308 cal 200+gr bullet what worked at mile shoot

tigrr

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I looked at 155, 176, 196, 200, 205, 210 grain bullets and I would like to hear some recipes for those weights of bullets. I have only used Varget with 155gr bullets in my 308. Time to go a little heavier.
What ya using??
 
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This is a FULL TROTTLE load, 42 gr of BL-C2, BR-2 primer, 208 gr Amax, a hair over 2500 fps and very accurate out of a Savage Model 12 BVSS 26 inchs tube... JP.
 
The heavier bullets are of course longer so the limiting factor becomes how long your chamber throat is. I just shot an F-class match using 208 Amax and had the OAL set to 2.960. This is quite a bit longer than usual, but was still just off the lands in my chamber. This meant the bullet was seated in the cartridge neck without protruding deep into the shoulder, thereby allowing me to put more powder into the case.

I ended up using 45.8 gr. of RL-17, a good slower powder for heavy bullets, and chronyed at 2550 fps. I also had a good accuracy node at 47.8 gr. and 2650 fps, but this was just starting to flatten the primers so I elected to use the slower node. Shot out of a 24 in. barrel, so with a 26 or 28 in. barrel you could get to 2700 fps if you wanted. This would get you almost 40% better windage performance at long range compared to something in the 168/175 gr. range. Definitely worthwhile, I'd say.
 
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With the 308, you have immense choice concerning powders. Here's a list of powders I've tried with bullet weights from 125 gr to 208 gr, every one using a full, or near full case of powder. Regardless of your throat length, if you can fit it in without compression, these will not be over 60K psi, except for some bullets heavier than 200 gr, and for the faster powders of the group. Obviously you'll consult with a loading manual before trying your load:

IMR4895
H4895
IMR4320
IMR4064
IMR4007SSC
Varget
BL-C(2)

Of course you could use slower powders like H4350, RL17 and the like, but MV's will be a bit lower (but accuracy might be better - every gun is different).

"I don't always shoot 308, but when I do, I prefer Varget." ;)
 
From the Ken Waters Pet Loads book....... 200gr/40gr-IMR3031/win brass/2478fps-fine brush + timber load ....... same brass/bullet Win 748-45gr/2561fps....MAX LOAD HIGHEST VELOCITY FINE ACCURACY............IMR 4320-43gr/2537fps MAX........start lower and work up .Harold
 
The Savage Mdl 12 F-TR barrel is 30 inches long and I'm hoping for about 2700 - 3000fps, Oh I just looked in the manual and they all are slow. This is for very long range shooting. Lets say out to a mile. I have 160 MOA of up to play with. I have a powder to buy list. Yes I will confirm the recipies with the manuals I have. I just wanted to hear what some of you are using and go from there. I like the learning from others part, rather than experimenting.
Keep them coming.
 
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tigrr

if i was going to shoot a mile with a 308 this is what i would use,hornaday 208 or berger 210s with rl17 and expect a muzzle velocity around 2600 to be realistic and save.when you start talking 2700 you are getting up their in pressure.i have used this combo in a 1 in 10 twist and a 1 in 11 twist barrels with very good results.

your savage has a 1 in 12 twist and in my opinion not the ideal twist,i have tryed the 210 and 208 and the out come was not that good.another poweder to look at is vv550 had good results with that as well.good luck shooting a mile is a long ways to go hope you can read the wind...
 
Standard loading practice for 155 grain bullets in a 30" barrel .308 gives 3000-ish fps. (some people shoot at 2950fps and win matches, some shoot at 3050fps and win matches, some even try to get 3100fps or even 3150fps in an attempt to get an advantage but I honestly don't think there is advantage to be had there...).

A reasonably decent way to estimate what sort of speed you might be able to expect with a different weight bullet but loaded to similar pressure and using a powder selected to be suitable, is to figure out the m.v. that gives the same muzzle energy.

To cut to the chase, this is the speed you can expect with 200 or 210 grain bullets:
Sqrt[155/200]*3000 = 2641fps for 200 grain bullets
Sqrt[155/210]*3000 = 2577fps for 210 grain bullets
Sqrt[155/230]*3000 = 2462fps for 230 grain bullets.

