.308 brass capacity - question

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canucklehead

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Guys,

I bought a nice precision rig last year, and I'm finally getting around to making up some loads.

The previous owner found his best groups to be 46gr of Varget with 155gr AMAX in winchester cases.

I have a bunch of once fired .308 brass, and a majority of it is Fed or RP. I know - it sucks.

I've loaded a few Win cases with 45gr Varget (I don't want to try 46gr quite yet - want to be safe!), and it fits fine. I shake the completed round, and can hear the powder moving around.

Now - I took a Federal case with 45gr of Varget, and find the completed round has NO sound coming out of it. I didn't hear any crunching while seating, so I don't think it's compressed, but obviously, the case capacity is LESS than the Win.

My question - is shooting 45gr of Varget under a 155 AMAX in a Federal case safe? Is a (semi) compressed load REALLY going to ramp up the pressure and make it unsafe?

I know I should start at around 42 grn and work up, but I'm lazy and don't have a ton of time. Also, the previous owner already worked up the loads, so I thought I'd piggyback his data.

Not looking for a legally binding opinion, but I really want to get some rounds loaded up so I can sight it in and get going on practice! :)
 
canucklehead said:
Guys,

I bought a nice precision rig last year, and I'm finally getting around to making up some loads.

The previous owner found his best groups to be 46gr of Varget with 155gr AMAX in winchester cases.

I have a bunch of once fired .308 brass, and a majority of it is Fed or RP. I know - it sucks.

I've loaded a few Win cases with 45gr Varget (I don't want to try 46gr quite yet - want to be safe!), and it fits fine. I shake the completed round, and can hear the powder moving around.

Now - I took a Federal case with 45gr of Varget, and find the completed round has NO sound coming out of it. I didn't hear any crunching while seating, so I don't think it's compressed, but obviously, the case capacity is LESS than the Win.

My question - is shooting 45gr of Varget under a 155 AMAX in a Federal case safe? Is a (semi) compressed load REALLY going to ramp up the pressure and make it unsafe?

I know I should start at around 42 grn and work up, but I'm lazy and don't have a ton of time. Also, the previous owner already worked up the loads, so I thought I'd piggyback his data.

Not looking for a legally binding opinion, but I really want to get some rounds loaded up so I can sight it in and get going on practice! :)
Click to expand...

Everything is gonna be slightly different, unless you're using the same reloading components he did - cases, powder lot, primers.

Working up is always the prudent thing to do with every rifle. You might take the round and reduce it by 10% or 2 grains. Compressed loads are fine for certain situations, just be careful and watch your pressures!

HTH
 
If you ask 10 Long range/Palma Shooters that use Varget and 155 gr bullets, about 8 out of 10 will tell you 46 gr of Varget.
I find Federal cases to be the worst when it comes to primer pockets opening up. I have had RP cases go 15 trips or more before the primer pockets start getting loose.
My choice for .308 brass would be Lapua, Winchester, Remington then Federal in that order.
If the previous own already did the load developement, why try to reinvent the wheel? Sure I would tweek the load a bit to see if I could get better results but I would only work +/- about .5 gr in .1 gr increments to see if the load really is in the sweet spot. Then play with the seating depth.
 
Federal cases have less capacity. If it's a precision rig, get a batch of good brass. There's a guy on here with 1X fired Norma, if you're having trouble finding brass.
 
Back off the load on the federal cases, or don't use them at all. They will have less capacity, and give higher pressures.
 
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