2nd doe this season with 308 and cast #315

Ole_270

Well-Known Member
Got the 2nd doe this morning, used the old JC Higgins 308 with Saeco #315 clone @2200fps I've been working with for a year or so. Shot was 100 yards, near broadside, a bit higher on the shoulder than planned, exit was just behind the far shoulder and over 2" diameter. More damage than I like, but she only went 30 yards or so. The first doe was also at roughly 100 yards, alerted and facing me. Shot hit the inside of the right shoulder, crossed over and exited the left flank, entered the ham and exited (I think, never found the bullet). I think I'll drop down to the 2000 fps area next year. The boys are talking about a hog hunt in Texas this spring, Not sure but this combo and my 38-55 with 250 cast will be the rifles of choice for that hunt.
 

Ian

Notorious member
Those truncated-nose bullets do a lot of damage. I'd stick with the same load for pigs.
 

Ole_270

Well-Known Member
Probably will Ian, plenty of penetration with the 180 gr weight at that velocity. Need to do a bit more charting of drops before then. Right now I'm about 1.0" high at 100 and 1.5" low at 150. Need to put it on paper at various ranges just for peace of mind.
Thinking the scoped 308 along with the peep sighted 336 38-55 would make a good pair to cover different hunting conditions for hogs.
 

Ian

Notorious member
The higher velocity isn't needed for penetration, but for destruction. I put 11 holes (according to my witness of 14 rapid-fire attempts) through a medium sow with my 300 BLK packing .45 ACP energy at the impact range (a little under 100 yards) and she got through a fence and ran off. Subsonic, non-expanding, slippery powder-coated bullets didn't do enough damage to stop her. Obviously no CNS or big-bone hits there. Tough FN or TC designs with some speed behind them....or spire-point alloyed to squish at specific velocities over 2200 fps impact speed...will deal a lot of damage. Speed kills. A WFN at 1800 MV (15-1600 impact velocity) will also kill well on thin-skinned game and cause minimal damage to edibles but isn't the ticket for pigs where it just makes holes that plug up promptly with fat.

I think NOE puts an estimated BC on their bullet drawings and IIRC produce a similar bullet. Putting that information into some velocity and drop tables might be very enlightening with regard to downrange energy. As an example, my MP 30-180 Silhouette starting off at 2450 fps is only going something like 1800 at 300 yards and it has a pretty high BC. The alloy I'm using is soft and works at the minimum velocity/maximum range but had to be powder-coated to take the launch stress. They also had something like 5" of drop at 200 yards with a 100-yard zero and 3' of drop at 400 yards, actual. I didn't get to shoot them at 300.
 

fiver

Well-Known Member
you gotta get over 2600 fps even with jacketed bullets to make the trajectory flatten out appreciably.
it's kind of the magic number.
we all know cast has it's limitations which can be tweaked to many different situations, the unfortunate thing is we don't know which one we are gonna face when hunting.
the best we really can do is set our parameters and stay within them.
 

Ole_270

Well-Known Member
I think NOE puts an estimated BC on their bullet drawings and IIRC produce a similar bullet. Putting that information into some velocity and drop tables might be very enlightening with regard to downrange energy.

This is the NOE version of the #315 and I have put their BC number into the Shooter app on my phone, just need to verify by shooting at longer than 125 yards.
If I fill the last of my doe tags it will be in the timber with the Marlin 336 bored out to 38-55. Took one a year ago with the big flat nosed 250 gr Accurate 38-250B, 9 bhn @1600 fps at 35 yards. More bruising than I wanted, I'll try one at 1400 this year, still over the original black powder velocity. I prefer the 1400 fps load, but no question that 1600 version put the knock down on the deer. Not many critters would stop that nearly 1" long bullet at either speed, but there is more thump with the 1600 load.
 
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RBHarter

West Central AR
The 457132 @ 535 zeroed at 150 yd and 1100 fps is 8" high at 100 ,8" low at 200 and carries 1000ftlb past 350 yd where it's about 8 ft low . The truck is still there if you can hit em' with it . Since it's a sub or really close to it you can get by pretty soft .......at least that's one plan .

I have a 75/24.5/.5cu for a 35-250 at 2100
Screenshot_20191210-190346.png
From Strelok shooting app .

Someplace in my stuff I have a reference sheet from 2 sources with BCs for 300+ cast bullets by number , the big 3 anyway .
 
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L Ross

Well-Known Member
That reminds me. I bought one of those NOE 315s, I wonder where I put it? I know I bought it in the last 3, 4, 5 years maybe? I got so comfortable plinking steel with the Lee 312-155-2R and the XCB bullet I forgot all about the 315. Now where the heck.........
 

Ole_270

Well-Known Member
Think you'd really like the #315 as a hunting bullet. I'm having a hard time seeing much of a reason not to use it out to 150 yards or so after what I've seen this fall. Might work fine farther out, but I really don't have much chance to find out on my hunting grounds.
 

fiver

Well-Known Member
150 yds and under is really perfect for a 30 cal cast bullet of moderate launch speed.
the trajectory isn't wild or crazy and you can get away with just about any alloy from about 8 to 12 bhn.
 

L Ross

Well-Known Member
Typical shot for me in my hardwoods is 50 yards. Trying to think over the last 16 years since I've owned this if I have shot any deer much farther, maybe 60-70 but that's about it. .250-3000, .270, three 7x57s, 30-30, .308, .30-06, 8x57, .35 Whelen, .44-40, .40-70, 45-90. Cast in .30-30, .30-06, .35 Whelen, .44-40, .40-70, and .45-90. The only bang flops came with the .270 with 130 gr. Speer Hot-Cors slowed down to about 2,600 fps. Two bucks, siblings I think, 12 yards apart. Everything else, cast or jacketed ran 10 to 50 yards. I really need to use my .33 Winchester next year, I got a beautiful mould from Accurate. Casts perfect bullets. Trouble is when I really want to put an eater in the freezer I know a scoped rifle gives me the best chance.
 

Ole_270

Well-Known Member
Well, add a 3rd doe to the list for the 308. Movement patterns and a storm moving in convinced me to sit on a bean field that made the iron sighted 38-55 a bit too much handicap. Had a doe quartering towards me at 90 yards, made the mistake of taking on the shoulder joint. The bullet not only made it through, but exited the far flank. Sure made a mess of that shoulder though.
 

fiver

Well-Known Member
yep..
the first day I didn't take the 30-30 figuring I'd be shooting 100+yds through some tight holes I ended up shooting one at 10 yards through the grass.
over gunned, over scoped,, is just as much of a handicap as being under.

still hard to beat the penetration of your combination even if it does mush up some stuff from time to time.
 

Rally

NC Minnesota
My "problem" is I want to try different bullets in different guns, and not nearly enough season to do that. Like this year, I ended up hunting in a different spot than planned, due to people being everywhere. Could have easily used my .30-30 and the 165 RD and been just fine for the 40 yard shot I got. The .30-06 with a 195 FP worked well, but isn't the rig I would have chosen for where I ended up hunting. Venison tastes the same though.
 

Ole_270

Well-Known Member
I hear you there, got more deer legal rifles than I'd want the wife to know about, each has to come out to play once in a while.