308 bench gun

[dragman]

I know there are a million reasons not to build a 308 for a 1000 yard bench gun but I am gonna try it. what bullet weight is perfered? I have two friends that both shoot 308 and one shoots 155's other 168's both are light guns 26" barrels. I am gonna be shooting a 30" 10 twist barrel and just can't decide on weight.

 

[ohearchai]

Dragman, with a 1/10 twist I would lean towards the heavies, Berger 185bt or the 210bt.

 

[dragman]

That was my original thought go with the 190VLD or the 210VLD (as those are always on the shelf) but I have a little worry that I wont be able to get enough speed to be competitive.

 

[Johnboy]

well with the 1:10 twist I would say a 175gn bullet.but with all the new stuff out their I say go with one of them.Berger has the new hybrid line that have been giveing good results.Hornday has come out with a few new ones all so.but anything from 175gn to 210gn's will work just fine.just depends on if you want recoil out of your 308 or not.the 210gn bullets recoil pretty good but not enough to keep you from wanting to shoot them.the only bad side to shooting the bigger bullets is the throat going out faster.the other bad side to the bigger bullets is that you can only push them so fast.so I would go with at least a 28 inch barrel if you choose to shoot anything over a 190gn's.

 

[Cimarron2011]

Are you planning on running a long action? If not, you might want to check out the Berger 175 Tactical which remains stable through the trans-sonic boundary.

 

[4xforfun]

Are you planning on running a long action? If not, you might want to check out the Berger 175 Tactical which remains stable through the trans-sonic boundary.

What would action length have to do with anything?

 

[dragman]

Are you planning on running a long action? If not, you might want to check out the Berger 175 Tactical which remains stable through the trans-sonic boundary.

What would action length have to do with anything?

Don't know?? my 284 runs a 175XLD and it is the same action as the 308 is.

 

[4xforfun]

I know there are a million reasons not to build a 308 for a 1000 yard bench gun but I am gonna try it. what bullet weight is perfered? I have two friends that both shoot 308 and one shoots 155's other 168's both are light guns 26" barrels. I am gonna be shooting a 30" 10 twist barrel and just can't decide on weight.

There was a guy at the Harris, MN club trying to shoot the 308. His problem...he insisted on using a 168 MK. It sounded like all of his shots were way short....they were not. They went subsonic around 900 yards and if they actualy hit the target, they were sideways. I think some one talked him into shooting a 210 Berger and he quit being the topic of conversation in the pits, if you get my drift.

 

[4xforfun]

Are you planning on running a long action? If not, you might want to check out the Berger 175 Tactical which remains stable through the trans-sonic boundary.

What would action length have to do with anything?

Don't know?? my 284 runs a 175XLD and it is the same action as the 308 is.

I guess my point is that in 1K BR you shoot single shot.....no magazines....you can load em as long as you want. Action length has nothing to do with it.

 

[dragman]

190's are what I am gonna try first, with some reloader 15 hoping for 2750-2800fps. either way it's gonna be a fun project as soon as I pick a stock to put on it.

 

[liltank]

Dragman, I've been pondering your plight here. I admire your desire here as I am a .308 fan myself. Here are my thoughts. Have you played with RL17 yet? If not, I suggest using it with the heavies in Winchester brass. I understand the brass sucks, but sorted and gone through, It will work well. It has the most capacity of any .308 brass. The other thing is the bullet. The 185 Hybrid will be exactly what this build needs. With a stout load of RL17 (46-49grains I've found), and the Hybrid utilizing a BC of .569G1/.291G7 will get you to 1000. I bet this load combination in a 30" 1:10 will yield 2850-2900fps. Sounds crazy, but I bet it will get there. I'm getting 2750 with 175's with RL15.

Testing RL17 w/ heavies I got these numbers.

