Range Report I'm not sure what to think about this..

[eastexsteve]

I've been shooting for decades, and I'm lucky enough to live where I can shoot out to 700 yds or so on my own place. Most of my shooting is done without much prep, and usually over the hood or bed of a truck at coyotes, hogs, or other game. Whenever I get a new gun, I usually sight it in at 100 yds with the round I think I'm going to be shooting with it at all times. Today, I thought I would seriously compare three different rounds since I was looking to go up in the bullet weight. The gun is a Savage 110 Tactical, 24" barrel, 1-10" twist, 308 WIN. The rounds were:
(1) Federal GMM, 175gr SMK
(2) Federal GMM, 185gr Berger
(3) Magtech 168gr SMK (The gun was originally sighted in with these, and the round I usually shoot)

The conditions were a slight intermittent breeze, 73 degrees, 90% humidity. I don't have a bench rest vise, so I was shooting over bags using a very solid wood bench that I built. I let the barrel cool between each group of three. In order, I fired the Federal 175s, Federal 185s, and Magtech 168s. As I stated earlier, I usually shoot the Magtechs, and have shot them at targets out to 700yds with no issues. The target is a one inch orange sticky at 100 yds. I was surprised at the results. Any thoughts?

 

[VegasHKShooter]

I’m not 100% sure what your question is. It is not at all unusual for different bullets to have different points of impact. In the case of the 185 Berger Juggernauts, they are 18gr heavier, and not nearly as fast. If you could ever call the .308 “fast”. ? Point being, different brands, different weights, different POI.
Nothing I see looks strange at all.

Also of note is that shooting 1 group of 3 shots is statistically nothing. Not enough rounds to even register a blip. You would ideally need to shoot 5-6 groups of AT LEAST 5 shots each to start to get a feel for the gun and ammo’s abilities. Many folks will say 10 shot groups. My opinion on those is that it gets difficult for many shooters to maintain everything perfect for 10 shots in a row, so human fatigue becomes a factor more than just the gun/ammo. Shoot a 5X5 with each type of ammo you’re considering. Then you’ll start to see trends and patterns that give you enough info to start making decisions.

As a side note, I shoot quite a bit of the Federal 185gr Berger’s. They really bring my KAC APC to life. They allow me to be supersonic past 1000yds with my 16” .308. I love them. They regularly shoot 1.1-1.2 moa out of my gas gun. For that hard of a hitter, I’ll take it all day.

 

[pmclaine]

168s often show better short range accuracy for me......but over distance I take the advantage a heavier bullet provides and suffer that small loss of accuracy at 100.

 

[pmclaine]

This is my last shooting outing with my "Billy Baroo" M40A1ish using 175 FGMM .308 at 100 yards. The inner circle is 1 inch, 5 round groups.....

If I should jump to conclusions your Fed ammo is fine and something is wrong with your rifle based on my results.

 

[VegasHKShooter]

168s often show better short range accuracy for me......but over distance I take the advantage a heavier bullet provides and suffer that small loss of accuracy at 100.

I have found the exact same thing. Usually 175-185’s give up some to the 168’s. However, the 168’s tend to go sub-sonic between 800-900 yds. Not only that, but 168’s do not handle the transition well at all. They tend to get very erratic at 1000yds. Like hit a foot left, correct that, and hit a foot right.

I’ll give up the .2-.3 moa accuracy at 100 yds to be able to shoot to 1000.

 

[eastexsteve]

And, that was my intention of trying out the heavier bullets. I wanted more stability at the greater ranges. After measuring, the FGMM 175s grouped at 1-3/8", the FGMM with 185 Bergers grouped at 7/8", and the Magtech 168s grouped at 9/16".

I guess I shouldn't complain. I shot close to 1/2 MOA over bags with ammo that cost 62 cents a round. That almost makes it not worth reloading (almost.) I was expecting the FGMMs to perform better than the cheapo Magtechs. I was also going under the assumption that the larger the group at 100 yds, the more of a "miss" at long ranges. Of course, I was aware of the lack of performance of the 168s at extreme ranges. That's why I was looking at the heavier bullets.

Thank you all very much for your input. There is always a lot to learn from this forum.

 

[pmclaine]

I think the FGMM 175s can do better for you.

Perhaps clean the barrel, start from a fresh bore and fire enough rounds to foul it in, than zero and let the gun settle in to the round.

Ive not really experienced it but some people get finicky about mixing powders/rounds/bullet types without cleaning between types.

but if your Magtechs are doing well enough for you at less cost why change.

I dont consider myself a great shooter but my rifle makes up for a lot of my weaknesses I think at 100 yards your Savage and a quality round should result in groups close to single hole.

 

[eastexsteve]

I think the FGMM 175s can do better for you..

I was hoping they would. Though, the FGMM 185 Bergers did come in at under 1 MOA.

I dont consider myself a great shooter but my rifle makes up for a lot of my weaknesses I think at 100 yards your Savage and a quality round should result in groups close to single hole.

I was thinking it could get close to that after considering how it shoots the Magtechs. I might have to drag the reloading press out of storage to get it there though.

Thanks for the reply.

 

[pmclaine]

I was hoping they would. Though, the FGMM 185 Bergers did come in at under 1 MOA.



I was thinking it could get close to that after considering how it shoots the Magtechs. I might have to drag the reloading press out of storage to get it there though.

Thanks for the reply.

I suck at reloading.

I haven't got my reloads to do what FGMM does.

I shoot the FGMM primarily in classes and plink/train with my reloads.

 

[eastexsteve]

I suck at reloading.

I haven't got my reloads to do what FGMM does.

I shoot the FGMM primarily in classes and plink/train with my reloads.

I've got many years (and guns) invested in reloading. I can usually tighten groups up pretty good in bolt guns. I was reloading for my other rifles until I needed space for something else and put the reloading equipment away. I've got the last daughter leaving the nest for good in a month or so, and I'll have room to "set up shop" again. I tried it in the garage for awhile, but down here in the south, it was either too hot and humid in the summer or too cold in the winter.

 

[Tnc]

I’m pretty sure he’s shooting a bolt gun. Never saw anything about a gas gun in his post.

 

[VegasHKShooter]

I’m pretty sure he’s shooting a bolt gun. Never saw anything about a gas gun in his post.

You’re absolutely right. I was thinking this was the semi auto forum. TOTALLY my bad.

 

[eastexsteve]

You’re absolutely right. I was thinking this was the semi auto forum. TOTALLY my bad.

I do have an HK91 and I do shoot 7.62x51 out of it. But, my Savage bolt gun has a real tight .308 chamber and won't close on most 7.62x51 rounds.

 

[264win]

As mentioned above, shoot more groups to see what your gun really performs best with. There is a lot of quality factory ammo available these days for pretty reasonable prices.

Keep your expectations realistic, for a factory savage with factory ammo “one hole groups” are possible but very unlikely.
I would expect sub moa accuracy from this set up, and if you can do even better call it a bonus ?

 

[Crews]

heavier bullets = more recoil = shooter-induced discrepancies in accuracy results?

Just a thought.