FTR .308 with 185 Juggernauts

[M4Punisher]

Curious.
I've been reading through a lot of threads concerning the 185 Jugs which I am planning on giving a try in my first FTR build. It's a 700 trued action and a Bartlein 1:10 30"
1.25 taper to .9"
I plan on chambering it with the .168 freebore. Can those with some experience here tell me my approximate COL with that chamber for a .010-.030" jump???

 

[M4Punisher]

Did some more research and I think I found the answer. With the .168 - 170 free bore reamer I will be over 2.9" OAL and seated about halfway down the neck with the bottom of the bearing surface. I have Lapua Palma brass, CCI BR4, and the 185 Jugs. any suggestions for setting her up?

 

[Tempest]

The bottom line is, you have to set it where "your" rifle/barrel likes it. Even two people with the same rifle may have different results. Start around .010-.015" and see what it likes.

Good luck.

 

[M4Punisher]

Thank you. I do load testing and seating depth with all my rifles. I just noticed from most of the other threads that anywhere from .010 to .030" seamed to be the range where a majority of shooters were have the best results with the Jug.

 

[carlsbad]

I really like the Juggernaut's name, but the hybrids seem to outperform them. that's the way I'm going with my new build that I will test tomorrow. --Jerry

 

[Damfino]

Like Jerry, I liked the Juggernaut's name, but I was also attracted to the hybrid's slightly higher ballistic coefficient and, possibly, improved seating depth forgiveness. So, of course, after a brief romance with the hybrids, I married the Juggernauts. They just shot better in my Kriegers and the Brux barrel I'm shooting now. I'm not saying we lived happily ever after, as there have been some 9s, and yes, even a few 8s, that I mostly blame myself for. But, for the most part, it's been productive. There have been some other mild flirtations, but nothing serious. But, now I'm getting restless and have started making eyes at the 200.20X...

 

[ballisticdaddy]

Curious.
I've been reading through a lot of threads concerning the 185 Jugs which I am planning on giving a try in my first FTR build. It's a 700 trued action and a Bartlein 1:10 30"
1.25 taper to .9"
I plan on chambering it with the .168 freebore. Can those with some experience here tell me my approximate COL with that chamber for a .010-.030" jump???

If you are setting up a rifle specifically for FT-R then you may want to entertain the Berger 200.20x hybrid as that seems to be the most utilized projectile for that discipline currently.

 

[dcali]

Jugs are good bullets. I found that I had to jam them to get them to shoot. But once I did, they shoot very well. That said, I'm switching to 200.20x. The ballistic advantage is significant and I have seen enough head to head with people using them to see that the Juggernaut's days as the FTR standard are dwindling quickly.

 

[T-shooter]

If you are setting up a rifle specifically for FT-R then you may want to entertain the Berger 200.20x hybrid as that seems to be the most utilized projectile for that discipline currently.

I just got a box. Haven't shot any yet but loaded enough for a test just today. I did this drawing to show someone. My current long range load is the Hornady ELD. It is a slightly compressed load with 41.5 grains of Varget (2,430 fps) as it is configured here. The 200.20x will allow more case capacity and hopefully more velocity. These were seated to have a .025" jump in my rifle which seems to always work well. Seated this far out the Berger's still have about 80% contact in the neck. Out of a box of 100 the weights ranged from 200.04g to 200.32g. I measured a few and they had an average runout on the bearing surface of .0003" which is about normal for most match bullets.

 

[skiutah02]

 

[T-shooter]

View attachment 1014016

Not much neck contact with the 200.20x or the 185 Jugg. How did these compare for accuracy?

 

[M4Punisher]

I appreciate all of the helpful comments!
I already have 300 of the Jugs and only shoot locally. So I'm going to try.
Yes the rifle if being built for FTR specifically.
If I throat it at .168 -.170 I should still be good to try the 200.20x if I desire, I assume, and still have some increased case capacity

 

[308BAR]

View attachment 1014016

Thanks for the comparison. Very interesting indeed. Has how many rounds through the barrel and how much has the throat eroded? Is this with the 2.045" bolt face to case mouth or 2.025"?

 

[skiutah02]

2013 FTR Reamer, not sure of the BF2CM measurement, but 2.025 looks common of the few prints I pulled up. The numbers given above in the picture are on a brand new chamber for reference.

 

[Ned Ludd]

Not much neck contact with the 200.20x or the 185 Jugg. How did these compare for accuracy?

It may not appear that way in the image, but the boattail/bearing surface junctions for both bullets is over halfway down into the neck; or less than halfway out of the neck from the neck/shoulder junction. That is plenty of shank in the neck.