Barrel: 28" 1:12 Lothar Walther SS

208 A-max w/210M in Win brass
Powder weight/velocity
44-2450
45-2500
46-2529
47-2572
48-2634
49-2691 Sticky bolt, ejector marks

200SMK F215
47-2590
48-2645
49-2697

Berger 210 F215 (a 210 primer probably would give less of a pressure spike)
47-2597
48-2600
49-2639 Hard lift, slight ejector mark

With these numbers, I don't think 2850fps at least would be achievable with a 185's.

 

[cmillard]

you will also need to order a reamer suited to those bullets. the PTG 210 berger reamer from PTG will fit the bill.

 

[Keith Glasscock]

How much freebore does the 210 reamer have? Just curious....

 

[Cimarron2011]

Are you planning on running a long action? If not, you might want to check out the Berger 175 Tactical which remains stable through the trans-sonic boundary.

What would action length have to do with anything?

Don't know?? my 284 runs a 175XLD and it is the same action as the 308 is.

I guess my point is that in 1K BR you shoot single shot.....no magazines....you can load em as long as you want. Action length has nothing to do with it.

That's a great answer. I was thinking from a repeater POV. My point was, if you're planning to run an Sa then the 175 XLD would be a great choice...maybe even a better choice than heavier bullets.

Running single shot and plenty of free bore or running a long action, heavier pills would probably be a better answer.

 

[liltank]

He doesn't need a long action. It's a .308. He will be able to load a long bullet and fire just fine. It's a bench gun single feed. No need for a long action. We are currently using a Savage Target action in a 338 Lapua Mag. It will eject a fire case w/o any issue. SA is all that is needed for this build. I will agree that having a throat cut for the long bullet is a good idea.

 

[dragman]

I bought a barreled action off of another member here. it is an unfired barrel and action I wouldn't have picked 308 but since it's already chambered I am gonna try it. I don't know if it is throated to handle the bigger bergers that can be changed if need be.

 

[liltank]

I bought a barreled action off of another member here. it is an unfired barrel and action I wouldn't have picked 308 but since it's already chambered I am gonna try it. I don't know if it is throated to handle the bigger bergers that can be changed if need be.

It isn't necessary. If you stay with the 185-210, you'll be fine.

 

[TonyR]

The Berger 185LRBT is an excellent bullet for F-T/R to 1000 yards from 28+ inch barrels. Varget or H4895 among others will keep you supersonic at 1000. 1:12 twist is enough for these bullets. I also shoot long cartridges through single shot short actions but I wonder if fresh cartridges could be fed faster through a long single shot action?? Doesn't matter for F-Class but BR shooters seem to like to complete their strings quickly.

 

[Cimarron2011]

The Berger 185LRBT is an excellent bullet for F-T/R to 1000 yards from 28+ inch barrels. Varget or H4895 among others will keep you supersonic at 1000. 1:12 twist is enough for these bullets. I also shoot long cartridges through single shot short actions but I wonder if fresh cartridges could be fed faster through a long single shot action?? Doesn't matter for F-Class but BR shooters seem to like to complete their strings quickly.

Careful talking about a long action for the .308. Some folks around here might feel the need to coach you up.

But then again, they may just be reacting to my pow post count and feel the need to coach me up! :

 

[GermanS1]

Dragman, I shoot a lot of 190's from a .308 and .30-06 and the velocities you mentioned are what I get from my .30-06 (a far better choice, by the way). From a 30" barrel, my normal 190 loads are in the 2640 fps range (0.114 freebore, moly). You might safely gain 50 or 60 fps with a different powder but not likely more with a safe load.

I have found RL15 to give higher SD than most other suitable powders (and nowhere near your velocity goal). See if you can find some N550.

You may want to go through the loads in this article: http://riflemansjournal.blogspot.com/2010/01/reloading-western-shooters-pet-loads.html

Also the 5 part series that begins here might be helpful to you. http://riflemansjournal.blogspot.com/2010/10/cartridges-308-palma-preparation-and.html

Good luck with the project, the .308 at 1000 is a lot of fun and a great wind reading challenge. However, it's also a fairly critical reloading project compared to many and a challenging one if you want to stay with a safe load - as I hope you do.