.308 win F/TR chamber

[Rem Jim]

150 is the bees knees in 308

Yea for 300 -500 and no wind

 

[Rem Jim]

Took the rifle out before it got dark. Had 2 different loads of N-150 with 215 berger hybrids. Shot a promising group with one of the loads and will do some more testing. Going to seat bullets ever so slightly deeper, which will get me just off the lands. I also switched out the 50 MOA base and put a 30 MOA base on. The factory tumney trigger which is listed as between 4 and 5 pounds and is non adjustable seems to be closer to the 5 pound mark. But, I'm looking forward to tuning loads. I really would like to get some 200 and 230 SMKs to try next after I see how these 215s go

Your shooting a target rifle with a F-ing 5 lb trigger pull ‍‍

 

[cmillard]

Yes unfortunately. I haven't gotten around to ordering a different trigger yet. I don't know which one I'm going to get yet. Thinking I may try a triggertech since my old standby of Jewell is no longer around. I will make due with what I have for now. I have a few other priorities right now.....a new backup gun being the most important.

 

[cmillard]

Starting load with N150 had an average of 2422 fps and so signs of pressure with the bullets seated off of the lands.

 

[cmillard]

Well, shot 2 different powder charges today. The last charge, which was .3 higher than previous, will be the absolute max load but it punched a 1/4" group at 110 yards. Barrel is showing some potential

 

[davidjoe]

This rifle isn't going to necessarily be a competition rifle. I may give TR a try, but its kind of hard to do with my schedule, as I haven't even been able to shoot Open for a few years. I do however plan on using it for messing around out west on some long range target and maybe some critters (rock chucks, prairie dogs, coyote, etc).

Anything that ACYR offers you on the heavy bullets, such as a 230 ATIP load, is golden.

His reference frames include winning national competitions, so, if he says that a pictured load “shot well” it’s safe to assume that he is saying that with other heavy loads in mind (he’s among the few who’s tried them in the context of A+ shooting fundamentals) that he is not detailing; a lot of time and money can be saved by viewing a load suggestion like that as a windfall.

Nothing wrong with experimenting. The 200’s class, which win everything now was once considered “heavy” and an awkward choice when the 185 was already proven to be so good.

 

[cmillard]

Thanks Davidjoe!

 

[cmillard]

For those of you that have some Lapua large rifle brass and alpha large rifle brass in .308, what has been your experience with case weight or internal volume.....does it tend to run on the light or heavy side or more/less internal volume? Kinda curious how it compares to this FGMM brass. Thanks

 

[LVLAaron]

Alpha will need about .4g less powder.

 

[cmillard]

Thanks

 

[cmillard]

Just took the rifle out and ran my most accurate load over the chronograph. 215 berger hybrid with N150 gave me an average of 2462 FPS. I think this is about maxed out for N150 and will look into testing H4350, 6.5 Staball, maybe some shooters world and even some N160. I think the N150 will be better reserved for when I get some of those 200 SMKs. Will use slower powders for preferred heavier bullets

 

[Codyway]

Just took the rifle out and ran my most accurate load over the chronograph. 215 berger hybrid with N150 gave me an average of 2462 FPS. I think this is about maxed out for N150 and will look into testing H4350, 6.5 Staball, maybe some shooters world and even some N160. I think the N150 will be better reserved for when I get some of those 200 SMKs. Will use slower powders for preferred heavier bullets

Are you maxed out on pressure signs or case capacity?
N150 should get you to 2520 ish in a 28" before running out of room, assuming a 2013 ftr chamber. Crunching powder at this point.
If the throat was extended for this bullet, 2570 in a 30" should be possible, but for me, the 208 hybrid @2615 is the point of diminishing returns in a 308 case and a 30" tube.
You might find the right double based powder to get a little more energy out of the 308 case, but I have no idea what might work.

 

[cmillard]

Pressure right now. I am not going to go up any more. I am sure this barrel will start to speed up a bit.

 

[Orr89rocz]

Are you maxed out on pressure signs or case capacity?
N150 should get you to 2520 ish in a 28" before running out of room, assuming a 2013 ftr chamber. Crunching powder at this point.
If the throat was extended for this bullet, 2570 in a 30" should be possible, but for me, the 208 hybrid @2615 is the point of diminishing returns in a 308 case and a 30" tube.
You might find the right double based powder to get a little more energy out of the 308 case, but I have no idea what might work.

