In 308 what would you use? Hornady/Sierra/Berger?

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MartyK2500

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Still thinkering around my 308 loads and making em better.
Which got me thinking recently, i had jumped on hornady match bthp 178gr without giving some thought.
Barrel lenght 24" twist 1:10

Is there a big difference between 3 bullet manufacturers?
Different weight recommended?
 
I think you have a 10 TR? I have the fcp-sr, so same twist rate as yours. I run 178 A-Max, and the 175 grain nosler custom competition. I went with these 2 because they were the cheapest. My gun likes 168 grain match kings but I was told to go heavier in the event I want to shoot past 600 yards. I too am starting to look at other options. Perhaps berger 185s. That's the best part I suppose, the testing never ends. I also subscribe to the..if it ain't broke don't fix it mentality as both these bullets give me awesome performance.

I am also starting to play around with the 208 A-max with reloader 17 just for fun. Apparently this powder can get the 208 moving pretty good out of a little 308.
 
I use Hornady Match and A-Max and Siera Matchking for my 308. For plinking, I use Hornady 150gr FMJs. I've been meaning to pickup some Campro 147gr to test out in my 308 and 300BLK for a plinking round.
 
Laker415, yeah that's exact'y it a 10TR
I also forgot to mention, i do not wish to change powder if possible, stock pilled over 10 pounds of varget, i want to find something varget compatible.
Also trying to stay away from shipping as it's expensive, my local cabelas got SMK and hornady, local range got hornady and Berger.
Not looking for cheapest, but also not looking to pay more than 60-65 cents a bullet before taxes.
SMK and hornady are well within this, did not price check berger yet

Trinimon, what weight hornady match you running in which rifle?
 
As a TR shooter with a bullet weight limit of 156 grains, I have tried just about every 155 gr bullet available. Worst 155 gr bullet was Barnes Match Burners, worked great at 100 yards, barely held the 4 ring at 300m and wouldn't hold the black at 900m. Hornady 155 A-Max shot like a laser at 300m but I never used them at any longer distance. In my opinion 155 Nosler's shot a little bit tighter than the old 155 gr Sierra Palma bullets.
The newer 155 Sierra Palma bullets are better than the old 155's, so I would put them on par with Nosler's. Berger 155.5 and Lapua 155 are my go to long range bullets. However I would not feel that I am at a disadvantage shooting 155 Sierra or Nosler's against Lapua or Bergers in a long range match. For me, what it comes down to is what I can get my hands on when it is time to start loading. This year it will be Lapua and Berger out of the .308 for long range, and 82 gr Berger's out of the .223 at everything under 600 yards.
 
In competition, I shoot Berger and Sierra. doing some very interesting testing with Matrix Bullets

Do a ton of plinking with Hrn over the many years.

Used to compete with Lapua but nothing interesting/suitable for FTR at this time

The new Nosler RDF's are working quite nicely but have not sent them LR... still too much snow.

Jerry
 
Im having great success with 175g SMK. They seem very consistant in ogive length and bullet weight. Im not sure how tight Hornady tolerances are.
 
With my 10TR the distance from bolt face to lands is 2.121". Since the 10TR's typically have a short throat I have looked a lot at the ogive to base measurements of bullets. I figure that the shorter this distance is, the more room i'll have in the case for powder. The measurements I have thus far are:

Berger 175 OTM Tac: 0.627"
Hornady 178 BTHP: 0.693"
Hornady 178 Amax: 0.688"
Hornady 178 ELDX: 0.752"
Hornady 178 ELDM: 0.710"
Sierra 175 MK: 0.677"
Sierra 175 TMK: 0.650"

In my Attempted Ladder test thread you can see I have had good luck initially with the 175 TMK and they should be in your price range.
 
I ended up with a Savage 10 HS stocked version... whatever that model is. The prior owners​ pet load was 42.5gr Varget with a 168 Amax. I never would have stumbled on that as it's at or below min.
The ES is single digits, and it shoots these great out to 500m.
 
Thanks for all the input.
I have also looked over in American Forums, this very same debate already got threads about it.

There seems to be a constant though in my 3 bullet choices, no one uses hornady in serious competition.
That is enough for me to warrant a change.

So far, leaning towards Sierra 175gr TMK, which is well within my budget.
Sierra, does seem to have a bit more local availability than Berger. Projectile availability is as important if not more than price.
 
FWIW I have tested the 175 TMK and SMK and prefer the SMK for their shorter overall length. The 175 TMK is a long bullet, very long. The TMk BC is great but depending on your rifle the SMK can go pretty fast. I push mine at 2700 FPS using 45g of varget.
 
Will look into it
Im going to try to buy 100 SMK, 100 TMK, 100 bergers, test it out a bit

My savage so far, shows pressure signs on brass at 44gr varget
And anyways, grouping is awesome at 42gr, just need to chrono make sure it makes sense for distance, as the brass is not worked hard, rifle feels good, and is at it's most precise. With 178gr bullets anyways
 
Do you stock these Jerry?
I am aware i will come across excellent selections as i browse, bit availability and resupply speed is at the most importance.
 
Personally, i would use the bullet that the rifle likes - i have many times bought a bullet (pick brand) as i read good things about it - tried it, and my guns didn't shoot them as well as i would like - tried something different, and Viola!
My 10TR digs 168 hybrids, my other two 308s like smk/tmk's. My 10TR won't shoot tsk/smk,s nor will my other 308s shoot 168 hybrids...
 
I picked up a 1000 round case of Norinco 308 steel case ammo and just use this for target shooting and off-hand practice. For only 50 cents total per round it provides decent accuracy and saves time by not having to make handloads. For Deer hunting I pull the 145gr FMJ bullet and replace it with a 130gr Hornady SP using the same powder charge. The 145gr FMJ chronographs at 2750 fps and the 130gr, 2850 fps.

Groups as shown at 100 meters off the benchrest in my Zastava LKM70 stainless synthetic with a Nikon Monarch3 4-16x42mm scope.

34696326136_16ed1b12ca_z.jpg
34695812946_33176f1f89.jpg


33893593154_52ac4990c5_b.jpg
 
Thats ok if 1 moa is more or less an objective.
In my case, now at 0.7 moa , and still working for better as i better my reloads

Hornady in a steel case will be no comparison
Cool to know though
 
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