Hello everyone. This is my first post on the forum and I look forward to hearing from you regarding my inquiry. I recently purchased a Remington VTR SS in .308 caliber (Triangular Barrel - 1 in 10 twist). I have heard that they can be a little particular with finding the right load and I have verified this the hard way. The only factory loads that will shoot with any consistency are the Hornady Whitetail 150 gr. Interlock and the Barnes 150 grain Vortex (TTSX). I’m gettin about a 1.5 inch group at a 100 yards. I have tried multiple factory and reloads ranging from 130 grain to 168 grains and nothing will group any better. Does anyone out there have any advice on this type of gun and/or a load that they have had good luck with. I reload for my browning x-bolt 7 mag so I do have reloading capability. My thinking is to see which of the factory bullets above performs better on deer this season and then start tinkering with a reload. Just checking to see what info is out there. Thanks for your help ahead of time.
Remington .308 VTR SS Bullet Info
- Thread starter Vaughan Dawg
- Start date
Ned Ludd
Silver $$ Contributor
Welcome to the Forum!
Shooters that do not reload really only have the option of testing a wide variety of commercial ammunition in the hopes of finding one that shoots well out of their setup. Sometimes this approach works, sometimes it is less than satisfactory. Even commercial ammunition preps using the same bullet can vary widely in terms of velocity and pressure between different manufacturers. Further, commercial ammunition preps are typically not held to the tolerances that hand-loaders consider routine. If you like surprises, try measuring CBTO on several rounds of commercial ammunition sometime. Most decent brands of commercial ammunition are formulated to shoot reasonably* well out of a wide range of different rifles, rather than very well out of a particular rifle. So there is a certain amount of luck involved when you find a commercial ammunition that shoots really well out of a given rifle. The more types/brands you test, the better the odds of finding one that shoots well.
There may be a number of reasons your rifle is not responding as well as you'd like to the various commercial ammunition types you have tried so far. The triangular barrel shape is only one of them. The factory chambering work and the inside of the bore may also be contributing factors. There may be a few others such as the stock and bedding of the action that may be more difficult to deal with in terms of precision, even using hand-loading. Regardless of the reasons, by hand-loading with a quality bullet or two, as well as an appropriate powder and primer, you can tune the loads to adjust and compensate for some of these adverse factors, at least, as much as it is possible to do so. With commercial ammunition, it is hit or miss as to whether you find one that shoots really well. The more types/brands you test, the better the odds, but there is still no guarantee. In fact, there is no guarantee even with hand-loading that you will end up with a very accurate/precise load, largely dependent on the true underlying cause of the poor precision. Nonetheless, the odds will be more in your favor as you can test incrementally and select optimal load parameters in a way that you are unlikely to achieve with commercial ammunition no matter how many different types/brands you test.
Your plan of shooting commercial ammunition this fall should work as long as you are willing to accept whatever accuracy/precision you can get until such time as you start load development on your own. Given the barrel twist, you might want to give commercial ammunition with bullet weights in the 175 to 180 gr weight range a try and see if one behaves any better for you. I have fired some commercial .308 Win rounds out of a custom F-TR rifle I have and been pleasantly surprised at how good the precision actually was (~0.5 MOA at 100 yd). The two that worked well were Federal Gold Medal Match w 175 Matchkings and Federal Fusion w 180 SPs. There are a few other commercial .308 Win offerings available with bullets up to the 180-185 gr range.
Good luck with it!
* - defined by the end user, not standardized
Shooters that do not reload really only have the option of testing a wide variety of commercial ammunition in the hopes of finding one that shoots well out of their setup. Sometimes this approach works, sometimes it is less than satisfactory. Even commercial ammunition preps using the same bullet can vary widely in terms of velocity and pressure between different manufacturers. Further, commercial ammunition preps are typically not held to the tolerances that hand-loaders consider routine. If you like surprises, try measuring CBTO on several rounds of commercial ammunition sometime. Most decent brands of commercial ammunition are formulated to shoot reasonably* well out of a wide range of different rifles, rather than very well out of a particular rifle. So there is a certain amount of luck involved when you find a commercial ammunition that shoots really well out of a given rifle. The more types/brands you test, the better the odds of finding one that shoots well.
