3.5" group, pay for what u get ?

You need to give this rifle a chance to prove itself. Choose a load with a mid weight match bullet that is known to be accurate and see what she does. You are looking for promise here, not necessarily sub MOA. If you get MOA, you can begin tweaking your load.

But first, go over everything to make sure all the screws are tight, both the scope mounts and the stock screws. Carefully examine the stock for cracks, particularly at the tang, and deal with any issues that become apparent. As said above, clean the bore down to bare metal. If the next outing doesn't improve things try a scope proven on an accurate rifle. If again there is no improvement, examine the bedding for signs of movement, it might be necessary to bed the rifle,. but this cost is not great. You can have the bore examined by a gunsmith who has a bore scope, and if there is a problem with the throat, you may opt to have the barrel shortened and rechamberd to get past the throat if the contour allows for it; this is more expensive than the bedding but the cost is not crippling.

If the gunsmith advises a new barrel, you will have to decide how much money you want to invest in this project as a good match barrel installed and chambered will likely exceed $600.
 
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sunray said:
If the 14" is the rifling twist, that'd be the issue. Too slow for a .308 with 150's or 180's. The normal twist is 1 in 10.
Try some 125's or 130's. Hornady and Speer make a 130. Sierra and Speer make a 125's.
"...1.5 grains over max suggested data..." There's that too, but that isn't likely to be the cause. Just unsafe. Buy a manual.
Click to expand...


I totally beg to differ.

1:10 is a twist designed for Long 220+grain bullets. Even the Berger 210 (A very long bullet) only needs 1:11. Unless using a supressor and a short barrel with a light powder load, 1:10 is way over-kill.

1:14 will be fine for many of the 155 grain match bullets. I think it might have trouble with the long Lapuas and the Berger 155.5 grain,
 
Obtunded with my settup, 1:14, 27", .308 Is there a bullet you could recommend I try out?

Im having a weapons specialist inspect the rifle for me at work on wensday and if its good to go im gona make up some batches of ammo with varying charges and projectile weights. A point in a knowledge direction would for sure help. thx.
 
AKD, fwiw, I have a 28 inch, 13" twist .308, and I use 155's. I still have some Sierra Match Kings I've loaded up, and I'm in the process of switching to Hornady Amax's.
 
I think Sierra 155 Palma bullets would be a great place to start. I would play with seating depth and I would suggest Varget as a powder.

There are many variables - including the shooter- that can be affecting your accuracy... if you have a chance to team up with an experiences shooter to go over the gun and the load with you, it would be time well spent.
 
Here is a simple test before wasting too much more time and money on this rig.

size a case so that it will chamber with ease but be a close fit to the chamber. Just seat a bullet into the case neck. 1/16" into the neck so it doesn't fall out.

Now chamber that case and hopefully, when you extract it, the bullet has been pushed into the case.

If it hasn't, the throat is cooked (too long) and accuracy will be mediocre at best. New barrel or set back the barrel.

If the bullet does get pushed back, repeat this a few times seating the bullet deeper until there are no changes - doesn't not hit the lands. I would put jiffy marker on the bullet so the marks from the lands show up clearer.

When there are no more marks, that is the 'just off the lands' OAL. I would start working up my load at this point. If it is too long to fit in the mag, then just seat it deep enough to function.

As long as the bullet fully engraves in the rifling BEFORE leaving the case neck, you have a good chance of making the barrel shoot reasonably well.

Good luck...

Jerry
 
Ok so i resized one of my best casings, took a projectile and just lightly tapped it in. The OAL is 2.940 and I placed a thick mark and a very thin mark. After loading the round and than ejecting it the OAL is now 2.921 and i can see both marks. There are no rifling marks on the projectile that i can see with my naked eye.

The max OAL I should have is apparently 2.820

Sounds like I may have failed ur test. what do u think ?


ps. I loaded the round a few times and no change.
 
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Load them as long as you have to in order to be off the lands. 2.820" is mag length, don't worry about that unless you plan to load from the mag.
A good load for 155's is with 46 gr of Varget, but you will need to start about 2 gr lower and work up to that with your rifle.
 
AKD said:
Ok so i resized one of my best casings, took a projectile and just lightly tapped it in. The OAL is 2.940 and I placed a thick mark and a very thin mark. After loading the round and than ejecting it the OAL is now 2.921 and i can see both marks. There are no rifling marks on the projectile that i can see with my naked eye.

The max OAL I should have is apparently 2.820

Sounds like I may have failed ur test. what do u think ?


ps. I loaded the round a few times and no change.
Click to expand...

Try seating long and start with a much lower load. It could help but I am thinking the throat is long enough that the bullet may be leaving the case neck before fully engraving. This will allow the bullet to enter the rifling cockeyed - poor accuracy at the receiving end.

If seating out doesn't help, time for a new barrel. Since this is a 308, throat wear is slow. By the time the throat wears forward, alot of rifling in front of the throat has likely worn too. Setting back may not yield any long term improvements.

There is nothing wrong with the action (as long as it is mechanically sound). If you like the platform, install another quality barrel and I bet it will shoot very well.

Jerry
 
Edit- nm screw it. with the bullet at that limit over the max , Im here loading and I dont like the way the bullet sits.


not worth it. ill still shoot the rifle for fun but it will not be my target rifle.


Alot of good info was posted here however. thx
 
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If you can, clean it to bare metal and have a look. I bet you will see the rifling start WAAAAYY down the pipe. You will see a trace right at the throat but it will look pretty light and shallow.

Shooting this barrel will be kind of fun because not too long from now, your bullets will arrive in a random fashion. A 3.5" group will be a good one :)

Think 'slug' gun ...

Jerry
 
That's what I love about the stock Norinco M305's... Can't hit the broad side of a goat with one at 100M, but you look good and have fun doing it! As long as you're having fun, who cares?
 
Can someone plz do me the favor of measuring and posting the OAL of a bullet that was chambered in there .308 ?

just load than unload a bullet in2 ur gun and than measure the over all length of the bullet



im wondering what another .308's tolerance might be.
 
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155 SMK's 2.840", 155 Noslers 2.880", I don't have any Bergers handy but they are longer than 2.880".
 
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