.308 Win suggestions

[overlordofwar]

A friend of mine and I are getting ready to load up some 308 Win rounds for my new Savage model 10. He has done a large amount of handloading and reloading for his own rifles in the past and has had a good deal of success with them. I'm hoping someone might have a special secret recipe that they might be willing to share with us. If not that's ok, you can't give out all your secrets.

[ocabj]

What powder, brass, primer, and bullet are you planning to use?

I personally use 44.6gr Varget, 175 Sierra Match Kings, CCI BR2 primers, and Lapua brass which shoots 2775fps out of a 26" Savage factory barrel.

I've heard other people using 44.0gr Varget with the above components with good accuracy as well.

[Swamp Yankee]

Loads that have worked well for me in a Remington 700PSS and AR10.

Sierra 168 gr HPBT MatchKing
Remington 9-1/2 BR Primers
Winchester brass Trim length 2.010 / 2.015
Varget or ReLoader 15 Powder, I'd recommend starting around 42 grains of either and working up. I've had a little better results with Varget, but not a huge difference.
COL 2.810 / 2.815

For a less costly, not quite as accurate, but still decent load try Winchester's 147 gr FMJBT. Start with the same components as above but start with 46 grains of WW748 and work up. You'll see a much larger COL tolerance based upon the bullet but it's still a very accurate load.

Take Care

[overlordofwar]

ocabj, I'm looking for advice on what type of brass, bullet, primer, and powder to use. I've never loaded rounds for a rifle myself, hence the reason I've got a friend of mine to help me. I'm mainly just trying to get some help in finding the most accurate round without extensive amounts of experimentation.

To Everyone that's posted: Thanks for all your input.

[Zak Smith]

Are these for target or hunting?

I recently posted a bunch of target load data to this thread:
http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=133886

[cheygriz]

Over the years, I've had my best velocities, and acuracy by far with H-335 powder, with BLC-2 and W-W 748 running a close second. This was true for three different rifles.

A few years back, a couple or world championship bench rest matches were won with H335.

Among the old timey "log" type powders, my best results came with 4895, but it wasn't even close to the newer ball powders. It works for me, but YRMV.

[Wildalaska]

190 match Kings, winchester cases, fed 210M, 41 graines RL-15. OAL 2.80, velocity approx 2400 fps out of an SSG 69

Going to run lapua cases with next batch...

O how does it shoot?




WildjustaselfpromotingjerkoffAlaska

[Zak Smith]

Why did you choose the 190SMK at 2400fps?

It is beat by almost every other load for drop, windage, and retained velocity @ 1000 yards:

_Bullet_           _BC_ _MV_         0     200     400     600     800    1000 | YARDS
190 SMK           0.53* 2400 >   -0.00    2.44    9.65   18.86   30.41   44.88 | drop (moa)
175 SMK           0.51* 2700 >   -0.00    1.76    7.39   14.70   23.95   35.71 | drop (moa)
168 SMK           0.46* 2750 >   -0.00    1.69    7.26   14.72   24.52   37.57 | drop (moa)
155 SMK           0.45* 2900 >   -0.00    1.43    6.38   12.98   21.56   32.89 | drop (moa)
155 Scenar        0.508 2900 >   -0.00    1.39    6.13   12.27   19.94   29.55 | drop (moa)

190 SMK           0.53* 2400 >    0.00    3.09   13.32   32.29   61.83  103.16 | wind (inches)
175 SMK           0.51* 2700 >    0.00    2.81   12.06   29.27   56.42   95.43 | wind (inches)
168 SMK           0.46* 2750 >    0.00    2.99   13.07   32.52   64.14  110.49 | wind (inches)
155 SMK           0.45* 2900 >    0.00    2.81   12.22   29.97   58.64  101.01 | wind (inches)
155 Scenar        0.508 2900 >    0.00    2.47   10.55   25.50   48.88   82.46 | wind (inches)

190 SMK           0.53* 2400 >    2400    2095    1810    1554    1331    1158 | velocity (fps)
175 SMK           0.51* 2700 >    2700    2351    2028    1733    1468    1251 | velocity (fps)
168 SMK           0.46* 2750 >    2750    2365    2003    1665    1369    1146 | velocity (fps)
155 SMK           0.45* 2900 >    2900    2498    2126    1788    1475    1226 | velocity (fps)
155 Scenar        0.508 2900 >    2900    2544    2214    1910    1635    1395 | velocity (fps)

[Wildalaska]

Why did you choose the 190SMK at 2400fps?

