Texas Hunting Forum: Making reduced loads

If I remember right Partitions take at least an impact speed of 1800 fps to open and mushroom correctly...and BT's requirements are a little softer than that down around 1600 fps.
KB is right about using a lighter bullet even at the slower speeds.

When I began to research what to buy last year to learn to shoot again with a different geometry in my neck and cheek from all the tissue that had been removed, I was initially looking at using a 308Win and 30-30 style & strength bullet that would open and mushroom at substantially lower speeds without coming apart in a shallow non killing penetration of a deer sized animal like a varmint bullet will do.

I wanted to be able to A. allow myself plenty of practice trigger time without wrecking what I was doing in Rehab for recovery of my heavily damaged shoulder and neck, and B.accomplish a decent deer sized killing bullet performance out to about 200-250 yards.

That low speed 30-30 bullet out of a 308 premise is still valid with 170gr 30-30's running at 1450fps to 1750fps out of a 308 case, but I discovered that a very slow 270 would also do the job ...but a 6.5 Swede would do the job even better as Swede bullets are already loaded to pressure ranges about 10k cup lower than the lowest 270's and with 8x12" twist rate are world reknowned for their deep penetration using the 264's long skinny bullets that have very high BC's & SD's in 270 bullet weight ranges.

My current go to load in the 6.5x55 is a 120gr Sierra ProHunter at about 2650-2700fps at 3 grains UNDER max ... that I have been able to shoot 50+ rounds at a session in nothing but a T shirt...and gets close to one hole groups or has given me 5 shots in under a 1/2". I've started working on a 140 gr load but I'm not there yet.
This kind of performance out of my Tikka T3 6.5 Swede is what led me to sell of all my 270 bullets recently... but I still got a NIB T3 SS/syn 270 rifle in the closet just waiting to get back in the game.

OBTW...make double sure that the Girl Friend is wearing double muffs 'cause you'd be surprised how many folks learn to flinch at the noise and are not really concerned with the recoil.
Ron

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