Loading for Service Rifle

I've had excellent results from Nosler's 155 & 168 HPBT match bullets, but have not tried their .224 offerings.
The .308s perform very similar to Sierras so I would expect similar results.
 
beltfed said:
I've had excellent results from Nosler's 155 & 168 HPBT match bullets, but have not tried their .224 offerings.
The .308s perform very similar to Sierras so I would expect similar results.
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That is exactly what I thought. I have had excellent results with the Nosler 155 and liked the price, too.

But in 4 different rifles, the Sierra 77 works well and the Nosler sucks. Like 5" at 100 yards....

This is one of the rifles.

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I have not shot Service Rifle with 223. But I used to shoot target rifle, and found that at 300 yards if there was any wind the 69 MK moved around quite a bit, so I shot the 80MK.

The Sierra, Nosler and Hornady 75/77gr HP bullet is designed to be seated to magazine length and to give superior wind bucking for the AR shooter. That is why I started with that bullet.

My first and second load tests were to identify a powder and load that showed promise. I get a bit more than 1" (Sierra 77) at 100 using a 9X scope, random range pick up brass and thrown charges. That will be followed up with new brass, weighed charges, match primers and a 20X scope.

The Nosler is a mystery. Cheap 55 FMJ bullets shoot groups half that size.
 
I have used the 77SMK, and it shot well. Have also tried the Nosler 69s. They seemed to be comparable to the SMK 69s. Wouldn't feel bad using them if I did not have any SMKs. No experience with the Nosler 77s. I would have expected better accuracy than you are observing.
 
From what I have found you can dump 69gr Noslers and SMKs in the same container and happily load away.
They are the same weight, length and give the same velocity so I get the same POI.

Of course I think 35sec rundowns and 4x optics are the way to go Service Rifle wise, and would rather go for a run than worry about .1MOA.
 
Gunnerlove said:
From what I have found you can dump 69gr Noslers and SMKs in the same container and happily load away.
They are the same weight, length and give the same velocity so I get the same POI.

Of course I think 35sec rundowns and 4x optics are the way to go Service Rifle wise, and would rather go for a run than worry about .1MOA.
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I'm going to use a Mark4 1.5x5x30 so I should be good to go
 
Currently yes, but the current classifications are terrible and do a disservice to the sport.
Pretty sure classifications will be changing here in BC this fall and it is long overdue.
 
Gunnerlove said:
From what I have found you can dump 69gr Noslers and SMKs in the same container and happily load away.
They are the same weight, length and give the same velocity so I get the same POI.

Of course I think 35sec rundowns and 4x optics are the way to go Service Rifle wise, and would rather go for a run than worry about .1MOA.
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+1

You know I am on your side on this.
 
Copied from your other thread Ganderite.

Ganderite I usually shoot 77mks through my service rifle but they were hard to find out here in BC. I could find the Noslers no problem though, so I bought some. My SR gun has a 19" Kreiger 1/7.8 on it with a Wylde chamber. My MK load was 24.5 gr Varget and it shoots in the .5-.6s pretty regular, so after some measurements to make sure they were pretty similar, I loaded up the Noslers and proceeded to duplicate the groups I usually shoot with the MKs. They shot to the same point of aim, the same size groups and I ran the exact same dope back to 500m. Then I took them to NSCC and proceeded to win a national championship with them, shooting a new Canadian record score in the process. They seem to work just fine for me. Only other thing I did to them was to tip them. Meplats are quite large.
 
I have to agree GL. I didn't really get until I looked at the scores between the open shooters and CF class at NSCC. Darn hard to beat a space gun with that CofF. Now, if they updated things to be the same or pretty close to the CAFSAC CofF, then the playing field would be a little more equal in terms of equipment. Space guns are less of an advantage IMO with the CAFSAC CofF.
 
120 out of 210 shots in the ORA CAFSAC COF is done at 100m and under. Only 50 shots are done at prone at 300m and beyond. Only 10 shots is done at 500m.

Money and time are better spent on PT and practice. Space guns and expensive match ammo are not worth it for the ORA/CAFSAC Cof. I stopped reloading match ammo for service rifle since the old 1-12 format died 5 or 6 years ago.
 
My rifle has a quality heavy stainless barrel. 1:7 - Wylde. Shoots the Sierra but not the Nosler.

The chamber was quite dirty since I had not used a chamber brush on it. Hard to believe the two bullets would behave that differently due to a dirty chamber.

Next test will be better brass and in addition to 8506 I will try Varget and N140, and maybe some 755.

Longshot, what kind of MV are you using? My 8506 load was about 2700 out of a 20".
 
greentips said:
120 out of 210 shots in the ORA CAFSAC COF is done at 100m and under. Only 50 shots are done at prone at 300m and beyond. Only 10 shots is done at 500m.

Money and time are better spent on PT and practice. Space guns and expensive match ammo are not worth it for the ORA/CAFSAC Cof. I stopped reloading match ammo for service rifle since the old 1-12 format died 5 or 6 years ago.
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I like to shoot well and I like my guns to be accurate. I posted on the SR forum because I thought someone here would be familiar with the Nosler 77. Your comments about Space guns and match ammo make sense. The same thing would apply to CQB.

Once I get a real accurate load I will be hard pressed to find a good use for it. I can't waddle fast enough for SR...
 
Ganderite with 24.5 gr Varget I was getting 2750ish. No pressure and primer pockets nice a tight after. Could probably push it faster but why?
I attribute the scoring I managed on good ammo and optics. I don't think the barrel had that much to do with it to be honest.
 
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