My first .308 precision riffle...

ben777lemay

ben777lemay

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Hi guys, last winter i was looking for a nice *newb* precision riffle.
I decided to go with a .308 wich i think was a good move.
I read alot of reviews, forums...and it seem Savage's are really nice for the price.
So i bought a savage 10 fcp-k last spring.
I didn't shoot it until last weekend.
Why ? I was not sure what scope to put on this riffle.
I broke my piggy-bank and bought a good scope.

Last weekend, i tried it for the first time and what an happy guy i was !
This thing is just amazing !!! ( I know its not a 3.5k sako...but... )
What a good bang for the buck !
Shoots pretty well and this thing is just smooth !!! Almost no kick !
The factory muzzle works very well !

Enough talk, there is some pics and range reports.
Hope you enjoy !

My new toy :

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Here is my first rounds, nothing exiting but this is with cheap A/Eagle 150gr ammo. There is also few Hornady rounds in there. The 2 apart to adjust the scope :

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On this one the break-in is going well... There is my last 3 shot group then 4 click down 4 right and my first 5 shot group, both with Hornady 168gr match ammo. That begin to be interesting, i think :D :

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And finally this one, the two high shots is from my friend, he was aiming the *O* just under... Other grouping is a full box of Federal Champion 168gr match w/sierra match king bullets ( the one at right, i just missed it :p :

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I know i will not have my picture in the guieness book but its not bad for that kind of ammo and i'm pretty happy about what i bought.

Next step ? Reloading !!!
One of my good friend own a Sav.-10 BAS.
Wednesday, he will come at home in the morning, show me how to reload and we will make ammo with different loads and bullets.
We will go at the shooting range in the afternoon.
Lets find out what this thing can do with reloading !!!
Keep you informed, i will post my targets but now this time with some 5-shot groupings.
 
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Definitely start reloading if you want to see the full potential of your rifle and that is a sweet set up and good choice of optic!
 
Hey, Way to go. Welcome to the addiction! It's only going to get better with reading and experience and then shooting. Thanks for the pictures!

Cheers,
Barney
 
Ok i was to the shooting range with some reloaded ammo..

I have learned two things... :

1- ALWAYS tighten your bipod before shootin !!! :bangHead:
2- Reloading can be discouraging !!! cp:

Honestly that was a bad day...
I shoot 15 rounds before i saw that my bipod was loose as hell...
I was asking myself : why i'm shaking that much... :cool:

For the reloading, i have tested some BERGER 175gr Match B/T bullets with #8208 powder...
Loads were between 39.8 and 40.5gr.
Honestly i just made some ugly groupings, not even close to the Hornady 168gr Match i bought from the store...

Any advices for my next reloading ??????

Judge by yourself, the small black circles is about .950 inch big...

5 shots grouping

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3 shots

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3 shots

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3 shots

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Hornady match is great ammo. Nice shooting. You might get frustrated trying to beat it with reloads.
 
ultimate_monkey said:
Quick reply- 5 shot groups, 3 shots won't tell you anything, load develop at atleast 200 yards
Click to expand...

I will... next time

dizzy said:
Hornady match is great ammo. Nice shooting. You might get frustrated trying to beat it with reloads.
Click to expand...

Yeah !!!!
But I know this riffle can do better :D

dfarrell said:
Pick up some Varget and CCI BR2 primers. Seem to be the go-to .308 combination. Almost guarenteed you will find a load you love!
Click to expand...

I heard about that Varget powder...
I think one of my friend is using it in his Rem...


How about the bullets ? Should i try 150, 168 or 175gr ???
 
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ben777lemay said:
I heard about that Varget powder...
I think one of my friend is using it in his Rem...


How about the bullets ? Should i try 150, 168 or 175gr ???
Click to expand...

I guess it depends how far you want to shoot. A lot of long range shooters are using the 155g to get the speeds required for 1000 yards. 168g for medium range.

However you may want to try a few different bullets as some barrels just dont like certain bullets.

I also agree that 200 yards is far better for load development as long as you have the skill to do so.
 
