308win and "the heavies"

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Budweiser360

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So I'm looking for people that shoot heavy bullets (185+) in their rifles, primarily FTR shooters. I know a lot of people use the Berger 185BT's but what about the 190-210SMK'S, 190-210VLD's, 190-215 Hybrids or 208Amaxs? I have read caramel's posts about his success with the 208's, but I'm interested in their use in competition and what advantage they have over other offerings in YOUR experience. :popCorn:
 
Very interrested reading fellow CGNers experiences with the heavy, for myself a whole new chapter of ballistic opened up to me in my passion with the 308 caliber... JP.
 
I've shot the 185's for a couple of seasons, as well as some work with 210 Berger BT's. The 185's are quite easy to get to shoot well. So far I have found the 210s to be less forgiving of poor form on the part of the shooter. I've been able to get them to 2650 fps with R17, and ballisticly they are impressive, but any time my form on the rifle changes, I can see more effect on the target than I do with lighter bullets.
 
I'm having a barrel chambered for the 200 Hybrids that I should hopefully have in my hands soon. Likely the 1st competition with them will be the Victoria Day matches at Connaught, but I'll definitely be updating with results as I have them.
 
Advantages the heavy bullet has over lighter ones have to do with round to round uniformity and bullet stability, both of which are accuracy enhancers. The heavier bullet tends to use up more of a .308's powder capacity, while using smaller charges of any one type of powder, produces lower velocity, resulting in lower ES/SD thus tighter groups at long range. The key here is to choose a powder which fills the case without compressing, where choosing a powder which fills the case with a light bullet might not be appropriate or safe. Yet the less airspace in a load the more the uniform the round to round velocity tends to be. Heavier bullets can be longer, in other words have a better ballistic shape than lighter bullets of the same diameter and yet have a similar or longer bearing surface to ensure straightness in the bore. Because the heavy bullet has a lower initial velocity and a better ballistic shape, its velocity loss over time is more gradual, particularly through the transonic velocity range, resulting in greater bullet stability at the target than its lightweight counterpart. My choice these days is the Matrix 210.
 
mpwolf said:
I've shot the 185's for a couple of seasons, as well as some work with 210 Berger BT's. The 185's are quite easy to get to shoot well. So far I have found the 210s to be less forgiving of poor form on the part of the shooter. I've been able to get them to 2650 fps with R17, and ballisticly they are impressive, but any time my form on the rifle changes, I can see more effect on the target than I do with lighter bullets.
Click to expand...

My findings as well - the 210 Berger VLD works great, but any error in your position is less forgiving due to the greater felt recoil. The 185 Berger LRBT is a good trade-off on BC and recoil over the lighter 155's and heavy 210's. The 190 & 200 SMK work well and are easier to develop a load, but the BC is less than some of the other bullet choices. I'll stay with the 185 this season.
 
I would like to ask experienced FTR shooters' their thoughts on using
the 185g LRBT Vs the new 200g Hybrid. They are both "supposed" to be
easy to tune, but there is a considerable BC advantage for the 200g....
Any thoughts......:D
 
lyle1 said:
I would like to ask experienced FTR shooters' their thoughts on using
the 185g LRBT Vs the new 200g Hybrid. They are both "supposed" to be
easy to tune, but there is a considerable BC advantage for the 200g....
Any thoughts......:D
Click to expand...

Try them both and decide which one works better for you, and better suits your barrel's throat.
 
These guys just told you what there is to know about heavies.

1/12 with 185 LRBT (not VLD) are just fine but the limit (it is what i shoot) they are just easier to tune and than vld's
1/11 will give you opportunity to shoot 210'S

Kenny
 
The Nemesis without the brake shooting 208 gr Match is picking up 5 fps, the POI doesnt change at all, recoil is punishing but the rifle is now adequate for competition shooting, i am not gone use the Amax no more as the Match bullet really permit me to shoot under .25 @ 200 metres and .65 @ 300 metres, just order another 1000 from my supplier, i will keep the 208 gr Amax to try in my 300 mag Tikka Tactical... JP.
 
1 in 10 permit you to shoot the heavy 175,190, 208, 210 and it will do a good job on the lighter one to... JP.
 
These numbers I did on Nightforce Balistics calculator, check the numbers after ** is the wind drift in inches with a 10 mph 90 deg cross wind.
I don,t see a great avantage to shoot the heavys in a .308 win you will notice there is quite a avantage to the 210gr bullets with high BCs if you can drive them over 3000 fps.in a magnum case or the wsm cases.
The recoil shooting the 200+ gr bullets will be considerably more !!! and after shooting 68 rounds a day for three days there will be fatigue in the last day of a F/TR competition.and using Heavy loads of RL17 will be hard on your brass life, primer pockets will get loose.If I was to shoot a .308 I would think the 185gr would be max
Manitou








Win 308 155 gr Bergers hybrid @3020fps BC 483 (31" barrel)
1000 28.25 8.00 2.50 -295.3 ** -84.1 25.9 1400 674 -328.6 1.4713


Win 308 210gr Bergers @2650FPS BC 626
1000 32.50 7.00 2.50 -339.3 ** -72.0 27.1 1445 973 -378.2 1.5414





Rem 223 with 90gr JLK @2800fps BC 580
1000 29.75 7.00 2.50 -312.1 ** -73.4 26.2 1467 430 -348.4 1.4883

300win Mag 210 gr Bergers @ 3050fps BC 626
1000 23.50 5.50 2.25 -245.7 ** -58.5 23.2 1712 1367 -278.3 1.3161
 
How can i go back after groups like that and if i have to buy more brass to get those groups, so be it, this is just the best shooting of my life and at 2600+ fps, i will make it to the Mile Shoot and its famous crosswinds... JP.
match006.jpg
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