle grouped ok with but had used them up so when i was informed that they are now $120 a box (the one i had was $75 lol) i thought may as well buy anther tub of W748 which i did and also found some 180gr interlocks (good stag medicine up close).
My old sierra manual listed 45.5 gr as a max load, found some more up to date loads online from sierra that listed 44.5 gr max. Nosler data listed 44gr max and hodgdon list 46.5 as a max load so a bit of variation there.
So loaded up some test rounds starting from 42gr going up in half gr increments to 44gr.
Both the 42gr loads went well with a 3 shot group at 50 mtrs you could cover with a 50 cent piece (good enough for a close shot bush hunting) and a 2 moa+ group at 100mtrs , which is about as good as i expected with this gun, its not a pretty sight looking down the bore.
The 43 gr load shot much the same but it did feel like it was getting up there, but no real pressure signs, but the 43.5 gr load defiantly was another level with hard to extract cases , had to give the lever a good yank to extract the case and a very flattened off primer.
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You can see the 43.5 gr cases on top of the photo with the 43gr cases below. I remember awhile back when i was living in Perth WA and returning for my yearly roar trips buying a some hornady superformance ammo 150g sst and had the same thing , the rifle did not like them either with hard to extract cases and flattened off primers.
So in conclusion ill just use the 42gr load , no idea what speeds they are doing but it doesn't matter for close range bush hunting where this rifle thrives and hope to post the result's of a successful hunt sometime.
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Yes I found the super performance loads far too hot and inconsistent. Blrs are lovely rifles,it deserves to be used.i do miss the one I had.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Micky Duck

Yes I found the super performance loads far too hot and inconsistent. Blrs are lovely rifles,it deserves to be used.i do miss the one I had.

Yes they are lovely rifles, a bit heavy with the steel receiver, but there worst feature is there bloody horrible trigger. No gently squeezing the trigger on these, they must be at least 4lbs pressure with a good amount of creep thrown in for good measure. What works for me is try to take up some of the pressure and creep and try and maintain a smooth follow through when you fire.
Anyhoo the point of my post that i forgot to add at the end was even though i am familiar with this rifle and w748 powder i hit pressure a bit earlier than i expected at 43 gr which is a full 3.5 gr below Hodgdons listed max of 46.5 so it does pay to be cautious !!