First batch of hand loaded .308

fireball

fireball

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I was at the Burke Mt. range today trying out my first batch of hand rolled .308 cartridges.
The .308 was made from my LEE breech lock single stage press that I picked up from www.reloaders.ca a couple of weeks ago. Despite the bashing LEE takes on this site it worked flawlessly.

The cartidge consisted of:
Winchester once fired and resized brass
CCI bench rest primers
IMR 4064
168 grain Sierra HPBT Match Kings, each bullet weighed 168.2 gr
COL 2.839, .040" off the lands, the lenght was set by the inside dimention of the mag
Powder charges started at 43.4 gr and progressed to 45.2 by an increase of .2 gr

The gun: prior to today it's had a total of 120 winchester 150 gr hunting rounds through it.
Tikka Tactical .308, 24" barrel, bi-pod
Tactical 3200 scope
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The bi-pod and range bean bags were used, next time I'll look for a leadsled to rent.

I fired 2 round robins consisting of 5 groupings of 3 at 100 meters, except for the inital test group. It was sunny with no wind and probably 8 to 10 deg.C
Round one: Test "1 each 43.4 gr, 44.4 gr, 45.2", then groups of 3@43.4 gr"YES there are 3 there", 3@43.8 gr, 3@44.2 gr, 3@44.6 gr, 3@45.0 gr.
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Round 2: Test "3@43.8 gr fired consecutively", 3@44.0 gr, 3@44.4 gr, 3@44.8 gr, 3@45.2 gr.
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The barrel was 15 deg.C after the test fire and didn't go over approximately 42 deg.C at the end of both round robins. There was probably 1 minute between shots. I haven't had a chance to measure the groups yet.

For the next rounds I'll roll I'm thinking of 5 round groups on a leadsled at 43.2 gr, 43.4 gr and 43.6 gr.
 
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Something strange there..... (Looking at your 44.2 vs your 44gr load) .2gr powder difference is not going to make a 2 1/4" group shrink to 1/4"

I would retest the tight groups for repeatability. If the group is close in size to the original....shoot one more of that load, if you get 3 that are 1/4-3/4" then you know the load is good.

If you re-test and get 2 2" groups, you know the first one was a fluke.

Remember, fliers can land inside the group as well.

Now, your 43.4 and 43.6gr loads look like the sweet spot to me and is more indicative of a .2gr difference.

Isn't it great to get nice groups with ammo you made yourself? :D
 
I thought "hand rolled" meant the manufacturing the actual bullet itself by someone, not just reloading factory components into cartridges?

Am I out to lunch on that one?
 
Northman999 said:
I thought "hand rolled" meant the manufacturing the actual bullet itself by someone, not just reloading factory components into cartridges?

Am I out to lunch on that one?
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Yup you are :D

macsailer said:
out of curiosity, how do you measure your powder? just with the scale?
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Most do, some use a powder dumper but you still need to check that your thrower is throwing the weight you want, which requires a scale.

If you're increasing in small increments like .2, .3, .4, .5 etc, then you would want to use a scale.
 
I know the term "hand rolled" as being for cigarettes, didn't know it relates to shooting as well.

I weighed each charge on a digital scale, accurate to 1/10th of a grain.

Fired at 100 meters.
 
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You might want to try loads all the way to 46 gr. Watch for pressure. Might have to bring some home.

I take ammo to range in a picnic cooler with 2 2litre Coke bottles of hot water to keep ammo toasty. For shooting, I put the ammo in my shirt pocket - about 98 degrees F there. that way ther sults are valid for the summer, too.
 
You might want to go less of 4064 powder and 168gr bullets I had a good load for hunterclass targets 100y to 300y If I remember correctly 40.5gr very very accurate in the .2s I tested with different jumps from 5000 to 20000, and just kissing was the most accurate in my 25" 1/12 twist Hart
manitou
 
Roll-your-own, hand-roll, etc.


Lotsa LEE bashing on CGN, no different than the Browning-folks saying a Savage "could never shoot that good." :)rolleyes:) I have the Challenger (with the die bushings, a real time-saver), best purchase I've made in a really long time.
 
Zeb said:
will decreasing the distance "off the lands" make any difference downrange? or vice-versa ?
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Someone here probably knows more. From what I've read the pros seem to like .010" to .020" off the lands but in my readings I haven't seen any target results where identicle cartridges have been used with only the lands distance being altered.
 
I am shooting .308 just off the lands its makes a difference but factory lenght match ammo can also produce good groups its just one more thing you can try when you reload your own. Reloading is basically the persuit of perfection.
 
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