Range Report Hornady .30 155gr ELD-M vs 168gr ELD-M

[3-0-hate]

Just curious what you guys think. I have been having good results in terms of accuracy and MV out of my 20" factory Remington barrel on my 700. According to AB, I should be able to maintain supersonic velocity (based on my elevation and average daytime temps this time of the year) to roughly 1140 yards which is good enough for just about every match I shoot locally (every once in a while they toss in a 1240yard gong). The 168's obviously have a much better BC (.523 v .461 G1) but they will be going trans-sonic at roughly 950 yards, with the environmentals being all equal. It looks like the 155 will drop less and cheat the wind a bit better too, which is a little odd to me because of the lower BC, but Im guessing velocity is making up for it at that point.

The 155's show @ 1100 yards, 432.2" of drop, 118.19" of wind drift, and 1130fps with a TOF of 1.845seconds.
The 168's show @ 1100 yards, 518.8" of drop, 127.14" of wind drift, and a sub-sonic 1078fps with a TOF of 1.972seconds. It looks like this load drops sub sonic at 1050yards.

Which would you be running? Im only looking at punching steel, so I don't care so much about the energy. Thanks!

 

[308pirate]

The 155.

What speed are you getting out of your rifle with them?

 

[Rob01]

What speed for both and what loads?

 

[DHwreckage]

check out the 185 juggernauts from FGMM, they may get you out to a little over 1200yds!

 

[Rob01]

check out the 185 juggernauts from FGMM, they may get you out to a little over 1200yds!

Only listed at 2600fps from the box spec so probably a 24" barrel. At that speed they are about at 1179fps at 1100. if he loses velocity it might drop off on him depending on his elevation.

If looking at factory ammo then the 178 BTHP Superformance load should be tried as well. In my 20" .308 is comes out at 2805fps. Shot it to 1020 yards and number held true at about 9.4 mils. Kept the shots in 10" steel there too.

OP you looking for factory ammo or bullets?

 

[lawofsavage]

Just run the numbers in JBM using realistic velocity ranges for your barrel length. You’ll get really close.

Not 100% sure what you’re asking either. If you’re asking about factory ammo. The Hornady 168 ELD-M Superformance is for sure my favorite factory ammo in 308 these days. Really closes the gap between 308 and 6.5 Creedmoor.

https://www.hornady.com/ammunition/rifle/6.5-creedmoor-147-gr-eld-match#!/

https://www.hornady.com/ammunition/rifle/308-win-168-gr-eld-match-superformance-match#!/

 

[DHwreckage]

Only listed at 2600fps from the box spec so probably a 24" barrel. At that speed they are about at 1179fps at 1100. if he loses velocity it might drop off on him depending on his elevation.

If looking at factory ammo then the 178 BTHP Superformance load should be tried as well. In my 20" .308 is comes out at 2805fps. Shot it to 1020 yards and number held true at about 9.4 mils. Kept the shots in 10" steel there too.

OP you looking for factory ammo or bullets?

in my ballistic calcs using 2500fps i am supersonic to ~1300yds, albeit i am in CO so my DA my be much higher. Today i am at ~5000DA

 

[3-0-hate]

The 155.

What speed are you getting out of your rifle with them?

I guess I should have stated that. 2810 from the 155s and 2640 with the 168's I was able to push them a bit faster, but accuracy suffered.

Im reloading, using 4320. Its been a while since I messed with the 168's, but the 155's are 47.3gr of 4320, Lapua brass and a FGGM primer.

 

[308pirate]

In your case, 155s all day long.

 

[Rob01]

in my ballistic calcs using 2500fps i am supersonic to ~1300yds, albeit i am in CO so my DA my be much higher. Today i am at ~5000DA

Yeah that's pretty high up. Down near sea level most of my shooting.

OP have you tried another powder? 2640 for a 168 is pretty slow. Getting 2690fps from 178s in my 20". Might be able to get that 155 number up too.

 

[3-0-hate]

Yeah that's pretty high up. Down near sea level most of my shooting.

OP have you tried another powder? 2640 for a 168 is pretty slow. Getting 2690fps from 178s in my 20". Might be able to get that 155 number up too.

I was considering switching over to Varget to see if I can get the MV up a bit closer to 2900, which would help a lot Im sure.

 

[308pirate]

I've found my highest MVs in 308 with Reloder 15 and H4895

 

[3-0-hate]

I've found my highest MVs in 308 with Reloder 15 and H4895

I have some RE15 laying around, I may have to give it a go. I was leaning towards Varget so I hopefully would only have to verify my load from winter to summer as opposed to working up two separate loads for each season extreme. Summer and winter is pretty polar opposite up here in Idaho, except this year.. Its currently 60* and sunny outside.. Idaho weather appears to continue to be stuck on stupid.. lol.

 

[308pirate]

I used Reloder 15 exclusively for the 7 or so years that I competed in NRA/CMP service rifle. The season around where I live starts in March and ends in November. Then I shot through the winter during club practice sessions and on my own.

I kept rigorous records of my zeroes because while NRA matches allow you sighters, CMP Excellence In Competition matches do not. I never saw any significant variation in 600 yard zeroes from temperature changes throughout the year.

