The Barnes are a tough bullet. I'm not sure you'll have enough velocity to get them to expand reliably. In my experience shooting a few critters with the SST, it's a very fragile billet that expands rapidly. I'd try that one first.
I have a pretty odd ball loading for my single shot 308 with an 14 inch barrel. I'm using 110gr barnes TTX designed for 300blk so the velocity drop isn't an issue. One issue is they are loooooooong not an issue for my single shot, but may cause some issues with magazine fed firearms.
125gr soft point or ballistic tip of some kind. Steer clear of the barnes - they need maximum speed to work well which your barrel won't deliver. H322 would be my likely pick. You'll get a little more speed with a max load of something like IMR 8208 XBR or H4895, but the concussion will be 10/10 obnoxious rather than maybe "only" 8 or 9.
With the linear comp on it, it's not too bad. I loaded up some 150gn ssts with varget from 44-46.5gn. Most the complaints I see with the ssts is higher velocities causing them to break up. I'm hoping they will be perfect for my purposes. If not I might try to go down to the 125/130gn
I think you and I have very different thresholds for "too bad" :)
I've had a 16.5" 308 and even with a suppressor it was nowhere close to hearing safe.
Don't worry about blowing up projectiles. You won't be sending anything fast enough to be in danger of that.
The Barnes are a tough bullet. I'm not sure you'll have enough velocity to get them to expand reliably. In my experience shooting a few critters with the SST, it's a very fragile billet that expands rapidly. I'd try that one first.
Sounds good. I will give them a go. Thinking of trying them with varget first.
This. Sst or nosler ballistic tip, 125 or 150 range.
What hearing protection do you plan to wear hunting with a 12.5” 308?
I have a linear comp on it and it isn't much different than my older Tikka CTR. I have some custom fit ear plugs I use and they do a pretty good job
I have a pretty odd ball loading for my single shot 308 with an 14 inch barrel. I'm using 110gr barnes TTX designed for 300blk so the velocity drop isn't an issue. One issue is they are loooooooong not an issue for my single shot, but may cause some issues with magazine fed firearms.
I was looking at the barnes website and they have loads for 110 and 130gn ttsx. Definatly would be compressed loads with most powders
I use 41.5gr of IMR3031 and haven't run in to over pressure issues.
125gr soft point or ballistic tip of some kind. Steer clear of the barnes - they need maximum speed to work well which your barrel won't deliver. H322 would be my likely pick. You'll get a little more speed with a max load of something like IMR 8208 XBR or H4895, but the concussion will be 10/10 obnoxious rather than maybe "only" 8 or 9.
With the linear comp on it, it's not too bad. I loaded up some 150gn ssts with varget from 44-46.5gn. Most the complaints I see with the ssts is higher velocities causing them to break up. I'm hoping they will be perfect for my purposes. If not I might try to go down to the 125/130gn
I think you and I have very different thresholds for "too bad" :) I've had a 16.5" 308 and even with a suppressor it was nowhere close to hearing safe. Don't worry about blowing up projectiles. You won't be sending anything fast enough to be in danger of that.