So I picked up a Kimber in .308 a few weeks ago, a new Leupold VX2 3-9 x 33 ultralight, and put them together. I'm not sure how long that scope is going to live on the rifle, I may upgrade pretty soon. Anyhow, I figured I'd post this here as there is not a ton of information on these rifles, and also to get everyones thoughts and recommendations on bullet and powder choices.
So here she is
And against my other 'lightweight' a Sako 85 Finnlight in 30-06
I bought 50 new Nosler cases, primed with CCI BR2's, charged them up with varying weights of Varget, put some 150 gn Hornady SST's and went to the range to sight in, break in barrel, etc. I chose the 150 SST's because in my experience, SST's are pretty accurate, and relatively inexpensive. I have had mixed results using them for hunting. Anyway, the results were not very encouraging
The centre group was the max load according to the Lee book, and I thought I might be on the edge of something good. I had no pressure signs, so I loaded some more up a bit hotter, and shot them at 200 yards. Sorry no pictures, but the accuracy was appalling.
So since I didn't really intend to hunt with SST's, I started loading up Nosler Partitions. I realize that this is probably way overkill at the kind of speeds this rifle is producing, but why not ? I've never heard anyone say they were disappointed with the partition's performance, and once I get a load dialled in, I won't be firing that many shots with those bullets anyway. So I loaded up a bunch of different powders, and put 150 partitions on top of them.
So that's where I'm at now. I had my chrony out last time, so those numbers are speeds (for what they're worth), and grains of powder used. H4895 is looking good, as is VV N150. Varget, not so much. I'm sort of partial to powders that have a good temperature stability, hence Hodgsons, and VV. The Adirondack magazine box is 2.835 long, so I have been loading to a COAL of 2.810. With 150 SST's, this gives a .180 jump to the lands. I have .003 neck tension, and I am lightly crimping, as these will be hunting rounds, and crimped rounds make me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. I have not run into any pressure signs yet, so I will be loading a bit more H4895 and VV N150 and see how they do. I have 150 gn Hornady Interlock Flat Base, SST's, Nosler Partitions, as well as 165 gn SST's, !80 gn SST's, 168 gn Barnes TTSX's on hand. The TTSX's would be a bit silly to run in this rifle, as I am nowhere near the speed, and they eat up too much case capacity.
I should be able to shoot some more tomorrow, we'll see how it goes.
Edit, Not sure why I put this here, as opposed to the reloading section, but I did. Move it if you want.
So here she is
And against my other 'lightweight' a Sako 85 Finnlight in 30-06
I bought 50 new Nosler cases, primed with CCI BR2's, charged them up with varying weights of Varget, put some 150 gn Hornady SST's and went to the range to sight in, break in barrel, etc. I chose the 150 SST's because in my experience, SST's are pretty accurate, and relatively inexpensive. I have had mixed results using them for hunting. Anyway, the results were not very encouraging
The centre group was the max load according to the Lee book, and I thought I might be on the edge of something good. I had no pressure signs, so I loaded some more up a bit hotter, and shot them at 200 yards. Sorry no pictures, but the accuracy was appalling.
So since I didn't really intend to hunt with SST's, I started loading up Nosler Partitions. I realize that this is probably way overkill at the kind of speeds this rifle is producing, but why not ? I've never heard anyone say they were disappointed with the partition's performance, and once I get a load dialled in, I won't be firing that many shots with those bullets anyway. So I loaded up a bunch of different powders, and put 150 partitions on top of them.
So that's where I'm at now. I had my chrony out last time, so those numbers are speeds (for what they're worth), and grains of powder used. H4895 is looking good, as is VV N150. Varget, not so much. I'm sort of partial to powders that have a good temperature stability, hence Hodgsons, and VV. The Adirondack magazine box is 2.835 long, so I have been loading to a COAL of 2.810. With 150 SST's, this gives a .180 jump to the lands. I have .003 neck tension, and I am lightly crimping, as these will be hunting rounds, and crimped rounds make me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. I have not run into any pressure signs yet, so I will be loading a bit more H4895 and VV N150 and see how they do. I have 150 gn Hornady Interlock Flat Base, SST's, Nosler Partitions, as well as 165 gn SST's, !80 gn SST's, 168 gn Barnes TTSX's on hand. The TTSX's would be a bit silly to run in this rifle, as I am nowhere near the speed, and they eat up too much case capacity.
I should be able to shoot some more tomorrow, we'll see how it goes.
Edit, Not sure why I put this here, as opposed to the reloading section, but I did. Move it if you want.
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I would add enough H4895 under the bullet of choice to make decent speed. Load up a few dozen and just do some practice. Go kill things