It would be surprising to see your max velocity end up being much different than these figures. For what it's worth kombayotch's report indicates speeds of 2589, 2594, 2611 and 2635 for four different 21-class bullets, Reloder-17 and a 26" barrel (i.e. a bit better than one might expect from my results above, but still very much in the neighbourhood)

Another thing to consider is whether the bullets will stabilize in your rifle. For a variety of reasons bullet manufacturers use deliberately-conservative figures in the "min twist needed" figures that they publish. While your 12"-twist rifle doesn't meet Berger's recommended "11 or faster" figure, there's a good chance that it will work. You can use one of JBM's calculators to calculate the Miller Stability figure - I used http://www.jbmballistics.com/cgi-bin/jbmtraj_drift-5.1.cgi

To calculate the stability factor with the Miller method you'll need to know not only the usual bullet bc and muzzle velocity, but also:
- barrel twist rate
- bullet length
- bullet weight
- air density figures (pressure, altitude, temperature)

Fortunately Berger publishes a nice table http://www.bergerbullets.com/Quick Reference Sheets 10-28-11.pdf of the BCs and also the physical dimensions for Berger bullets.

I did a calc for the Berger 210VLD and got a stability factor of 1.24 using mv=2577fps, G7bc=0.323, twist=12", bullet length=1.459", weight=210, temp=59F, humid=0%, press=29.92"Hg.

A stability factor greater than 1.0 indicates that the bullet ought to be stable (there are a bunch of is and gotchas, which is why the standard wisdom is "you need Sg>1.4"). So while there are no guarantees that a Berger-210-VLD will be stable out of your rifle, I'd be inclined to bet pretty strongly that it would be stable.

For what it's worth a Berger-230-Hybrid @ 2466fps has a Miller Stability factor of 0.954 under the same conditions, so it will almost certainly *not* stabilize from your 1-12" barrel. Out of an 11" twist barrel though there is a fighting chance (Sg=1.136)
 
So all the pieces came together for the scope. 45MOA in shims(I found screws 1/8 inch longer), 10moa in rings, 100 moa in scope adj, 10 moa in scope reticle. I can see the cant in the scope!!
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I will be sending about 10 different brands and weights of bullets at the 1 mile target. 155gr, 165, 185, 200 and 210. With speeds ranging from 3050 to 2500 fps.
Time to find some brass I don't want to keep!! After I stretch the something out of it.
LIG
 
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The bullets for this 308 to a mile consist of
Nosler CC;s 155 gr.
Hornady 180 sp int.
Lapua 155 scenars
Berger 155 VLD
Sierra 155 palma match
Chinchaga 158 gr RBT ULD ST
Chinchaga 176 gr RBT ULD ST
Chinchaga 205 gr RBT ULD ST
I'm using 2 types of powder that I have on hand Varget and IMR 4064, I know R17 would be better for the heavies, but its a 3 hour drive to get it. Reloading starts today.
They will all be loaded just shy of primer flattening. Group size well its a mile!! Lets get it there first.
 
Going to get the gong so I can tigrr torch it to repaint it. Load testing soon.
The projectiles are awaiting launch!! 5 of each of the heavy weights.
IMG_0261.jpg
 
The rifle is ready, including the cardboard under the cheek rest to bring it up to the new scope level. It will be broke in as I shoot. Shoot once clean X5, shoot 5 clean X3, then shoot 100 more. Thats my way
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The ammo is ready, I even used CCI BR2 primers, I must be nutzzz.
IMG_0269.jpg


The target is painted
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Soon.
Didn't go too well pulling 50 bullets from the RP brass. Rifle shot 1 shot and wanted to come home!!
 
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So with all the load testing and finding what worked and what wouldn't, the big day came. I had a Nosler 155 gr Custom Competition, a 176 grain Chinchaga bullet and a 205 grain Chinchaga bullet at the firing line. The only powder I used was IMR 4064. The load testing took place and I filled 3 boxes of 50 of each. The 155s made it going 3050 and 3100 fps @ 107% case fill(not recommended). Next the 176gr bullets doing 2645 fps and last the 205s doing 2535 fps. I'm pretty sure all three made it. I need one of those cameras to tell if I hit the target, instead of having to drive all the way down to tell and count hits. Next 303 to a mile!!
 
.303 to a mile is actually not that hard... I used surp 1941 ball and the volleys in a box canyon shooting at car size monolithic boulders between the old growth cedar way up in the upper Seymour Valley... Very calm yet un-natural shooting spot... But let's just say its quite easy once you know your hold over with the volley sights... The impact "thwack" sounds Awsome that far away.
 
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