Scrap the idea of .1gn increments for a .308 until you find a node and then fine tune from there. There is no reason to go less than .2 or .3gn at first to get you in the ballpark. Also, with just a .7gn spread between min and max load, your not seeing enough of a variation to get a good idea of where to go from here.

Don't worry about 200...It sounds stupid, but, there is no difference shooting 100, 200, 300, 400 or 500y. Just turn some more elevation on and pay a little more attention to the wind, the bullet will still get there....

That's a nice scope, what mag. range did you get? I've always wanted an NXS...Come on lottery!
 
Budweiser360 said:
Scrap the idea of .1gn increments for a .308 until you find a node and then fine tune from there. There is no reason to go less than .2 or .3gn at first to get you in the ballpark. Also, with just a .7gn spread between min and max load, your not seeing enough of a variation to get a good idea of where to go from here.

Don't worry about 200...It sounds stupid, but, there is no difference shooting 100, 200, 300, 400 or 500y. Just turn some more elevation on and pay a little more attention to the wind, the bullet will still get there....
Click to expand...

+1 on both of these comments.

You have a .308 so you have the great advantage of being able to build on everybody's experience. Try out bullet/powder combinations that work for everybody else; chances are they will work for you too.

Be lazy, start by cloning what is already known to work. Use Winchester or Lapua brass. User Fed-210, Fed-210M, CCI BR-2 or Winchester WLR primers. Use Varget or H4895 powders. Can other components work? Hell yes - but what I have listed here are the most common, most conservative, most proven choices.

It often turns out that the most accurate and also most consistent-velocity loadings occur at or near-max loads. So do work your loads up, safely and prudently of course, but do work up because usually that's what you need to do in order to get the very best results.


Unless you are an expert in reloading, it would be a good idea to use one of the "easy" bullets ("easy" in the sense of them being quite tolerant to minor variations in jump), such as:

- Sierra #2155 (the old 155 grain HPBT Sierra); seat this to 2.800", load 46 grains of Varget in a Winchester or Lapua case. Good to 1000 yards.

- Sierra 168 HPBT, seated to 2.800". Good to 800 yards.

- Berger 155.5 Fullbore - use similar loading as with Sierra 155s. Seat the bullet .030" off the rifling (which will typically give a C.O.A.L. of about 2.950" but this will depend on your chamber). Superb 1000 yard bullet.

- Berger 185 BT. Superb 1000 yard bullet.

- Nosler Ballistic Tips give match-bullet-like accuracy in my experience. They used to be cheaper than match bullets but unfortunately Nosler fixed that. Though they are not as low-drag as real match bullets, I would shoot them out to 600 yards without hesitation.


I would recommend that you *NOT* use the following bullets; they are all really good bullets, and with the correct setup they are capable of winning matches and setting records, but they are not "easy" bullets to work with:

- any of the Berger "VLD" series bullet
- the Lapua 155
 
This is bad, i can't return at shooting range this weekend too...
And the freezing is not so far...
Summer is way too short !!! ovrec

In two weeks...shooting range... thats freaking long !!!
 
Rnbra-shooter has given really good advice. I'd add to it by saying that another great bullet to try is the 175g SMK - a load of about 44g Varget ( my Sako likes 44.6 ) will likely get you a really good cartridge that rides the wind a bit better than the 168's.
 
I got my best groups in several .308 Factory heavy barrel with:

180 Gr Sierra Matchking and Berger VLD 185 Gr and 178 Gr A-Max
42 Gr Varget
CCI Br2 Primers
Norma Brass
20thousand Jump (Berger touching rifling)

All 1" and less @ 200 Meters

Give it a try:D
 
OK guys you convince me...
Next week i will buy some varget powder...
Is there a number for that powder ?

For the bullets...Well i think i'm better to start with some sierra-matck-king.
Why ? B-cauz i have shoot some federals with s/m/k bullets ( but those were 168 gr ) and that was not bad at all...
But i'm not sure there is so much brands... :p
One thing for sure is i don't think to have oportunities to shoot over 400 yards... So i should stay in the 175-185 grains range !
Right ?
 
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