Yeah might be some powders to get more, like powerpro 2000 but guys who have tried it say its not consistent enough and temp sensitive. I find it works good in my hunting gun/long range steel setup. It gets 208 bergers to 2620 in my saami chamber 308 in 26”. I was surprised esp with how deep they are seated.

 

[cmillard]

MR2000 has been pretty hard for me to get, as that was what I was running in my gas gun loads then switched to CFE. If i try any amount of ball powder in this rifle, it will be 6.5staball

 

[marine52]

I will say this, I am no stranger to recoil. I have shot extended range sessions with heavy recoiling 12 Guage shotgun slugs and those sessions would cover my shoulder area in bruising. I have shot extended range sessions with centerline rifles as well including large caliber magnums firing heavy bullets as well as high round count range sessions in sniper school. It has been some time since I shot competition, but I do plan on getting back into it. Also, as far as the throat goes, that was the spec that NSS gave me. I got my LnL Guage issue addressed and a quick change of the seating stem on my LE wilson sester die, the rounds easily chamber and bolt closes smoothly. As an added measure, I unscrewed the barrel, torqued it back down and re-checked headspace. Everything is good now......minor hiccup. I will pick up some N150 tomorrow and start real testing. I will say that this will be a minimum 300 yard zero rifle, maybe further. It has a 50 MOA base along with 20 MOA rings. When I eventually get some 230 smk, that is what I will hopefully settle on for projectile, but I will let the rifle tell me what it likes.

When @XTR said that recoil management is difficult with the heavy bullets, I don’t think he was referring to your ability to withstand a heavy punch. The rifle will move more with a heavier bullet and this movement—before bullet exit from barrel—requires absolute consistency in every aspect. This includes front and rear rests, shoulder pressure, cheek pressure, trigger pull, etc. With a lighter bullet, the rifle movement is less and more room for error in recoil management. Look at the BR guys with little to no contact with the rifle and light recoiling 6mm bullets. Their recoil management is the absolute in consistency. As @XTR said it can be done however. Bryan Litz used 215’s to win national matches about 10 years ago. But his rifle had a special stock design for no cheek pressure and minimal contact with the body.

I tried the heavy’s and settled on the 200.20x.

 

[Orr89rocz]

MR2000 has been pretty hard for me to get, as that was what I was running in my gas gun loads then switched to CFE. If i try any amount of ball powder in this rifle, it will be 6.5staball

Midsouth shooters has it in stock

 

[cmillard]

When @XTR said that recoil management is difficult with the heavy bullets, I don’t think he was referring to your ability to withstand a heavy punch. The rifle will move more with a heavier bullet and this movement—before bullet exit from barrel—requires absolute consistency in every aspect. This includes front and rear rests, shoulder pressure, cheek pressure, trigger pull, etc. With a lighter bullet, the rifle movement is less and more room for error in recoil management. Look at the BR guys with little to no contact with the rifle and light recoiling 6mm bullets. Their recoil management is the absolute in consistency. As @XTR said it can be done however. Bryan Litz used 215’s to win national matches about 10 years ago. But his rifle had a special stock design for no cheek pressure and minimal contact with the body.

I tried the heavy’s and settled on the 200.20x.

I know what was meant. As long as I can get my bipod to dig in and not bounce, it is a non issue for me. Heck, I've had issues before with this on factory 175 loads, but when I would dig the bipod in or just shot off of a backpack, it would be a non issue. At some point, I do want to invest in a better bipod, something other than the harris low.....but bipods have gotten pretty spendy and have to put other priorities first.

 

[cmillard]

I messed around a little today with my load just to see what it would do. I took .002 off of my necks and that opened group up to 2" at 110 yards. I also loaded some brass that had normal neck thickness of .014 but loaded the bullets .010 closer to the lands and that produced a 5" group at 110 yards. It's crazy what a miniscule adjustment can do to groups. I hope to, in a few weeks get my hands on some 6.5staball when I see one of my brothers, and give that a try with the 215s.

 

[marine52]

I messed around a little today with my load just to see what it would do. I took .002 off of my necks and that opened group up to 2" at 110 yards. I also loaded some brass that had normal neck thickness of .014 but loaded the bullets .010 closer to the lands and that produced a 5" group at 110 yards. It's crazy what a miniscule adjustment can do to groups. I hope to, in a few weeks get my hands on some 6.5staball when I see one of my brothers, and give that a try with the 215s.

When you say you took .002 off the necks, do you mean you turned the necks to remove .002 in thickness or did you trim .002 off the case length?