Thread: A few 308 questions.

Hi everyone, my new second hand first ever reloading kit arrived this week and like a kid at Christmas, I unwrapped it all with delight. The gear all looks in pretty good condition, some of it almost unused. Since I won the auction I reckon I have clocked up about 30 hours of reading and watching on the subject, and have managed to narrow down the list of questions before getting on here to bother everyone.



1. One of the main reasons for getting into this gig is the property I lease has a significant goat problem, and the amount of ammo I am getting through is getting pricey. I also provide ammo for friends who come to help me out, most of whom also have 308s of their own to use. Now I am bracing myself as I type this, as I know how a lot of you feel about throwing hand loads around varying rifles, but I would like to be able to load a nice mild round that will perform safely in most rifles within 200 yards. I'm sure I have seen the comment "if this bullet won't shoot, nothing will" somewhere, but I can't find it today. They would only be used on goats, so don't need to have massive stopping power.

2. This one should be a bit of fun. The box of bullets pictured below came in the parcel, and looks like none of it has been used. This wouldn't in itself be unusual, but the price written on the box, $3.50, would suggest they have experienced a fair bit of inflation since they were purchased! The box says 180gr Spire Point. Does anybody know anything about them? They look like an Interlock, is that what they are? I assume they will still be good to use? I reckon they would make an excellent bush round for the roar!



The wee powder trickle also has a price on it, a whopping $6.75! Looks like it has never been sullied by powder!

3. Last question, I also would like a nice 400-yard max hunting round for reds. I have read a lot about what will work for that combo, the question is, what of what will work is reliably available at the moment? Preferably locally, either Invercargill or Dunedin for powder. Happy to order projectiles through the post.


Another bit of kit that amused me was the 375 grain 375 H&H projectiles and dies that came in the package. Aside from the exercise of trying to figure out what in NZ would require a hunk of lead like that, I immensely enjoyed telling my wife that it would be silly for me not to invest in a matching rifle to use them up!