Lee Loader

Hey guys!

I'm just tossing a question out into the forum, as I've been taking baby steps (more like crawling!) getting into the very basics of reloading.

It has recently become a fascination of mine, reading into my new Lyman 50th Edition and my Lee Modern Reloading/2nd Edition books as just how many interesting rounds have been created based on "classic" cartridge cases. A while back, I had one of these outbursts when I began learning about the 7-30 Waters round, based on the .30-30.

In this instance, I have been swept up in the .308-based rounds lately. Not that I even have a rifle or carbine or T/C hand cannon that is loaded for any of these but I am just fascinated by the potential. I'd really enjoy learning more about what folks have had fun with when working up loads and favorite calibers in the .308 cartridge world.

The .243 Win is an appeal, I like that it is offered in many rifles and the new Henry Long Ranger.
7mm-08, .338 Fed, .358 Win - whatever - I like the idea!

What do you want to share about the .308 related family?

Be well.
Adam Lee

Well, my favorite is still the 308 Win. Started shooting it as a youngster in the mid-sixties and still shoot it. I have three rifles chambered in the cartridge. It might seem funny, but in the sixties, the old fellows in the deer camp would moan & %@*&$ about why you would buy that cartridge over a 30-06. The just could not grasp the concept of the short action. As a kid that was started on the 30-30 Win, the 308 Win just seemed a logical jump.

well i've never been a 308 guy, i used her but i didn't care for the 308. it was a rem 760 in 308 and it'd kill several deer and my only one black bear. i took a 243(rem m700a and bdl and m7) out and killed some deer, but again, i didn't care for it. now i don't own a 260, but i've shot it. again its not fer me.

and then the 7-08 with rem m7 came out and i had to buy it. i fell in love luv with it. i took quite a few deer out and i bought my youngest boy one to go with it. i tell everyone, be it an adult or a young'un, buy a 7-08.

i don't own or have the chance to shoot a 338fed or 358win.

When I bought my Ruger American it was a toss up as to either a 308 or 7mm-08. I opted for the 308 prolly because I had about 500 various 30 cal bullets on hand. Still thinkin' about a 7mm-08 though...

mikld wrote:When I bought my Ruger American it was a toss up as to either a 308 or 7mm-08. I opted for the 308 prolly because I had about 500 various 30 cal bullets on hand. Still thinkin' about a 7mm-08 though...

buy it, buy it, buy it....

i'm such an enabler!!!

I have a set dies and a barrel that can be fitted for a 25 Souper . I think that will be interesting .
I have a 308 but it just doesn't speak to me . I like the rifle , it shoots very well and isn't picky about ammo .
The 358 I think we could have deep meaningful conversations . Even up to it's full potential it isn't abusive . No doubt about it a 250 gr bullet clocking 23-2400 fps has your attention but it's nothing like a 180 in a 308 .

The 22-250 isn't technically a 308 since it is actually from the slightly shorter earlier Savage clan . It is a fine varminter and easier on barrels than the 220 Swift and is very close to matching everything it does .

Having included the 22-250 I will also include the 45 Raptor .
Basically it is a 460 S&W rimless using 460 data it is a real thumper .
Rifle powders in a rifle will nudge it up to the bottom end of 45-70 lever guns and the bottom half of the Trapdoor data .

I have three .30-cals but nothing based on .308Win.

If I were to buy a newer bolt I'd lean towards 7-08 or .270 in an older bolt.

I have a lot of psychological gun rules.

GasGuzzler wrote:I have three .30-cals but nothing based on .308Win.

If I were to buy a newer bolt I'd lean towards 7-08 or .270 in an older bolt.

I have a lot of psychological gun rules.

That's a relief - I thought I was the only one with psychological gun rules!!!

That was a good one. I'm gonna remember that line!

Adam

I'm going to divert distract my attention from my job, by making another comment to my original post.

I was reading about the efforts Winchester put into getting the no longer produced Model 88 lever gun rolling, with the .308/.243/.358 chamberings. Too bad that gun didn't last, I've not shot one but seen them at gun shows.
Then I got into learning about Winchester's 94XTR Big Bore lever gun, and how they took their own .308/.358 and developed the semi-rimmed .307/.356 cartridges for that rifle. Pretty neat ballistics/gun history, which I didn't know about!

Of course, it all brought me back here, to the land of the folks who have way more knowledge than I ever will about such things. So, anyone here have any personal history with the interesting iterations of semi-rimmed .307/.356 Win and/or the Win 94XTR Big Bore lever rifles? Seemed like the XTR in that flavor was only produced for a few years in the 80's, with brief runs into the early 90's.

Thank you for your time!
Adam Lee

I owned a Marlin 336ER chambered in 356 Win.



It was a good hunting cartridge, the brass had become tough to find. There is no doubt that with factory ammo it was superior to the 35 Rem but when both cartridges had been run through a reloading press, there was very little difference between the two.

The Win 88 is a slick rifle, and I saw a few in the hands of hunters in South Texas when I was a kid but they were always chambered in 284 Win. If you saw a gentleman with a Sav 99, a similar arm, the bet would be won if you had said it would be a 308 Win. For some reason, as a kid, I pondered that.