Took the plunge..

[cheapshot]

How do I keep steering myself towards these addictions?

A little back story. I put together my first AR earlier this year and have really loved it. I love it so much I decided I want to set it up with a 300 AAC upper and use it for some deer hunting this year. If you have looked for any 300 BLK ammo, you know it can't be found. I have been planning on starting to reload for a while but this decision forced me. Not to mention I had a couple hundred bucks that the little lady didn't know about. So...

Spent the afternoon yesterday cleaning out an area off of the laundry room that has collected nothing but dust and junk over the past couple of years and it is now my official reloading room! I picked up a double tumbler from HF yesterday and started tumbling all the .223 brass I have built up to turn into 300 BLK.

I ordered a Lee 50th anniversary kit and a set of Lee dies. Waiting on them now. I am as excited as a camel on Wednesday!

So, any advice on where to start with the 300 BLK for hunting? I have a LGS here that has just about everything you can imagine for reloading. When I go in there and look at the different powders I get overwhelmed. Where to start? And with the .308 bullets, again, so many choices.

I have read that many who hunt with the 300 use a 125gr bt for the most part. Any other recommendations? So here are my questions.
1) Good all purpose powder for me to get started with?
2) Should I stick with a 125gr bullet or have you had success with anything else?
3) Any advice for a complete noob to reloading?

[rjtfroggy]

IMHO the best advice is for you to start by buying at least 2-3 different manuals and read them and then reread them. Then go to the powder makers sites and store them in your favorites list for easy access to different loads.
Pay attention to all the safety precautions and until you are real sure of yourself do not play with over max. loads.
Be safe and have fun.

[earl39]

^^^^ what froggy said

[TC260]

I have read that many who hunt with the 300 use a 125gr bt for the most part. Any other recommendations? So here are my questions.
2) Should I stick with a 125gr bullet or have you had success with anything else?

I don't hunt with the 300 blk but I do hunt with a handgun and the 125 Ballistic Tip is a solid performer on deer at reduced velocities. Being new to reloading, practicing with a less expensive bullets is a good idea but for hunting stick with what works. Reduced velocity deer hunting can be a little tricky. With the right bullet you'll get great performance on deer. With the wrong bullet (which most are since most are designed for higher velocities ) it can be a spectacular failure.

[Sieves85]

I shoot and reload the 300 blk. A good place to start is to go over to 300blktalk.com and look at the thousands of recipes they have. Most people favor the Barnes 110 grain black tip bullets. They have designed the bullet specifically for the blackout. Unfortunately that bullet is very hard to find right now. Other good options are the 125 grain SST from hornady, or as you stated, the 125 nosler ballistic tip. As far as powder goes, in an ar-15, its almost exclusively H110 and lil-gun. Hope this helps.

[cheapshot]

I shoot and reload the 300 blk. A good place to start is to go over to 300blktalk.com and look at the thousands of recipes they have. Most people favor the Barnes 110 grain black tip bullets. They have designed the bullet specifically for the blackout. Unfortunately that bullet is very hard to find right now. Other good options are the 125 grain SST from hornady, or as you stated, the 125 nosler ballistic tip. As far as powder goes, in an ar-15, its almost exclusively H110 and lil-gun. Hope this helps.

That is a big help. Everything I have seen so far refers to the h110 and lil' gun. I have started my search for bullets in the 125 range and am having a very hard time finding any. My LGS is closed on Tuesdays so I have to wait until tomorrow to see what he has.

[Sieves85]

Glad I could be of service. Also look at (I think) Winchester 296. I I'm pretty sure its 296. Anyway, its an identical powder to h110.

If you are planning on hunting small game, I've heard the 110g v-max bullet works pretty good. I have used it, but never for hunting. I live in Illinois, and evidently if we had rifles to hunt deer we would all kill each other, so shotguns and muzzleloaders only. Boo.