Reloading 308

Jrji

Jrji

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I'm having issues reloading 308, trying to get a decent group at 200m and getting about a 2"- 3" spread. Using 45g of Varget, 168 Hornady BTHP, O.A.L 2.270" measured from the ogive. I'm using an electronic scale and wondering if my powder load is off, their obviously could be a number of factors. Do you guys see any issues with the data below ? Input greatly appreciated
Shots: 19
Max : 2655
Min : 2594
ES : 61
Avg : 2625
SD : 15
 
Try a different bullet first , I had a Sako that wouldn't group as good as I wanted . I went through a lot of different powder / bullet combos and was getting to think that's as good as I get then found the right combo and got sub 3/4 moa . 45 varget is the powder I use . Brass makes a bigger diff than I thought it would to , I now weigh the brass and I sort it from low to high then put it in my box in the same order once loaded .

Edit - mine is a hunting rifle so I just tried hunting bullets - ended up with 168 gr accubond
 
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What sort of rifle are you shooting? Those groups would be excellent for an M14, but so-so for a heavy barrel bolt gun.
 
Jrji said:
I'm having issues reloading 308, trying to get a decent group at 200m and getting about a 2"- 3" spread. Using 45g of Varget, 168 Hornady BTHP, O.A.L 2.270" measured from the ogive. I'm using an electronic scale and wondering if my powder load is off, their obviously could be a number of factors. Do you guys see any issues with the data below ? Input greatly appreciated
Shots: 19
Max : 2655
Min : 2594
ES : 61
Avg : 2625
SD : 15
Click to expand...

There can be many issues, and I don't see any real quick fixes. I think Varget is a very good powder. It is possible but not likely to get a bad batch. It does have a name for varying from lot to lot in the amount of powder required to get a certain velocity and pressure. Your velocities are a bit lower than I would expect (24" barrel?), for 45 grains of Varget. Hodgdon recommends a maximum of 46 grains, so you do have some room to try a little higher.

The only obvious concern with your data is that an extreme spread of 61 is on the high side. What primers are you using? You may want to try Federal 210M match primers, or CCI BR2 match primers. That is a cheap change.

How consistent is your brass? All one brand? How are you getting a consistent neck tension from case to case?

On bullets I would prefer a 168 grain Berger Match, or a Sierra Match King over a Hornady. Berger now makes a 168 grain hybrid target that is claimed to be less sensitive to seating depth.

My suggestion would be to change the primers, if you are not using Federal or CCI Match, and do a Ladder Test to find a good velocity for your barrel first. See this link for a procedure on how to do it. I find it revealing to do a graph of vertical point of impact of each bullet vs velocity for that bullet. The graph below has been prepared from that Sierra Ladder Test at the link.

SierraLadder.JPG


From his data, I would suggest 2800 as a good target velocity for his gun. What you are looking for is a flat spot where velocity is increasing, but vertical point of impact is not. If your accuracy is suffering, it helps to shoot more shots. The more data you have the better. For your gun and 168 grain bullets I would try to cover the range from 2600 to 2700 fps to see if you can find a sweet spot. 20 shots over that range at 200 meters should do it.

Then once you have identified a sweet spot velocity then try different jumps and if you are not at a real high load, some jams as well. I shoot three, three shot groups per jump/jam seating depth.

Hope that helps some,
 
For what it's worth, I had very poor results using a electronic scale. I bought a Hornady Lock n load, used it two or three times and when back to a balance beam. I "warmed up" the scale every time I used it, per the instructions, calibrated it properly every time, and it would give me erratic readings nine times out of ten. Even weighing the same charge a few minutes later would give me a different reading. Bottom line, I couldn't trust it. Granted, there are much better scales that the one I bought, but a balance beam is pretty much fool proof...In my opinion..
Chris
 
husqvarna said:
For what it's worth, I had very poor results using a electronic scale. I bought a Hornady Lock n load, used it two or three times and when back to a balance beam. I "warmed up" the scale every time I used it, per the instructions, calibrated it properly every time, and it would give me erratic readings nine times out of ten. Even weighing the same charge a few minutes later would give me a different reading. Bottom line, I couldn't trust it. Granted, there are much better scales that the one I bought, but a balance beam is pretty much fool proof...In my opinion..
Chris
Click to expand...

A good mech scale can't be beat in my mind. The only possible error is the user not reading it correctly.
 
In all honesty, if you don't do a few proper test loads, don't have high expectations. The charts and guidelines given are only a starting point. 3 people with the exact same rifle may get three different results. You have to do some work yourself to fine tune a good result.
 
I agree with fiddler. It took me literally hundreds of tries to find my sweet spot. Different powders, different charges, different COL's. I started with Varget but ended up with IMR 4895, It wasn't a over night thing to find it. All summer long more or less.

Good luck on your quest. I'll say it was fun finding mine.
 
Jrji said:
I'm having issues reloading 308, trying to get a decent group at 200m and getting about a 2"- 3" spread. Using 45g of Varget, 168 Hornady BTHP, O.A.L 2.270" measured from the ogive.
Click to expand...

Do you have other powders to try?
Have you tried other loads beside the 45gr charge?
bb
 
How did you get to 45gr?
What scale are you using? If it's crack dealer quality, throw it out.

Can you shoot better than the rifle?
~3" at 200 is 1.5 moa. That's no small feat.

add:
How small is your target? Instead of aiming at a square, aim at the corner of a square.
 
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