I was trying to duplicate the Hirtenberger Match load which my swarvoski scope is cammed for (800 meters)...the Hirtenberger load is 190MK at 731MPS so I have achieved that with accuracy

Im not gonna shoot with this one past 600 yards and since my scope is cammed (still refining a bit) hopefully drop difference wont matter..

Coincidently, I havent really played with lighter bullets too much, but so far it seems that the 190s are shooting better than the 168s and the rifle does not seem to like less than 168s, although I can shoot 1.5 inches with 147 grain ball...my rifle did not like LC match ammo at all...for some reason I think that it has to do with the tightness of the cahmber vis a vis the OAL of the round which is limited by the magazine if that makes any sense...

Keep in mind too that this is an obsolete system and just a play toy...like my Swede m41B...if I was into competition or was in a SHTF scenario Id run a Blaser R93 or AW and a Leupold with a load tailored for the rifle.....

WildacademicAlaska

[Zak Smith]

Gotcha, that makes sense.

Some rifles are finicky about bullets, and some seem to shoot just about anything OK. In my AR10, Federal 168gr Match shot better than anything else, and the 155 Lapuas wouldn't shoot, while in the AW just about anything will do half minute.

Here are some good loads for pdh, which will need to be tuned for his rifle. I'll leave out brass type and primer, since the load needs adjustment per rifle anyway. It's hard to go wrong with Lapua, Winchester, or Federal brass, and Federal 210M primers. OAL no shorter than 2.800", ideally adjusted for your barrel.

175gr SMK, Varget, 2600-2700fps, start at 44.0gr and adjust.
125gr Ballistic Tip, IMR4895, 2900-3050fps, start at 45.0gr and adjust.
125gr Ballistic Tip, VV-N140, 2800-2900, start at 47.0gr and adjust.
155gr SMK, Varget, 2800-2900fps, start at 46.5gr and adjust.
155gr Lapua Scenar, Varget, 2800-2930fps, start at 45.0gr and adjust
155gr Lapua Scenar, VV-N140, 2800-2900fps, start at 45.0gr and adjust
155gr Lapua Scenar, IMR 4895, 2800-2930fps, start at 44.0gr and adjust

Here's some specific data from my 24" AW:

125gr BT, 45.2 VV-N140, Lapua case, 2.850", Rem #9.5 primer, 45F, 2810fps
125gr BT, 45.4gr IMR 4895, Fed case, 2.845", 210M primer, 62F, 2924fps
125gr BT, 49.5gr IMR 4895, Lapua case, Win case, 2.750", 210M, 69F, 3050fps

Factory Lapua 155's: 2820fps

155gr SMK, 46.5gr Varget, Win cases, R#9.5, 2816fps
155gr SMK, 45.2gr VV-N140, Lapua cases, 2.800, 210M, 62F, 2771fps

155gr LAPUA, 45.0gr Varget, Lapua cases, 2.850", 210M, 57F, 2805fps
-- same but 46.0gr Varget, 2848fps
-- same but 47.0gr Varget, 2908fps
-- same but 45.5gr Varget (42F), 2835fps

155gr LAPUA, 45.0gr VV-N140, Lapua cases, 2.850", 210M, 57F, 2806fps
-- same but 45.2gr N140 (42F)- 2820fps

155gr LAPUA, 45.6gr IMR-4895, 2.850", 210M, 69F, 2910fps

155gr LAPUA, 47.0gr VV-N550, Win cases, 2.815", 215M, 57F, 2739fps
-- same but 48.0gr N550, 2784fps
-- same but 49.0gr N550, 2861fps