Savage .308 w/208 AMAX

[thesheepdog]

Hello all,

I am the proud new owner of a Savage Tactical 5R 24". I would like to hear from other savage owners on shooting the 208 AMAX and other HEAVY (190+) bullets through their guns.

I am definitely not a newb in the respects of reloading or marksmanship, so please no "You're crazy if you want to try a 208" or "The 208 is too heavy for the 308". I own a 300 blackout and shoot heavy 208's out of it all the time, so I have plenty of heavy rounds on hand. And being that many users here have tried it like "MontanaMarine", I am optimistic about it's performance even though a Savage has a relatively shorter throat than a Rem 700.

Thanks.

 

[40xs]

Didn't work for me at distance! Not bad a 100, but all over the target at 1000. I hear they do very well out of the .300 wm and tighter twist. I have read montana marine's posts on his loads and his velocities with RE17 are great but I can't recall now if he reported any groups at 1000 with the loads. I took some with me a couple months ago at a regional f/class match to try to get rid of them to other shooters. Long story short, I couldn't give them away. Match shooters like what they like, and it appears Hornaday 208 ain't in the mix. .308 guns have a hard time putting them to sleep at long distance. Good luck!!!

 

[thesheepdog]

Didn't work for me at distance! Not bad a 100, but all over the target at 1000. I hear they do very well out of the .300 wm and tighter twist. I have read montana marine's posts on his loads and his velocities with RE17 are great but I can't recall now if he reported any groups at 1000 with the loads. I took some with me a couple months ago at a regional f/class match to try to get rid of them to other shooters. Long story short, I couldn't give them away. Match shooters like what they like, and it appears Hornaday 208 ain't in the mix. .308 guns have a hard time putting them to sleep at long distance. Good luck!!!

What rifle are you using? Twist rate?

 

[BoilerUP]

I believe Shortbus launches 208s from a 20" Savage 308...

 

[40xs]

The sheepdog, 29"broughton 1-11.25 twist, match chamber. I've found that the velocity has to be in the 2700 range for higher for the 208 to stabelize. that weight bullet is hard to get to 2700+ out of a .308 case and needs at least a 10'twist. I have much better accuracy with the 185-190 range in my gun. I keep hearing about all the great stuff from a 208 from .308 barrels, but rarely hear about actual groups at 1000

 

[elk addict]

i don't have a Savage, but i've been playing around with 208 amax's for a month or two now in my Tikka. i haven't had the opportunity to test at 1k+, but the 208's are staying under .7 moa out to 430 yards at my elevation (DA has ranged from 4200-8500). now that i've modified my bolt stop to mag feed, i plan to give it a run out to 1200 this weekend. i'm interested to see if i can hold the same moa at longer ranges.

i've read Montanamarine's thread & copied him (except the moly part). the chrono shows 2640 fps (Tikka varmint ~22" barrel, 11 twist), and so far the dope matches. i ended up getting a 1.8es from 48.5 gr of r-17 seated at 3.000". i definitely consider this load to be max pressure- i lose one primer from every 20 shots fired on a hot day shooting long strings. i just get a few shiny ejector spots most days. this is all cheapo weight-sorted CBC brass on its fourth firing, and i've culled 3 (of 150) for loose pockets. i wanted to test it out on "disposable" brass before risking any win brass.

if you can get them to chamber at 3", i'd give it a try- of course, as always, be safe & start with lower charge weight!

 

[40xs]

Sounds like it's working for you and it may well be the difference in elevation above sea level. Here in the east and coastal plain counties were are at 500- 900 ft. and it hurts our performance with like powder and loads.

 

[elk addict]

Sounds like it's working for you and it may well be the difference in elevation above sea level. Here in the east and coastal plain counties were are at 500- 900 ft. and it hurts our performance with like powder and loads.

i feel for ya , but i haven't proven if it actually does work for me at 1k- looks promising so far.

i'm guessing thesheepdog's twist rate is 1 in 10" (seems to be the most common for Savage .308 barrels), and i haven't a clue where he lives, but JBM gives it a green light at sea level pressure-

Stability
Input Data
Caliber: 0.308 in Bullet Weight: 208.0 gr
Bullet Length: 1.533 in Plastic Tip Length: 0.000 in
Muzzle Velocity: 2600.0 ft/s Barrel Twist: 10.0 in
Temperature: 59.0 °F Pressure: 29.92 in Hg
Output Data
Stability: 1.541
26/07/13 21:06, JBM/jbmstab-5.1.cgi

here's 1 in 11"- yellow

Stability
Input Data
Caliber: 0.308 in Bullet Weight: 208.0 gr
Bullet Length: 1.533 in Plastic Tip Length: 0.000 in
Muzzle Velocity: 2600.0 ft/s Barrel Twist: 11.0 in
Temperature: 59.0 °F Pressure: 29.92 in Hg
Output Data
Stability: 1.273
26/07/13 21:07, JBM/jbmstab-5.1.cgi

here's 1 in 12"- yellower

Stability
Input Data
Caliber: 0.308 in Bullet Weight: 208.0 gr
Bullet Length: 1.533 in Plastic Tip Length: 0.000 in
Muzzle Velocity: 2600.0 ft/s Barrel Twist: 12.0 in
Temperature: 59.0 °F Pressure: 29.92 in Hg
Output Data
Stability: 1.070
26/07/13 21:07, JBM/jbmstab-5.1.cgi

 

[ArmyJerry]

I hhave shot them, they work okay, have not shot LR with them yet, I usually go with 175 smk's but jump on the 190's when the 175 stock gets low, they both shoot just as accurate. This is out of a savage 308 5 R barrel with brake. I am now hoardng my 190's and 208's for the new CBI 300 WM bull barrel I have coming from NSS.

 

[victor4]

I shoot the 208 bthp in a 24" lothar walter with 12" twist.
I have 4 mil elevation for 600m and 16mil elevation for 1280 m.
T : 40°C P : 965mBar