308win Load development

[moe africa]

Good day
All I've recently done load development on my 308win Prs rifle (with occasional F-tr)
Its 27" bbl
Im using 178gr ELD-Ms ,Vihtavuori N150 , lapua palma brass and Murom (I think wolf in the USA) primers
The first test was a rough charge test 43.5,44 and 44.5 gr at 20 , 40 and 60 thou jump
Thereafter I shot 43 , 43.5 and 44gr at touch (mistakenly touch ) at 300m (2.262" CBTO )
And I lastly shot 43.5gr at 10 thou at 293m ( the washed out target )
A note : the test at touch shot equivalent velocity of a charge .5gr higher
My question is where to go from here ?

 

[mgunderson]

Merry Christmas. Shot more than a little 308. They are tolerant to all sorts of things. I dislike the touching for competitions. My opinion, load some a 44 grains and shoot 5 shot groups at 300m. Change the seating depth from 15 off to 40 off in 5 thousandths increments 15,20,25,30,40 . Two of these will shoot better than the other. Powder charge is not likely to significantly change the seating depth. You can find several seating depths that shoot well between jam and 70 off the lands. Pick a flat but round group. A flat wide group can be problematic, but that is a little touch information.

How many rounds on the barrel and are you getting a sticky bolt?

 

[moe africa]

Merry Christmas. Shot more than a little 308. They are tolerant to all sorts of things. I dislike the touching for competitions. My opinion, load some a 44 grains and shoot 5 shot groups at 300m. Change the seating depth from 15 off to 40 off in 5 thousandths increments 15,20,25,30,40 . Two of these will shoot better than the other. Powder charge is not likely to significantly change the seating depth. You can find several seating depths that shoot well between jam and 70 off the lands. Pick a flat but round group. A flat wide group can be problematic, but that is a little touch information.

How many rounds on the barrel and are you getting a sticky bolt?

Hi Happy Holidays
The barrel has about 600 rounds
I tested 44gr(20,40,60l on the first image and at 300
43.5gr seemed to be better

 

[64Rambler]

at 300
43.5gr seemed to be better

Since you shoot at distance, take the 43.5 and play with +/- 0.003 and +/- 0.006" from whatever seating depth you used for the 300 yd target. You can also try +/- 0.1 and +/- 0.2 gn powder charge.

 

[sgav8r]

Here’s my day’s worth of shooting and some .308 load development from today. Figured I’d add it to the mix. Plenty of data to examine. The Speer 130’s are seated to a 2.65” OAL. The Sierra 169’s are seated to 2.91” OAL. I’ve find these give me the best results for those two pills out of my barrel, 26” MPA 1:10RH twist. The only loads NOT thrown on my ST or ATV4 were the 169’s. They were thrown on a Hornady AutoCharge Pro, hence the double digit SD’s!

 

[Mark611]

JMO, but it is obvious that barrel does not like those bullets, I would try some 175gn or 180gn SMK's, with 42gns of Varget or 41.5gns of H4895, if you want to use the powder you have IMO you need a different bullet, my match grade 308win barrels I usually start 10k off the touch of the lands, and that usually works well for me, .5in groups @200m, that's my load development range, for accuracy, YMMV

 

[sgav8r]

I disagree. The barrel loves those bullets. Granted I have not shot them beyond 100yds as I’m pretty limited to that distance at the range I frequent.

I ran out of AR Comp and started developing a load for those 130’s using Varget. I’d say overall I’ve had success. I feel like the 45.5gn Varget load has tremendous potential. Here’s a different group:

Today’s groups were not great overall. It was 25 degrees, and foggy. I shoot suppressed and the barrel heat was creating quite a problem with mirage through my scope. Excuses, I know, but the rifle is plenty capable, That bullet has obvious tremendous potential (one ragged hole groups are never a problem). It’s the meat behind the gun that’s needs work!

 

[Homerange]

Yup nothing wrong with those 130gr groups with Varget.
Have pushed cheap 130gr Hornady to the max load of 50gr of Varget for ~3000fps for a nice 3 shot cloverleaf group under 1/2” from a 22” sporter…..well within 1 MOA of deer.

 

[Rick Richard]

I’ve always found great accuracy with a 168 grain projectile over 44 gr of Varget or IMR4460. My best 5 shot group was .195 inch with IMR4460 and 168 AMAX.

 

[charlie b]

My .308 was very touchy about loads and seat depth. I think your loads are decent.

The change in POI in some of those loads is interesting. If you adjusted the scope between groups that would explain it.

When testing seating depth I like smaller steps, 0.002". I can usually find a node within a .020 range.

My rifle liked the 175 SMK's but it loved the Berger 155 full bores.

 

[Kracken McGraw]

I disagree. The barrel loves those bullets. Granted I have not shot them beyond 100yds as I’m pretty limited to that distance at the range I frequent.
View attachment 1726613
I ran out of AR Comp and started developing a load for those 130’s using Varget. I’d say overall I’ve had success. I feel like the 45.5gn Varget load has tremendous potential. Here’s a different group:
View attachment 1726614
Today’s groups were not great overall. It was 25 degrees, and foggy. I shoot suppressed and the barrel heat was creating quite a problem with mirage through my scope. Excuses, I know, but the rifle is plenty capable, That bullet has obvious tremendous potential (one ragged hole groups are never a problem). It’s the meat behind the gun that’s needs work!

I betcha Mark was referring to the OP’s groups in post #1.

 

[Mark611]

I was, thank you.

 

[sgav8r]

I was, thank you.

Haha whoops!

 

[Sandstorm]

If your shooting FTR OP get some Berger bullets.

 

[fatelvis]

I’ve always found great accuracy with a 168 grain projectile over 44 gr of Varget or IMR4460. My best 5 shot group was .195 inch with IMR4460 and 168 AMAX.

I assume you are referring to IMR4064? Was this out of a bolt rifle? Thanks

 

[Rick Richard]

I assume you are referring to IMR4064? Was this out of a bolt rifle? Thanks

Correct and correct