Determining OAL .308

Mystic Precision said:
AWESOME... so glad the barrel really really wants to shoot

Remember to test further out to confirm that tuning for vertical is as good as it can be. Small changes in powder will change how the vertical groups.. and that has a profound effect at 1000yds

Enjoy

Jerry
Click to expand...

I was scared at first
Loads #1 to #4 weren't showing anything better than 3/4moa (which i had acheived better with hornady)
I did start lower than my usual start as i was scared of pressure with the bullet seated in so deep.
Then i see #5 closing up to 1/2 moa, #6 closing again at 1/4moa, and #7 opening at 1/2moa
Jackpot! I have found my load for the moment.
Load #10 was at 44.2gr of varget, and still didn't show any pressure, using lapua brass.
I remember when using FC brass, my load #8 was showing slight pressure and #9 hard to extract.
Lapua brass seems to tolerate pressure better.

For now Jerry, i only have access to 300M.
So this is my next step.
That and finding a shooting course that will teach me how to read wind.
Even if i had access to 1000M, i doubt i could hit a car sized target if wind was up.

Is this the time for me to chronograph for my vertical dispersion?
As in if i get a stable FPS reading, the bullet shouldn't change elevation?
 
MartyK2500 said:
When doing the sharpie test
It would either form a perfect ring or nothing at all
If i was 1-2 thou from touching lands, i would then get only a small smear on one side
Does the 10PC also have a 5R barrel?
Myself, tested again before loading another 50 rounds at 2.735" tonight
Definately touching lands at 2.750"
Click to expand...

Yeah its 5R. I'll start seating deeper in stages to see where it goes. Like you I started loading pistol and was a bit concerned about seating too deep with .308.
 
Especially when learning to reload from the internet, and that everyone seems to have to load long.
Doesn't feel normal going out of the beaten path.

Have you tried factory ammo with your rifle?
was bolt hard to close with factory ammo?

500+ round count later, bolt was closing smooth as silk for the first time, I always had to muscle it. I figured that's why a 10TR had such a big bolt knob, for leverage lol.
Brought some old hornady reloads at the range, shoulders on brass bumped the same as my SMK loads, once I was shooting my older loads, I had to start forcing the bolt closed again
 
MartyK2500 said:
Especially when learning to reload from the internet, and that everyone seems to have to load long.
Doesn't feel normal going out of the beaten path.

Have you tried factory ammo with your rifle?
was bolt hard to close with factory ammo?

500+ round count later, bolt was closing smooth as silk for the first time, I always had to muscle it. I figured that's why a 10TR had such a big bolt knob, for leverage lol.
Brought some old hornady reloads at the range, shoulders on brass bumped the same as my SMK loads, once I was shooting my older loads, I had to start forcing the bolt closed again
Click to expand...


Yeah, I bought this gun in 09 as an end tour gift to myself and put 3 boxes of Fed gold match 168 SMK through it. Best I got was 1/2 moa, but that's on me, not the gun or ammo. I picked up 200 rds of Nosler 168 accubonds on sale from P&D a few years ago but the savage didn't like it, in fact my M305 grouped better with it.

I hadn't really noted any difficulty on closing, but like you noted, as I seat the bullet deeper the easier it is to close. Most of my bolt guns are Enfields and I just assumed that any resistance on closing were due to the ####-on-closing action of this gun.
 
MartyK2500 said:
I was scared at first
Loads #1 to #4 weren't showing anything better than 3/4moa (which i had acheived better with hornady)
I did start lower than my usual start as i was scared of pressure with the bullet seated in so deep.
Then i see #5 closing up to 1/2 moa, #6 closing again at 1/4moa, and #7 opening at 1/2moa
Jackpot! I have found my load for the moment.
Load #10 was at 44.2gr of varget, and still didn't show any pressure, using lapua brass.
I remember when using FC brass, my load #8 was showing slight pressure and #9 hard to extract.
Lapua brass seems to tolerate pressure better.

For now Jerry, i only have access to 300M.
So this is my next step.
That and finding a shooting course that will teach me how to read wind.
Even if i had access to 1000M, i doubt i could hit a car sized target if wind was up.

Is this the time for me to chronograph for my vertical dispersion?
As in if i get a stable FPS reading, the bullet shouldn't change elevation?
Click to expand...

Repeat at 300m around the load you find is best. If the groups have 1/3 MOA to 1/4 MOA vertical, they will shoot way out there. Groups may be wider but vertical should be very tight.

Velocity doesn't tell you where the bullets are going to go... only the target will do that. A group with 1/4 MOA vertical or less, more then likely has good velocity numbers BUT a load that has good velocity numbers may not be low vertical at distance.

For wind learning, book by Miller and Cunningham... helped me a ton.... then go out and practise at distance.
Jerry
 
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