Hunting Washington Forum

Equipment & Gear => Guns and Ammo => Topic started by: Stein on August 15, 2021, 09:23:35 AM

Title: Light Recoil Reloading update
Post by: Stein on August 15, 2021, 09:23:35 AM: I couldn't find my old thread and thought I would post an update as others might find it useful.

We loaded up .243 using this method with the lightest bullets we could find, 55 grain:

https://hodgdon.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/trail-boss-reduced-loads-2018-2.pdf

Took them to the range and wow, those are some light loads for sure. I don't think they are supersonic and were much lighter than I expected. I didn't shoot them myself but judging from the reaction it looked closer to a 7.62 or 556 than .243 for sure.

Grouping was about 2" and pretty inconsistent but I'm guessing we could go through load development and get them tighter if we wanted to. I also didn't load them with much precision and used Wolf primers. We just wanted a couple boxes to get him started and then transition into full loads.

If you have a kid starting out or someone that likes shooting but not recoil, it's a great way to go. We didn't have much trouble finding Trail Boss, probably not the most popular powder out there.
Title: Re: Light Recoil Reloading update
Post by: BigGoonTuna on August 15, 2021, 01:45:19 PM: i've done some reduced loading with shooter's world "buffalo rifle" powder. they claim that it can be used in just about anything, and i've read that it's basically accurate 5744 under a different name. i use it primarily in my .375 ruger, makes it feel like shooting a .270. accuracy has been great, too.
Title: Re: Light Recoil Reloading update
Post by: Stein on August 15, 2021, 03:44:27 PM: We upped the charge today a bit and he shot a 5 shot 1" group which was pretty surprising to me. It's a great way to get more reps without blowing out a shoulder. He's good for about a box of full power loads and we can do a second box of reduced recoil and work on technique and other things which seems to be super helpful.