Which .308 to chamber for?

[JohnC]

After many years I finally found an action to complete a precision rifle project i've been accumulating parts for. The complete bill of materials will include

Rem 700 short action (.308 boltface)
Chioate Sniper stock
26" 1 in 10 twist Shilen Barrrel in .308
Rifle Basix trigger
Holland oversize recoil lug.

I plan on getting the action and barrel blueprinted, and it will have to be set back to accommodate the recoil lug. The barrel is currently short-chambered and I was wondering in finishing the chamber whether to have a tight chamber and if so which cartridge to set it up for, .308 Federal Premium 168 grain, Lake City premium ammunition (170 grain?) or Norma ammunition, all of which are slightly different dimensionally. Or does this not reallymake any difference, ands should I go with normal .308 win commercial specs. While I plan to reload I was alos wondering which commercial ammo is most popular in Canada for long distance shooting

I'm a newby in this area so any info would be much appreciated.

Thanks in Advance

 

[maynard]

If you plan to shoot over 800 yards the 168's will be the worst choice of bullets. Go with 155's or 175's. Have your gunsmith use a .308 Obermeyer reamer.
There is no common commerical ammo that is used for long range shooting, with maybe the expections of Norma (big $$$). You are better off to get some reloading gear to tailor the ammo to your rifle.

 

[Leeper]

I have found Obermeyer reamer to produce a chamber in which the throat is really too short. While it works fine with 147gr Ball ammo, it results in high pressures with LC Match or with Federal Match. In addition, Sierra bullets have to be seated too deep. So I throat for LC match and find this to work well overall. Regards, Bill.

 

[rgv]

I have shot both DCRA and NRA cross-the-course, and have also found that the obermeyer is indeed too short for 168/173/175 bullets. It does work well with 155 SMK or Lapua though.

The LC match (which I assume is the same as the National Match 7.62) reamer is a better compormise, and is bigger than the Obermeyer/RG and smaller than the 308 SAAMI.

There used to be a lot of the 'Gold Cross' 155 SMK ammo around for sale which was much cheaper than Sierra or Norma and shot very well in a good barrel. If I recall, it was mexican match made with Brazilian 147 ball and a 155 Palma and sold for around $30/50