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Post your pet Subsonic .308 load!

cttbax

Sergeant
Full Member
Minuteman
Jul 22, 2010
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Augusta GA
www.1911market.com
I finally got my Shark Suppressor and I am ready to try out some subsonic loads.... not coming up with much data on this.

Can y'all help me out? Please post up your pet subsonic .308 load!
 
Re: Post your pet Subsonic .308 load!

Used in a Remington LTR with a 1/12 twist:
Federal Brass
CCI BR2 Primers
10.3 grains Trailboss
Hornady 180 RN
1020 FPS

Used in a custom build Savage with a 1/8 twist:
Lapua Brass
CCI BR2 Primers
11.7 grains of Trailboss
220 Sierra Match King BTHP
1040 FPS

The Hornady load is 1.5-2.0 MOA at 100 yards out of both guns. I didn't expect much out of a hunting bullet. The Sierra load is retarded accurate for a subsonic. It's consistent 0.5-0.75 MOA group at 100 yards.

WARNING: Start higher and work down to the velocities you want. You DON'T want a stuck bullet in your barrel.
 
Re: Post your pet Subsonic .308 load!

Federal brass
180 sierra RN
10.8g Trailboss
Federal Match Primer
2.805 oal

For me seating depth made a pretty big difference. I ended up just about .010 off the lands. Primers also seemed to matter. The federal match and winchesters worked best out of everything I tried.

It shoots under 2 inches @ 100 yards very consistently. Velocity is around 1030 fps.

Remember to work your load DOWN and do it without the suppressor on. Once you get stability sorted out, tweak the load with the can on.
 
Re: Post your pet Subsonic .308 load!

Would be a good idea to post barrel length in your recipe.
Has a lot to do with sub loads.
T

so now that I am home I was loading up
10.5g Trailboss
180g Hornady RN
Win brass
all silently coming out of a 24 inch barreled bolt gun with a can.
 
Re: Post your pet Subsonic .308 load!

Hmmm.. I am having an issue in my subsonic experiment.

Today I picked up a pound of Trail Boss and a pound of unique...

Also some 170 Grain Round point .308 for 30-30... I figured these would be good and slow! Well I rolled up 11 grains of TB, put it to factory OAL 2.800 and she is awfully tight when I chamber the round. My other loads are over 2.800 in OAL, around 2.810. I even shortened it to 2.705 and it still won't chamber... is the contour of the flat point...too fat?

Should I just build a sub load with 175gr SMK or 168 Gr A max's??? I am hoping to test a few loads tomorrow. Any help would be appreciated.


155gr SMK and 170 grain Sierra flat point 30-30 bullet.

2011-09-26_19-58-30_331.jpg
 
Re: Post your pet Subsonic .308 load!

Id sharpie up that bullet and see if you are indeed hitting the lands. Back it up until you get it to not be forced. I figure that ogive is just out too far since it is such a different style of bullet.

Have you tried seating it at the cannelure?

If you use the smk it may or may not shoot better. It is a longer bullet so it is harder to stabilize; this may or may not be an issue based on your twist and conditions. Worth a shot though if you cant get anything else to work. They load backwards pretty well for subs.

True true on the barrel length.
10 twist 18 inch bolt likes the 10.8g TB
10 twist 16 inch bolt likes 10.5g TB


 
Re: Post your pet Subsonic .308 load!

OK I set em back to 2.685 and it chambers perfectly.

I loaded

Lapua Virgin brass
BR-2 Primer
11.0 Grain of Trail Boss
170 Grain Round point 30-30 bullet .308 diameter
2.685


I am going to also load up some @ 10.0 grains and give her a try tomorrow!
 
Re: Post your pet Subsonic .308 load!

Good deal. FWIW i have used the 30 30 150 grain bullets and had good results with them, so I dont see why those 170s wont do well too.

Stick with it until you get PRACTICAL accuracy. Subsonic 308 seems to be a good deal more of a picky pain in the ass than most others, and you probably dont need to make subsonic bug holes lol.
 
Re: Post your pet Subsonic .308 load!

Wow man... what a fun day at the range. I found out that 10 grains of Trail boss with a 170 Grain Sierra 30-30 bullet is VERY accurate at 50 and 100 yards, sub MOA at 50 yards and MOA or a bit better at 100 yards.

Lapua Virgin brass
BR-2 Primer
11.0 Grain of Trail Boss
170 Grain Round point 30-30 bullet .308 diameter
2.685



Of course I am a tool and didn't take any pictures of the groups, they didn't meet the bragging requirements anyways. But here is a you tube video of the differece between a 155 Grain Palma load (Southwest Ammo Props!) and My Mouse fart subsonic load!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OtaP6AdDA80
 
Re: Post your pet Subsonic .308 load!

