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Russ,

Unhappy with the 308??? What's wrong...not grouping or peeved with the bullet drop?

:?

He's bound to be unhappy, it has a jacked bullet propelled by smokeless powder out of a rimless case. Ammunition like that was bound to let down.

Now if he was using a proper cartridge.

I tried a 308 many years ago and always thought the recoil outweighed any accuracy benefits (this was pre-moderator days) over equivalent calibres.
Since buying a Sako 308 for stalking, I have had some strange results of shots on live quarry (namely roe and red deer). It may just be a confidence thing really. A couple of roe have managed to walk off after perfect engine room shots, and a red not only walked off after a heart/lung shot, but had the audacity to actually wait up a ride for me to finish it with a second shot (to the neck)!

These were all with 180gn bullets.

I am determined to give the Sako a good go though, and will be spending some serious time on the range in the next few weeks developing a 165gn load. May be when I get some confidence in the rifle, the confidence will pass to the calibre.

I also think I have been spoiled quite a bit by owning a 300WSM

dromia wrote:He's bound to be unhappy, it has a jacked bullet propelled by smokeless powder out of a rimless case. Ammunition like that was bound to let down.
Now if he was using a proper cartridge.

Gotta admit to using BP in the 45-70 every now and again, and using my own cast 400gn bullets. Does that count?

What do you reckon, Dromia?

:lol: :lol:

Its definitely a good start.

Russ,

Welcome, sounds like you will be able to add a lot to our discussions.

47/70? Lovely, I have a repro Sharps with a repro Williams bowl scope.

Serious fun.

Anyway, a warm welcome to the forum.

:cheers:

Welcome Russ! :cheers:

manc-munsters wrote: I am determined to give the Sako a good go though, and will be spending some serious time on the range in the next few weeks developing a 165gn load. May be when I get some confidence in the rifle, the confidence will pass to the calibre.

Good to see you on here Russ.

If I can help, I'll have a rake through my benchloading stuff, and try to sway you towards Hornady once again!

I'm a big fan of Hornady Dan. The 100gn RNSP is a reliable, effective, roe dropper in the 243. Its just the 180's in the 308 that failed (twice!). Like I said, I am going to try to get some confidence in the rifle with the 165's, then I'll give the 18's another try. Its no good shooting anything less than a 180gn in the 308 really, as the 7mm throws 140-160's well enough