Best LR bullet in 308 with 1/12" & loads
- Thread starter chrisj
- Start date
You should be able to shoot and stabilize 155 - 185 bullets in that barrel. The heavier bullets would need to be hybrid design but even 185-190 berger LRBT bullets will be fine. I would think the 155 Palma bullet with a 30" tube would do very well. The 175 SMK/TMK would be a great bullet as well IMO.
Berger 155.5 Fullbore bullets/46.0-47.0 gr. Varget/Lapua Palma brass/Tula or Wolf SR primers. with 30" barrel should be close to 2980+.
Check the Barrel Twist calculator on Berger website - not sure if the 185 Juggs will stabilize with 12" or not. I ran an 11" twist with them that worked very well with 43-44 gr. Varget at 2660fps or 2750fps with H4350.
Check the Barrel Twist calculator on Berger website - not sure if the 185 Juggs will stabilize with 12" or not. I ran an 11" twist with them that worked very well with 43-44 gr. Varget at 2660fps or 2750fps with H4350.
My 308 seems to really like the 168 TMK bullets. They also have a great BC number and by my drop data it seems very close to the advertised (.535) Sierra publishes. Thinks it's actually about .528. I've heard they do very well at 1000 also.
CharlieNC
Gold $$ Contributor
I know several who shoot the 168TMK and do well. Nice to have a number of good choices!
I'm getting 2880 with the 168 TMKs. .3 to 500. Haven't taken it to 1000 yet. Will be soon.
What ever bullet.you decided to run make sure it meets the twist stabilized before committing to it. I found that the 13 twist i have will marginally with the 175 SMK and the 155gr SMK and not much else.
you need a Sg 1.5 under that BC is lowered
All can be verified with Berger Stability Calculator.
you need a Sg 1.5 under that BC is lowered
All can be verified with Berger Stability Calculator.
Barnard P with a Bisley chamber
Check the freebore on that chamber. It may be short for 185 gr and larger bullets. If the boat tail is down below the neck you will have powder capacity issues. This might leave you with 155 gr or maybe 168 gr range bullets or having throat cut longer.
Edit:
I googled and found a .308 Bisley print. It shows .080 freebore. That is pretty short for even the 185 Juggernauts.
I asked about a Savage F/TR because they come from the factory with 1/12 twist 30" barrel. They are also throated short, I think about the same as that Bisley in fact. I shot 185's out of it for a while, but the boat tail was down in the case too much. I had to use PP2000 to get the velocity I wanted.
If you want to keep the chamber as is, I would probably look at the 155 or 155.5 class bullets. I have never shot the Berger 168 hybrids, so I am not familiar with the dimensions, but I know some people that have shot well with them. They might fit that short freebore, but I am not sure of that.
Edit:
I googled and found a .308 Bisley print. It shows .080 freebore. That is pretty short for even the 185 Juggernauts.
I asked about a Savage F/TR because they come from the factory with 1/12 twist 30" barrel. They are also throated short, I think about the same as that Bisley in fact. I shot 185's out of it for a while, but the boat tail was down in the case too much. I had to use PP2000 to get the velocity I wanted.
If you want to keep the chamber as is, I would probably look at the 155 or 155.5 class bullets. I have never shot the Berger 168 hybrids, so I am not familiar with the dimensions, but I know some people that have shot well with them. They might fit that short freebore, but I am not sure of that.
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In your configuration I'd try the 168 hybrids around 2900-2950. Around 46gr of Varget will be near where you want to be.
Ned Ludd
Silver $$ Contributor
With a .085" freebore chamber, 185 Jug boattail bearing surface is slightly above neck/shoulder, not by a lot, but still above. A load of 43.4 gr Varget in that rifle under a Juggernaut seems to shoot exceptionally (~2720 fps). It's not exceedingly fast, due in part because, as Russell stated, pressure issues, but the precision is phenomenal. If for some reason you can't quite manage the 185s, my next choice would be the 168 Hybrid, which is just about perfect for a 0.080" freebore chamber.
My 308 Winchester in a Rem 700P LTR and has a 20 inch barrel with a 1:12 twist. So far whitetail and mule deer have been dropped with no issues. I use the Hornady 168 grain A-Max. These bullets really perform best from 200 on out. At times shots under that especially under 50 to 100 yards can cause issues as they are frangible esp. at higher velociities from magnum rifles, performing best all around in the .308 rifles.
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