Reloading .308 for a shorter barrel- rem AAC-SD 16.5"

driller212

driller212

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Hey guys,

Fairly new to this section of the forum. I recently got a Remington AAC-SD 16.5" in .308. I have been reading about reloading for the Remington, and most say the 168grn or 175grn bullets work well with the 1 in 10 twist. I was wondering for the shorter barrel if anyone had any powder recommendations? Has anyone developed a working load with this rifle?

I plan to do both target shooting and hunting with the rifle sub 500yrds (hunting will be much less).


Thanks for any information you can provide,

J
 
im shooting 44.8gr of Varget behind a 168gr SMK in my 20" AAC-SD. 168s are good to around 800m depending on your altitude (im getting ~2625fps, and theyre going transonic at 840m), and they do start to tumble once going subsonic. Gun easily shoots half-moa with these loads.

168s will do fine out to the distances youre looking for.
 
H4895, H335, CFE223. I'm not terribly familiar with burn rates in other brands. H4895 would be my pick for temperature stability. Loads have similar bulk density to Varget but it's burns up in a shorter barrel and yeilds more velocity.
 
TV-PressPass said:
Did you find your 16.5" around here?

I've been pining for one myself . . .
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I found it on the Elwood Epps web store. The smaller local dealers seem to have them sometimes, I was just at island outfitters yesterday and they said that they just sold their last one. I am not in Alberta anymore :( be back for hunting season though.
 
driller212 said:
I found it on the Elwood Epps web store. The smaller local dealers seem to have them sometimes, I was just at island outfitters yesterday and they said that they just sold their last one. I am not in Alberta anymore :( be back for hunting season though.
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How can you hunt with a restricted rifle?
Edited: it's non restricted due to being non semi auto which came from the manufacturer with a short barrel but with an overall length of over 26".
 
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You can't. But this rifle isn't restricted.

Driller212 - I'd be very interested in your observed velocities.
You might also consider Lapua 154gr Scenars. You will be able to get higher velocities.
 
tiriaq said:
You can't. But this rifle isn't restricted.

Driller212 - I'd be very interested in your observed velocities.
You might also consider Lapua 154gr Scenars. You will be able to get higher velocities.
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Is it the same law as the short barreled shotguns? Manufactured with short barrel, non semi auto, over 26" overall length?
 
tiriaq said:
You can't. But this rifle isn't restricted.

Driller212 - I'd be very interested in your observed velocities.
You might also consider Lapua 154gr Scenars. You will be able to get higher velocities.
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Unfortunately I do not have a chrono, but I can always pester the guys at the range :p
 
chrisward3 said:
dont always need a chrono...you can use the "truing" function in a ballistic app (I use ballistic AE for iphone). Enter in your actual drop data and it will spit out a MV that matches. Its amazingly accurate.
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driller212 said:
Ok that could work, I have "shooter" on my ipad.
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What I do to find velocity; zero at 100, move back to 300 and measure bullet drop. Knowing the drop and bullet coeffients I plug the info in Isnipe and I get my velocity.
 
driller212 said:
Hey guys,

Fairly new to this section of the forum. I recently got a Remington AAC-SD 16.5" in .308. I have been reading about reloading for the Remington, and most say the 168grn or 175grn bullets work well with the 1 in 10 twist. I was wondering for the shorter barrel if anyone had any powder recommendations? Has anyone developed a working load with this rifle?

I plan to do both target shooting and hunting with the rifle sub 500yrds (hunting will be much less).


Thanks for any information you can provide,

J
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I have no problem shooting 175gr Sierra bullet in my 13" twist barrel Palma rifle on our 500m targets.
Also my 308Win Sportco 44 rifle with 12" twist barrel has no problem stabilizing Hornady 190gr HP match bullets as well on 500m targets.
IMHO 10" twist for 308Win cartridge is way faster than needed unless 220gr and up VLD's are used.
 
IMR 4895 start int he middle I found that was right off the bat the best load for the rounds out of most of my 308 rifles I went hmm middle load did really well why change it.
 
I go to powders burning faster for shorter rifle barrels, 20" and below. I have decent velocities in 18 and 20" barrels with H335, BLC2 and H4895 compred to Varget. Varget is a 22+" powder gun.
 
Fenix achieves 2550fps with 168gr A max and 44gr? (I can't remember) of Varget out of his 18" Howa. I Bet 4895 would add a good 150+fps with the same powder charge.
 
I would be careful not to use powders that are popular with long barrel shooters since you have such a short barrel. Varget is a fairly slow powder for example and not well suited to short barrels. More than likely you will be spitting out unburned powder with each shot and sooting up your barrel.

I would advise that you look at faster burning powders such as Win 748 or something more along that line so you will be sure that it burns completely in that short barrel.

Just google powder burn rate chart and you will be able to determine each powders relative burn rate for comparative values.

If trying to decide between two powders that seem to perform well for you always choose the one with the faster burn rate - it will burn cleaner and over many shots will remain more consistent.
 
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