There may be a number of reasons your rifle is not responding as well as you'd like to the various commercial ammunition types you have tried so far. The triangular barrel shape is only one of them. The factory chambering work and the inside of the bore may also be contributing factors. There may be a few others such as the stock and bedding of the action that may be more difficult to deal with in terms of precision, even using hand-loading. Regardless of the reasons, by hand-loading with a quality bullet or two, as well as an appropriate powder and primer, you can tune the loads to adjust and compensate for some of these adverse factors, at least, as much as it is possible to do so. With commercial ammunition, it is hit or miss as to whether you find one that shoots really well. The more types/brands you test, the better the odds, but there is still no guarantee. In fact, there is no guarantee even with hand-loading that you will end up with a very accurate/precise load, largely dependent on the true underlying cause of the poor precision. Nonetheless, the odds will be more in your favor as you can test incrementally and select optimal load parameters in a way that you are unlikely to achieve with commercial ammunition no matter how many different types/brands you test.
Your plan of shooting commercial ammunition this fall should work as long as you are willing to accept whatever accuracy/precision you can get until such time as you start load development on your own. Given the barrel twist, you might want to give commercial ammunition with bullet weights in the 175 to 180 gr weight range a try and see if one behaves any better for you. I have fired some commercial .308 Win rounds out of a custom F-TR rifle I have and been pleasantly surprised at how good the precision actually was (~0.5 MOA at 100 yd). The two that worked well were Federal Gold Medal Match w 175 Matchkings and Federal Fusion w 180 SPs. There are a few other commercial .308 Win offerings available with bullets up to the 180-185 gr range.
Good luck with it!
* - defined by the end user, not standardized
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I have a VTR in .308 and it has been very frustrating for me. Mine wears the green plastic stock and the black triangular barrel. Mine has given decent accuracy but only with velocities that were well below where I need/want them. I bough the rifle to hunt with and when I get velocities up to speeds comparable with factory loads, I get lots of overpressure signs, flattened primers, heavy bolt lift, primers flowing. Headspace has been checked and is good. Bore measures good, no obstructions. I've tried dozens of loads with multiple powders always working up. Average speed loads that I've had success with in other rifles are pushing pressure in this rifle. I really want to like the rifle but it just hasn't worked for me. It has a great trigger (for a factory rifle) and I like the way the rifle looks and handles. One thing I did that helped tighten up my groups was play with the torque of the action screws. I don't have my book in front of me, but I think I settled on 33in/lbs.
Good luck with your rifle. I've not given up on mine, but I am nearing the end of my rope.
Good luck with your rifle. I've not given up on mine, but I am nearing the end of my rope.
Thanks for your reply. I’m like you in that I like the way the gun feels and handles but it won’t shoot a high velocity round with any consistency. I will try the action screws tip. I’m not giving up yet!
Lone Hunter
Silver $$ Contributor
First thing to do is get rid of that POS Factory stock. You will Thank yourself for this. I have shot 175 gr SMK’s and 165 SGK. The rifle is very accurate. You will not be able to load to the lands so load magazine length. I use H4895 powder. CCI Primer. The main obstacle I found was the POS stock. Looks good in the factory stock but that goes to show looks aren’t everything. Get a good trigger and you will like the rifle.
Thanks Lone Hunter. I forgot to put this in my original post but I have already replaced the stock with a Magpul and the trigger with a Timney.
I pulled my hair out trying to get the wifes 260VTR to shoot decent. I went through various bullet powders before finding a couple loads that were sufficient for the intended purpose. Shooting steel and deer.
I did change the stock to a HS precision with bedding block, but contemplating bedding recoil lug as a possibility of accuracy improvement.
I did change the stock to a HS precision with bedding block, but contemplating bedding recoil lug as a possibility of accuracy improvement.
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