175 smk 308 velocity

Rh0dz

Sergeant of the Hide
Full Member
Minuteman
Jun 5, 2019
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FL
www.impressionzprinting.com
Novice reloader here. I did a OCW test this weekend with my 308 in a 16" barrel. Overall very pleased with the 175 smk results with varget.

Is 2400 ft/s too slow? Groups 2,3 and 4 look great for a gas gun, but slow. Would you focus on group 8 around 2500 ft/s and ES of 10 (tiny sample set but still nice).

Tia
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To give you some perspective, my 20" bolt gun runs about 2520 with the 168 gr. Pushing 2500 in a 16" gas gun is going to waste brass and will probably beat the action up pretty good unless you have an adjustable gas block.

I would pick 1,2 and 3. By the way 42 gr of Varget/IMR 4064 is a known node.
 
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To give you some perspective, my 20" bolt gun runs about 2520 with the 168 gr. Pushing 2500 in a 16" gas gun is going to waste brass and will probably beat the action up pretty good unless you have an adjustable gas block.

I would pick 1,2 and 3. By the way 42 gr of Target/IMR 4064 is a known node.
The feedback I was looking for. Thank you.
 
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Concur with the above man. Go with what your rifle likes. 2,400 will get you out a little ways.

41.8 (41.75) was the IMR-4064 charge weight for Federal GMM with the 175gr SMK. Not sure if that is still the case or not.

My M24R runs 42.6 - 42.8gr of Varget best. 42.7 gives me 2,575 FPS on a 24" barrel for comparison.
 
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20" AI using 308 FGMM 168 Factory Load 2558 FPS
20" AI using Creedmor Sports factory load 175gr Lapua Bullet 2566 FPS

2400- 2430 FPS for a 16" is about right.
 
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