Deconstruction of Hornady 155gn Steel Match

[Russ Jex]

Hi Guys,
I wonder if someone can help me. I am having trouble with my Howa 1500 308 varmint 24", I actually complained to Howa a bit and to their credit they wanted the rifle back to test. Well it seemed it tested fine with Hornady 155gn Steel Match ammo. Problem is here in OZ a packet of 50 sells for around $84, way out of my league. What I am after is a couple of things, if some one has any in there ammo locker. I would like to know the COAL, the OGIVE. Now that would be a great start for me, if anyone has pulled one apart knowing which powder, varget etc they use and what weight of powder.
If any one can help it would be greatly appreciated so I can get this gun shooting. I have the same action in 223 and it is a tack driver, so I know the damb things can shoot, its just getting the combination right. I have tried from 125gn through 168gn with various loads and powders with not a great deal of luck. Best I could do was 43gn of 2208 (Varget) behind a 155gn CC.
Any one??

 

[Mike F H]

Hi Guys,
I wonder if someone can help me. I am having trouble with my Howa 1500 308 varmint 24", I actually complained to Howa a bit and to their credit they wanted the rifle back to test. Well it seemed it tested fine with Hornady 155gn Steel Match ammo. Problem is here in OZ a packet of 50 sells for around $84, way out of my league. What I am after is a couple of things, if some one has any in there ammo locker. I would like to know the COAL, the OGIVE. Now that would be a great start for me, if anyone has pulled one apart knowing which powder, varget etc they use and what weight of powder.
If any one can help it would be greatly appreciated so I can get this gun shooting. I have the same action in 223 and it is a tack driver, so I know the damb things can shoot, its just getting the combination right. I have tried from 125gn through 168gn with various loads and powders with not a great deal of luck. Best I could do was 43gn of 2208 (Varget) behind a 155gn CC.
Any one??

With 155 grain target projectiles,work your 2208 load up,depending on case volume and chambering/throating,46 to 47 grains is a usual load

 

[Keith Glasscock]

I would suggest that the seating depth of the Hornady projectile will be of no use to you while using Nosler bullets.

Instead, start at the shorter COAL of .030" off the lands or maximum magazine length if mag feeding is your goal. Work your powder charge (.5 grain increments or less) up toward the top end with 3 shot groups. If you don't find a hopeful load there, shorten up .005" and repeat. You should find something that shoots decent (not necessarily the optimal load) relatively quickly.

 

[Russ Jex]

Thanks for getting back to me Mike & Keith, I was more after the COAL of these particular rounds to give me another starting point. Just for future ref Keith if I loaded anything 30 thou off the lands in the 308 Howa varmint I would not have the projectile in the case. It has an extremely long throat, that's why asking the question. Still hoping someone shoots them and can give me the info. Thanks again.

 

[USMCDOC]

Thanks for getting back to me Mike & Keith, I was more after the COAL of these particular rounds to give me another starting point. Just for future ref Keith if I loaded anything 30 thou off the lands in the 308 Howa varmint I would not have the projectile in the case. It has an extremely long throat, that's why asking the question. Still hoping someone shoots them and can give me the info. Thanks again.

Is the Hornady ammo mag length.. if so.. that is what i would use with the other projectiles that you are considering..

 

[Russ Jex]

Hi Mate, there in lies the problem, I was trying to find out if anyone actually had some of this ammo so they could measure it for me, as I am not sure if it fitted in the mag or not and the testers don't seem to want to provide much info.

 

[Zero333]

2.750" to 2.800" is a good starting point.

Adjust up or down if necessary.

You will never be able to clone any factory ammo because you don't know their neck tension and brass flex properties.

Steel cases will pressurize differently as brass cases.

Why does FGMM shoot so good in ALL rifles but when trying to clone it it doesn't ???

 

[Crosshair1]

I shoot these when i can get them in a 12 twist 26" r700,they produce consistent sub moa 5shot groups @100yds.
Heres the details of a case - I'm not sure if its really of much use ..
Coal 2.790, Cbto (hornady comparator take with pinch of salt) 2.197, bullet length 1.145"
In region of 2600fps average but es up to 60.
Powder 38.4-38.7gn flattened ball approx 16.35gn/cc
Case unfired 54.06gn h2o, fired case (not the same one) 56.60gn h2o

These are on the lighter side of factory 308 loadings and to me produce significantly less felt recoil.
Ive tried these in a few factory 308s and not all liked them but of the ones that did, hornady 168gn bthp match would always outperform the steel match.

 

[Russ Jex]

A big thankyou to both Zero 333 & Crosshair1 for your answers guys. I will try to sort out things my end.
Have a great New Year & happy shooting for 2018