Flinging 215 VLDs out of a 308

[david walter]

Went to the range today and fired a few rounds to see if my Tikka could stabilize the bullets at a 1-11" twist and velocity around 2400 FPS.

In conversations with MontanaMarine, decided to work up from 45.0 grains of RL-17, CCI200, Lapua once-fired brass, COAL 2.95-ish.

I forgot how poorly RL-17 meters out of a Dillon, so there is probably some of that at play, as well.

Jam into the lands is 3.070, and if I were smarter I would have just used a 30-06 magazine to get that OAL. As it was, I was shooting from a CTR mag, and even then had to single feed.

None of the bullets tumbled that I can tell.

Anyway,

Group 1 (center of target) 45.0, average velocity 2338 FPS, ES 25.3, SD 8.7, group size 2.5"
Group 2 (upper left) 45.5, average velocity 2386 FPS, ES 50.3, SD 18.1, group ~ 1.25"
Group 3 (upper right) 46.0, average velocity 2405 FPS, ES 46.4, SD 18.6, group >2"
Group 4 (lower left) 46.5, average velocity 2445 FPS, ES 59.8, SD 22.1, group ~ 1-3/4'

Going to do the long mag thing, and change powders, but wanted to get this out there just to see who else if flinging heavies and get thoughts on different powders.

 

[st1650]

I did it back in the days with my DTA in 308 1/8 tw with the 208 AMAX and RL17. With Lapua 308 SRP you can crank them well past normal pressure.
I was loading them at 47.5gr at 3.100” giving me an insane speed of 2550 FPS out of a 16in barrel, by comparison, the FGMM 175 SMK factory would give me 2475 out of the same barrel.
Ultimately the juice wasn’t worth the squeeze for me. It was a harsh load, recoil was awful even with an aggressive brake and not temp stable. It was a 1 moa load meanwhile the 155, 175 and 185 were sub 1/2.

I might revisit that one day if the whole hybrid Fury case becomes a thing and throat a 308 for the 225 Eld-M with Staball in a 28-30in straight 1.25 tube. Wouldn’t surprise me if it gets close to WSM speeds

 

[Kickin45]

Try RL16 or even 26 for better speed and es-sd’s However, case load and your barrel twist are gonna play major factors

 

[45-90]

Running heavy bullets in the 308 case is not new. It's been going on for years.
I'm running 8 and 9 twist barrels in 308 including a 30" on a long action, in an aluminum chassis.
200 gr SMK 2856 fps, 225 gr ELDM 2675 fps , 230 gr ATIPS at 2620 fps.
Then for more velocity one can use the hybrid cases, with the SS case heads.
The 22" 9 twist runs the 200 gr SMK at 2740 fps or 230 SMK at 2550 fps.
Heavy bullet high BC bullets with Newer powders and fast twist 9 and 8, really make a difference in 308 case performance...if ya care to go there.