I am still new to precision shooting and have tons to learn... so thanks for all the great info on this site!
I purchased this rifle used last fall and have been learning to shoot it in the past months. I also got my dad to haul out his old reloading equipment that hadn't been used since the mid-'70s as far as I know. He recently had bought a new set of RCBS .308 dies for me, since he doesn't have anything chambered for .308. We got set up a few weeks ago and did some reloading of the Federal brass I had shot (I've only shot the GMM 168 BTHP factory stuff through the LTR thus far).
After doing some reading here and elsewhere about people's attempts to duplicate the Federal loads, I opted for RL15 powder. Varying opinions pointed to mostly a 42.0 grain load, but some people also suggested as much as 42.8 grains.
We ended up loading 60 rounds, 15 each at 42.0, 42.2, 42.4 and 42.6 grains. My goal was to shoot 3 five-round groups of each load, including the FGMM and see which came the closest to the factory loads.
I went out last Sunday and.... it was quite a bit of work and took some time to shoot 75 rounds through the LTR. I shot only five rounds at a time (slowly) then waited for the next relay at the range. This way, I thought, the barrel would cool down to close to ambient temp. It ended up taking from 9am to 3pm for this process to be complete. Had some good conversations with guys who came & went while I was patiently doing my shooting.
Of all the loads, the FGGM still shot the lowest average group size of .650" at 100 yards then the next closest was the 42.6 grain loads at .654". My smallest group, though, was .350" shot with the FGMM factory loads. Pretty happy with that one!!
My average across all 75 rounds was .814", and my right shoulder is still just a bit tender.
I may go through a similar exercise again, but with the target at 200 yds and see if there is any appreciable difference in drop between the loads.
I purchased this rifle used last fall and have been learning to shoot it in the past months. I also got my dad to haul out his old reloading equipment that hadn't been used since the mid-'70s as far as I know. He recently had bought a new set of RCBS .308 dies for me, since he doesn't have anything chambered for .308. We got set up a few weeks ago and did some reloading of the Federal brass I had shot (I've only shot the GMM 168 BTHP factory stuff through the LTR thus far).
After doing some reading here and elsewhere about people's attempts to duplicate the Federal loads, I opted for RL15 powder. Varying opinions pointed to mostly a 42.0 grain load, but some people also suggested as much as 42.8 grains.
We ended up loading 60 rounds, 15 each at 42.0, 42.2, 42.4 and 42.6 grains. My goal was to shoot 3 five-round groups of each load, including the FGMM and see which came the closest to the factory loads.
I went out last Sunday and.... it was quite a bit of work and took some time to shoot 75 rounds through the LTR. I shot only five rounds at a time (slowly) then waited for the next relay at the range. This way, I thought, the barrel would cool down to close to ambient temp. It ended up taking from 9am to 3pm for this process to be complete. Had some good conversations with guys who came & went while I was patiently doing my shooting.
Of all the loads, the FGGM still shot the lowest average group size of .650" at 100 yards then the next closest was the 42.6 grain loads at .654". My smallest group, though, was .350" shot with the FGMM factory loads. Pretty happy with that one!!
My average across all 75 rounds was .814", and my right shoulder is still just a bit tender.
I may go through a similar exercise again, but with the target at 200 yds and see if there is any appreciable difference in drop between the loads.