 

[3-0-hate]

Well, I loaded up 55 rounds of 155gr ELD-M's over RE-15 for an OCW test. I guess we will see what the results are tomorrow when I shoot them for groups through a chrono.

 

[Shortbus6588]

I've shot 155eld-m over ar-comp with stellar results, great accuracy And good speed, very consistent.

 

[3-0-hate]

I've shot 155eld-m over ar-comp with stellar results, great accuracy And good speed, very consistent.

I will keep the AR Comp in mind. How temp stable have you found it to be?

 

[Shortbus6588]

More stable than varget and reloader15. Actually the most temp stable powder I've ever tried

 

[Rob01]

That's a big claim to be more stable than Varget. I have shot it from single digits to over 100 and Varget has a very small difference. It's my go to powder for the .308.

 

[Shortbus6588]

In my testing (Ohio) with temp swings it's definitely more stable than varget. I've had the lowest SD numbers of any powder with AR-comp. The kernels are smaller than varget as well so it meters better in powder measures

 

[devin_hor]

Yeah that's pretty high up. Down near sea level most of my shooting.

OP have you tried another powder? 2640 for a 168 is pretty slow. Getting 2690fps from 178s in my 20". Might be able to get that 155 number up too.

is that with varget? I get 2620 for 178 bthp with 44.8 varget from my 20" factory remington barrel

 

[Rob01]

is that with varget? I get 2620 for 178 bthp with 44.8 varget from my 20" factory remington barrel

Yes with Varget. 44grns in Hornady brass with a 20" Bartlein barrel.

 

[devin_hor]

Yes with Varget. 44grns in Hornady brass with a 20" Bartlein barrel.

must be all in the barrel lol, mine is lapua brass, and my throat is a mile long, and I'm seating to 2.90 and nowhere near the lands still

 

[3-0-hate]

I had some RE15 laying around so I went out and did a 5 round OCW ladder test in .2 gr increments from max book load down. I had my best SD at 47gr and 2795 average fps. The group was just meh, but I was at the end of basically what was a 55 round shooting string and I was tired. I was also shooting off a bench and using a crappy rear bag that the range had laying around. I plan on going back and verifying the load but it shows potential.

That group was basically .2gr down from book max, and just going up .2gr brought the SD to 5.79 and the Max Dev to 15fps, so I'm somewhat afraid to push it much faster with this powder, but I will do it anyways all for the name of SCIENCE! lol.

I still need to round up some Varget and AR COMP and give that a go as well.

 

[jLorenzo]

To me running the lightest possible higher bc bullet makes sense. In my opinion. Just long range plinking. Any other good 155s people suggest with higher bcs or anything else in that wright range?

 

[Shortbus6588]

Nosler Custom Competition 155 bullets are very cheap and have always shot well for me, also Lapua scenar but the elds are much cheaper and shoot just as well if not better. I've shot all three over the same load data with similar accuracy results. I'm loading to 2.815 in front of 43.5 of AR-comp in a win case. This load is going 2990fps out of a 29" barrel and is a very mild load, I could easily push it over 3000 fps but accuracy is stellar at this speed. Usually good for 1/2 moa or better if I do my part.

 

[3-0-hate]

Well, for anyone still interested in this endeavor of mine, I went back out to the range, this time armed with a set of loads utilizing Varget and AR Comp.

The results:
AR Comp gave me the lowest SD of 7.87 at 43.2gr with a 5 shot average MV of 2768.
At max book load (43.6gr), it gave me a 5 shot average MV of 2789.8 with an SD of 16.05

Varget was a bit better all around it seems. At 46.8gr of Varget, I saw a 5 shot average MV of 2791.4fps with a SD of 4.77 and an ES of 12fps.
At book max (48gr) it opened up a bit with a 5 shot average MV of 2803.6, with a SD of 15.4 and an ES of 36fps.

It looks like the Varget is the winner for me, knowing how temp stable it is, is a nice bonus. Next time out, I will be playing with the seating depth on the 46.8gr Varget load to see if I can tune it into something special.

Any other advice from anyone out there? Im still open to trying new ideas. I want this little factory barreled 700 to be as good as it can be.

 

[Biscuits]

Bump for this thread. I've seen some Hornady 155gr 308 ELDM for sale near me (cartridges, not bullets), thinking of trying it out. It isn't listed on the Hornady website any more. Has it been discontinued?

Can anybody confirm the BC, is it the G1 0.461 mentioned in the opening post or muzzle velocity out of a 20 inch barrel?

 

[jLorenzo]

What seating depth is giving the best result for you guys? Just looking to compare. I could never get the 155 ELDs to group nicely and consistently with my mag limiting me to 2.79 and change. Just recieved 300 155 SMKs today, should be a little more jump friendly I hope don't care too much about the BC loss in this particular case.

 

[jLorenzo]

Bump for this thread. I've seen some Hornady 155gr 308 ELDM for sale near me (cartridges, not bullets), thinking of trying it out. It isn't listed on the Hornady website any more. Has it been discontinued?

Can anybody confirm the BC, is it the G1 0.461 mentioned in the opening post or muzzle velocity out of a 20 inch barrel?

I was getting around 2700+ with 44.8-45gr of Varget and a 20" barrel.