I ran into some problems load testing today I was hoping you guys could help me with. Let me give you some background.
I am quite new to reloading. I have loaded about 300 rounds of .308 and that's petty much it. I try for precision Trimming every case, clean the primer pockets, deburr flash holes, trickle powder.
I have been working on a load for my SSG 3000. The rifle has Vortex PST 6-24x scope, Burris Zee ring, and I always shoot it prone with a bipod and rear bag. It gets pretty well looked after.
Anyways I had settled on 44 grains of Varget pushing a 175 SMK out of a Federal case with a Federal 210 match primer. I'm not a very good shot so after some ladder testing from 43 to 44.5 grains I was trying other popular loads I had seen online. At 150 meters I got this group I was really happy with using 43.5:
I loaded up another batch to try against my 44 grain loads to see if maybe I had just gotten lucky. At 100 meters I shot this group with a lot of horizontal stringing.
I read up on the problem online and figured it was probably just me. I loaded up seven each at 43.3, 43.5, and 43.7 to see what kind of wiggle room this promising load had.
This is where things get a bit more interesting (I realize my story is probably really boring). I was shooting over my chronograph and the first round of the day was a 43.3 that read out at 2599 FPS but after firing the gun smelled like burnt plastic or something. The bolt was so stuck I had to grab the stock and reef on it to open it. The case came out but wouldn't eject. I took the bolt right out and had to knock the case off the extractor.
Here's what it looked like. Next to it is another round I fired:
The case got a second rim added to it and the primer popped out. The base is covered in soot and you can see where the extractor dig in.
I probably shouldn't have but I kept shooting. My chronograph gave all kinds of weird numbers like 3300 FPS so I think the sun was giving it trouble but the 43.5 grouped really well horizontally this time but not vertically. Looked like this at 150 meters:
So.my biggest questions are what could have caused the case to be damaged like that? Cold it have damaged my gun? And why are my rounds stringing vertically?
Sorry to be so long winded but I thought the details might be important. I got the cases for cheap and I believe it was once fired. It was my first shot of the day so maybe something was in the bore? I didn't check it before I started. The powder fills the case to almost the top of the shoulder and I am usually quite dilligant in weighing it. I only use one type of powder.
Here is another picture:
Could the round have damaged the gun enough to cause the vertical stringing? I thought maybe I didn't load the bipod correctly or consistantly. Perhaps the velocities were inconsistent? My chronograph didn't read many rounds and I don't think they varied by 700 FPS so I couldn't trust it.
I am quite new to reloading. I have loaded about 300 rounds of .308 and that's petty much it. I try for precision Trimming every case, clean the primer pockets, deburr flash holes, trickle powder.
I have been working on a load for my SSG 3000. The rifle has Vortex PST 6-24x scope, Burris Zee ring, and I always shoot it prone with a bipod and rear bag. It gets pretty well looked after.
Anyways I had settled on 44 grains of Varget pushing a 175 SMK out of a Federal case with a Federal 210 match primer. I'm not a very good shot so after some ladder testing from 43 to 44.5 grains I was trying other popular loads I had seen online. At 150 meters I got this group I was really happy with using 43.5:
I loaded up another batch to try against my 44 grain loads to see if maybe I had just gotten lucky. At 100 meters I shot this group with a lot of horizontal stringing.
I read up on the problem online and figured it was probably just me. I loaded up seven each at 43.3, 43.5, and 43.7 to see what kind of wiggle room this promising load had.
This is where things get a bit more interesting (I realize my story is probably really boring). I was shooting over my chronograph and the first round of the day was a 43.3 that read out at 2599 FPS but after firing the gun smelled like burnt plastic or something. The bolt was so stuck I had to grab the stock and reef on it to open it. The case came out but wouldn't eject. I took the bolt right out and had to knock the case off the extractor.
Here's what it looked like. Next to it is another round I fired:
The case got a second rim added to it and the primer popped out. The base is covered in soot and you can see where the extractor dig in.
I probably shouldn't have but I kept shooting. My chronograph gave all kinds of weird numbers like 3300 FPS so I think the sun was giving it trouble but the 43.5 grouped really well horizontally this time but not vertically. Looked like this at 150 meters:
So.my biggest questions are what could have caused the case to be damaged like that? Cold it have damaged my gun? And why are my rounds stringing vertically?
Sorry to be so long winded but I thought the details might be important. I got the cases for cheap and I believe it was once fired. It was my first shot of the day so maybe something was in the bore? I didn't check it before I started. The powder fills the case to almost the top of the shoulder and I am usually quite dilligant in weighing it. I only use one type of powder.
Here is another picture:
Could the round have damaged the gun enough to cause the vertical stringing? I thought maybe I didn't load the bipod correctly or consistantly. Perhaps the velocities were inconsistent? My chronograph didn't read many rounds and I don't think they varied by 700 FPS so I couldn't trust it.
Last edited:
