I need some reloading insight

*MALICE*

*MALICE*

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Okay, I'm trying to get a load worked out for my rifle. When I take a step back and look at the data, I kind of think I'm overthinking it.

Tikka T3 Tactical, .308Win, 24"Bbl 1-11", custom muzzle brake, Bushnell 4200 6x24 50mm

Shooting off a rest and a bag. Chrono at 15'. 200 Yards to target.
The bullets are Hornady 168gr A-Max, Lapua brass, CCI200 primers, and Varget for powder.
The bullet touches the lands at 2.915" but I've been seating them to 2.805" so that they'll feed through the magazine. Since it's a long action, I could just buy a 30-06 magazine but that's another discussion.

The loads:

41.0 - .28moa - 2438fps +- 16fps
41.5 - .7moa - 2466fps +- 10fps
42.0 - .52moa - 2516fps +- 16fps
42.5 - .59moa - 2565fps +- 14fps
43.0 - .38moa - 2571fps +- 16fps
43.5 - .56moa - 2587fps +- 21fps
44.0 - .43 moa - 2632fps +- 17fps

I have data for a max load of 45.7gr and another for 46gr. So I'm thinking of going above what I've done so far to see if anything looks good.
The funny thing is, you would think with a smaller fps variation, that 41.5 would have been a good load, but it was the worst of all of them.

I wouldn't consider any of these 'bad groups', so maybe I'm just being picky. The other thing is that 99% of the time, I'm just putting holes in paper, but you never know when a small to medium furry animal will have to get killed. So is 2438fps a 'good' speed? Does it make much difference? Are the deviations in the velocities I'm getting 'normal'?
Also, if I decide to start seating the bullets closer to the lands, am I doing it backwards by starting at 2.805" and getting longer from there?

Thanks in advance
 
I look at those figures and think what a well tuned rifle you have. It's not one bit fussy about quite a large variation in charges of powder. There is not enough difference in any of the loads, to stick in your eye. It would take a lot more shooting of groups to prove that one was better, or worse, than the rest.
That is the way a rifle is supposed to shoot. What more can you expect out of it? I would load up to the maximum shown loads, to see if they acted teh same, then I would settle on the velocity I wanted and shoot away, at whatever type of shooting you plan on.
 
I was getting pretty lame results when I was using Remington brass but as soon as I switched to the Lapua brass, things tightened right up.

Right now I'm somewhat limited to 200 yards, but would the slower velocity of 2438fps be an issue if I had longer distances to stretch out to? Like 300-600y?
 
According to Hodgdon, 42.0 is minimum(Max is 46.0 compressed. 2731fps) for a 168 grain bullet using Varget. They give 2520fps out of their test rifle. 2516 is close enough.
Work up the load for accuracy. Accuracy is far more important than velocity.
 
If i was a betting man i would probalby think you might find something at around 45-45.5
But then again my Hornady book says 44 max.
 
H4831 said:
I look at those figures and think what a well tuned rifle you have. It's not one bit fussy about quite a large variation in charges of powder. There is not enough difference in any of the loads, to stick in your eye. It would take a lot more shooting of groups to prove that one was better, or worse, than the rest.
That is the way a rifle is supposed to shoot. What more can you expect out of it? I would load up to the maximum shown loads, to see if they acted teh same, then I would settle on the velocity I wanted and shoot away, at whatever type of shooting you plan on.
Click to expand...


What he said....if you want to mess around a bit try reloder 15.
 
Just for your information... I just started loading for my Savage 12 F/TR (30 in barrel) in 308 topped with a bushnell 6500. I am using a Berger 155 grain VLDs with Lapua brass. I found that 47 grains of Varget (you have to use a electric shave to settle the powder before seating the bullet) with CCI Primers and the VLDs seated 10 thou into the lands works best for me. My Velocity is 3050 +/- 9 fps. i get less that .25 MOA at 200 yards. What i did was test for best 5 shot group at 100 yds using different powder amounts using 10 thou off the lands... from 42 to 47 grains. Then i took the best results and moved the seating around from -10 to 40 thou, 80 thou and 120 thou.. as recommended by many for Berger VLDs and ended up with a great shooting load out to 1000 yds.. Yah.. i shot an F class match to 1000 yards and was getting V-bulls (5 inch circle) at 1000 yds..

I would take your 43.0 and your 44.0 grain loads and go up by 0.2 or 0.3 grains a couple of steps in each direction and see if there is any improvement . Then take the best loads and bracket with 0.1 grain loads to see if you can squeeze more accuracy out of it. Then i would take that load and test different seating depths.. Hey thats the way i did it.. Hope it will work for you... There are lots of posts about how to do the ladder test.. which will identify your barrels nodes.. check out Mystic player.. A site sponsor.. he is a pro at squeezing accuracy out of a rifle..

RDG
 
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