12.2gns of Trail Boss and a Sierra 220gn RN primed with a CCI 200. It shoots ..OK..
smile.gif


50yd group with a .22LR casing for comparison. It didn't seem to matter what depth I seated to. Ran 1036fps pretty consistently over the Chrony.

I have also used the 170gn Flat Point buullets as well, with excellent results. I will have to go look at my notes for the powder charge of TB on that one, but 10.5 sounds about right.

AACgroup.jpg
 
Re: Post your pet Subsonic .308 load!

I took my 700AAC/SD to the range a week ago to test a few subsonic handloads I was working on...

Results:

Using once-fired Federal brass
180gr Hornady RN
Fed large rifle primers

8.0gr of Titegroup gave me: 935, 903, 920, 932fps. I stopped shooting it after 4 rounds.

TrailBoss @ 10.0 grains gave me these numbers: 998, 993, 953, 985, 964, 986fps... but was grouping 2-3" @ 50 yards. They were loaded a little shorter @ 2.725"... so that may have had something to do with it also.

TrailBoss @ 10.5grains, I saw: 1058, 1061, 1079, 1060, 1049, 1036, 1053, 1111, 1083 and 1057fps... and it was making 1-hole groups @ 50yds. Overall length was right at 2.750"
That extra .5gr made all the difference...
The powder dropper has a hard time with the fluffy TrailBoss powder.
I now weigh each charge individually.

I've since loaded a batch @ 10.4 grains. Just haven't gotten back to the range with it yet.

Using a Leupold MK4 4.5-14x50 at 50 yards...10clicks of elevation put me at the same POI as the 175gr FGMM.

1.jpg
 
Re: Post your pet Subsonic .308 load!

10.8gr trailboss behind a Lapua 200gr Subsonic out of an 18" AAC 1 in 8" twist barrel

about 1.5 moa groups at 300 yards. ~5 seconds from squeezing the trigger to hearing the steel, and it really rainbows them in. you can see the rounds going down range. Still wouldn;t want to catch one though.

madd0c
 
I spent weeks trying to get an idea of where to start for subsonic .308. After having developed a consistent load, I want to post it to make it a little easier on the next guy.

My subsonic load below:

Case: Lake City 7.62x51 once fired in my rifle. Full length size.
Bullet: 220gr Sierra Pro Hunter RN (MFG Part #2180)
Powder: Trail Boss
Charge Weight: 13.7 grains
Primer: Federal 210
COAL: 2.775" In my investigation, this is just about touching the powder without actually compressing it at all. This is about .096" jump in my chamber.
Medium Crimp (through initial load development, my SDs were lower with a crimp as opposed to without)
Rifle: Bolt action, 20" barrel, 1:10 twist

In my rifle, this produces a MV of 1,074 fps (magnetospeed) with a SD in the single digits and about 1 MOA accuracy.
 
My recent favorite sub load for .308
Rem700 Blueprinted
1:8 twist Lilja barrel
10.9gr Trailboss
190 Hornady Sub-X sub expanding
CCI standard primers
seated .20 off lands
Velocity 960fps
Sub 1” @ 50yrds
1” @ 100yrds
9C695288-8B6E-4F67-92DF-149AC2D516AB.jpeg
F0A2B303-2EDB-4C7B-AB5D-7F78CDF6FA92.jpeg
564D96D3-2227-4A63-B03E-7390FC43C9D5.jpeg
 
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No sir I haven’t. I planned on working this load up to take head shots at deer These subx bullets are great and says they expand at 900fps if I’m not mistaken. But that’s 900fps at contact. I’d hate to try any sort of body shot on anything bigger than a coyote or coon. These are out of my 308 I’m still working on a load for the 300blk.
Pretty nice grouping for subs. Have you taken any game with those sub-x's?
 
Pretty nice grouping for subs. Have you taken any game with those sub-x's?
No sir I haven’t. I worked this load up to take head shots on deer at 100yds in. The subx bullets are great and says they will expand at 900fps but that’s 900fps at contact. Don’t think I’d try a body shot on anything bigger than a coyote or coon.
 
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Bring an old thread back up. Just got my supressor stamp back. I have an AI/ AE chambered in 308 with a 20in barrel. It looks like Trail Boss is the go to? I will be banging steel at 50-100 yards and possibly a random coyote.
 
Bring an old thread back up. Just got my supressor stamp back. I have an AI/ AE chambered in 308 with a 20in barrel. It looks like Trail Boss is the go to? I will be banging steel at 50-100 yards and possibly a random coyote.
Try Useing the 160 Hornaday FTX. Work well on a few deer at 100 yds
 
Trail Boss is hard to find right now. Any other recommendations? I read that Lil Gun has been used, I found some data. Thoughts?
 
It sounds like Trail Boss is the go to powder, but around the net and around Reno, NV it is pretty much unobtanium. Can anyone give me some tips/hints on the Hornady 175 grain Sub-X in a Winchester 308 using some other powders?