.308 - 165 grain Historical Question

[filmjunkie4ever]

Due to rain ruining my deer scouting trip (the roads on the private ground were so muddy that I feared tearing them up) I have been doing a lot of "in-house" projects today.

Does anyone know approximately when the 165 grain bullet became available in factory loaded .30-06 Springfield ammunition?

As a component?

A year would suffice. Was just curios as to when this great bullet weight became first available thanks!

 

[Guy Miner]

Good question - I don't know.

Seems when I was a kid in the 1960's the choice was always between the 150's and 180's, then by the time I was making my own shopping trips for bullets in the 1970's, there were 165's to choose as well. Pretty sure that Dad and I started using 165's for our .308 & .30-06 rifles sometime in the early/mid 1970's.

I didn't keep many of my old manuals from back then. I think most of my 30-40 year old loading/gun info is gone, gone, gone...

Guy

 

[DrMike]

My "Speer No. 6 Manual" (1964) shows the 165 grain Hot Cor as one option. Checking my sources, the Speer No. 5 Manual shows the availability of the 165 grain bullet (as does the Hornady No. 1), whereas the Speer No. 4 Manual for Wildcat Cartridges does not list a 165 grain bullet. Handloader No. 6 (1966), lists 165 grain bullets. Unsurprisingly, the Nosler No. 1 (1976) lists 165 grain Protected Point Partitions, 165 grain Spitzer Partition and 165 grain Match bullets. Unfortunately, I don't have publication dates for several of these. Dave Anderson began working with Speer in 1963, and he worked on the Speer Reloading Manual No. 5 through 11, so the date of that data would be around 1963. Maybe this all helps.

 

[Tjay]

My 1964 Lyman loading manual list 165 gr. Hornady spire points as a bullet they tested.

 

[filmjunkie4ever]

Thanks fellas. I don't need the exact date. Early to mid 1960's will suffice.

Thanks again -

Dale