The Firing Line Forums - View Single Post - .308 handloads and accuracy: please clarify.

Pond, James Pond · February 8, 2013, 04:10 PM

It has been a while since I last touched my .308. Not had the time, until today that is.

Anyway, the last time I raised the issue of my 155gr A-Max and Scenar handloads I had explained that none of my handloads had struck home, even at 100m. At the moment they are 38gr and 36.5gr respectively of N135.

So I took some member's advice and upp'ed my charge form the starting load to a mid-load. This time I fired another 5 of each (A-Max and Scenar). Again the accuracy was poor, but at least I could see where they were hitting. They were going straight but dropping horribly.

So, is this just down to a lack of power?
Do I just need to increase the charge?

I guess what I'm trying to ask is if it's feasible that all this was just down to bullet drop because of a lack of velocity?
It just seems surprising that a relatively light 155gr bullet could drop by 7-9 inches over just 100m.

By comparison, I shot about 20 Norma Jaktmatch training rounds, also 155gr. They flew pretty straight and I managed some average groups (I'm still a hideous shot...

). This at least tells me that both the scope and the rifle are doing their job, even if I'm not doing mine.

So how can I get these fine target bullet to fly true so that I can start to get my own technique to improve too?

February 8, 2013, 04:10 PM	#1
Pond, James Pond Senior Member Join Date: July 12, 2011 Location: Top of the Baltic stack Posts: 6,079	.308 handloads and accuracy: please clarify. It has been a while since I last touched my .308. Not had the time, until today that is. Anyway, the last time I raised the issue of my 155gr A-Max and Scenar handloads I had explained that none of my handloads had struck home, even at 100m. At the moment they are 38gr and 36.5gr respectively of N135. So I took some member's advice and upp'ed my charge form the starting load to a mid-load. This time I fired another 5 of each (A-Max and Scenar). Again the accuracy was poor, but at least I could see where they were hitting. They were going straight but dropping horribly. So, is this just down to a lack of power? Do I just need to increase the charge? I guess what I'm trying to ask is if it's feasible that all this was just down to bullet drop because of a lack of velocity? It just seems surprising that a relatively light 155gr bullet could drop by 7-9 inches over just 100m. By comparison, I shot about 20 Norma Jaktmatch training rounds, also 155gr. They flew pretty straight and I managed some average groups (I'm still a hideous shot...). This at least tells me that both the scope and the rifle are doing their job, even if I'm not doing mine. So how can I get these fine target bullet to fly true so that I can start to get my own technique to improve too? __________________ When the right to effective self-defence is denied, that right to self-defence which remains is essentially symbolic. Freedom: Please enjoy responsibly.