Yup. Hopefully only stitches. If you want 300WM performance then get a 300WM. Pushing the 308 to those pressures is asinine in my opinion. Also plan on 300WM barrel life.
.308 Winchester
- Thread starter Two Shoes
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Yup. Hopefully only stitches. If you want 300WM performance then get a 300WM. Pushing the 308 to those pressures is asinine in my opinion. Also plan on 300WM barrel life.
Are these standard 308 loads? Or are you loading very long on a long action, single feeding, etc?
Short action Bumblebee, magazine length. These are loaded at 2.95" OAL.
I did that with 200.20x’s but used Winchester commercial brass and got pressure signs at 2650 from a 24” barrel. Accuracy came in at 2580 and was very usable until the temp dropped in the 30’s and I accepted that a 12” twist is not enough for this projectile.
A1-3. Same as the Darpa XM3, only with adjustable cheekpiece.
If you set up your rifle to take the correct detachable mags something like 2.990" MDT minus center plate, will feed through a standard Rem short action...available on line everywhere.
With a little inletting on your part, presto you too, can have the same setup.
This will help with the 200 gr and heavier to seat out past the ogive.
These are 208 Bergers at 2700 fps in $600 rifle build with a new Bartlein 5R 9 twist 22" barrel, bottom metal, magazine, and muzzle brake ....used parts on a trued Rem 700.
The rifle was a previous factory Rem LTR, with a shot out barrel.
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I've got a couple Alpha mags that'll take COAL's of that length (2.979"). But I don't know if Alpha is still doing business or if there are suppliers that have them???
I'm already setup for Hawkins Precision hunter extended mags. They have an internal length of 2.980"
A reduced load for H4895 or IMR 4895 under a Hornady 125 SST is your huckleberry for this. Shoot for a starting velocity of 2500-2600 fps, and a minimum impact velocity of 1900 fps at your maximum range.
They shoot soft and despite the reduced loads are often very accurate.
I was leaning towards a 140g. He was shooting a 140g 6.5 last season around 2550 and was doing great with it. This rifle will be about 2bs heavier so if I can get a good 308 load that keeps it similar, he should be good to go
Rob, as you know I shot F TR at a high level for many years. We long throated and single shot 200’s in 30-32” barrelsas fast as we could get groups with. Bullets loaded so long it was hard to get them to stay in the case sometimes. Everyone I saw try to go over 2700 fps ended badly. 2600 was right around perfect. At mag length those loads would of grenaded lots of actions
I say go 300wm if you want 300 WM velocities. Now I long load 300wm with 200’s and run 2950 fps with no worries
I got a couple boxes of the 168 sierra tipped bullets and so far so good, 44.5varget win brass 2.82" win primer supposed to try them on steel to 1000 tomorrow. So far the 169smk has been the best.
I want to settle on one bullet to shoot in my 308's, bolt gun and gasser. Not the same load, but the same bullet.
It needs to fly decent to at least 800 and kill pretty well also. Kind of leaves the the smk out of the picture. I've had good luck with the 178eld-m in my 20" bolt gun, but I feel I give up to much speed with the 16" in the LMT.
They both like hornady black with the 168Amax. The LMT really does well with it. Thinking about just going all in on the old school Amax.
Thoughts and opinions welcome.
It needs to fly decent to at least 800 and kill pretty well also. Kind of leaves the the smk out of the picture. I've had good luck with the 178eld-m in my 20" bolt gun, but I feel I give up to much speed with the 16" in the LMT.
They both like hornady black with the 168Amax. The LMT really does well with it. Thinking about just going all in on the old school Amax.
Thoughts and opinions welcome.
Is 168 ELDM not the obvious answer here? Can try out a box of the white box Match ammo and see how it shoots before committing.
It's funny, some people swear by the tipped Sierra's and some people hate them. I never saw anything to write home about in any of the Black Hills ammo loaded with them and the few I tried with handloads were nothing special.
I really am a Berger whore, however my current .308 bolt gun has a longer throat and most Bergers come in at .050-.100 off the lands even loaded at 2.95 OAL, so I found the 210 Sierra loaded at that length is right at the sweet spot.
I could never settle on one bullet for my 308s.
Too many twist rates from 12 twist to 8 twist barrels from 16" to 30" plus long actions, short actions, bolts and autos.
The new 169 and 177 SMKs have been good in the extreme barrel differences
from 16" AR 11.25 twist, the 9 twist 22" and the 8 twist 30" with the 177 gr SMK.
The 16" AR 10 also loves the 168 eldm at 2756 fps ave it provides 1/2" 5 shot groups in an ultra light 6 lb AR 10, without scope. So I tend to load the 168 eldm for it...but it shoots the 177 SMKs almost as good too.
Then I shoot the 230 gr and 250 gr Atips out of the 30" 8 twist, not appropriate for the 16" AR 10, but the 208 eldms at 2442 fps work in it, for a heavy AR 10 bullet load.
The performance differences are extreme between all these 308s so that's why so many loads and bullets...hybrid cases 30 " barrel 177 gr SMK over 3100 fps, and 3800 ft/lbs of muzzle energy.
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I'm getting 2550fps from a 20" barrel with 2000mr in a Lapua case and a 200.20x bullet. A full grain away from light ejector mark. 2.98" oal or perhaps a hair longer, didn't check other than BTO.
I'm too poor for bergers I stock up on the midwayusa blemished sales and then sort the bolt gun ones. They had a shitload of hornady 6.5mm for 20-22cents a pop not too long ago.
