Load Data Help for a LR .308

[RegionRat]

Are we talking about a POF gas gun?

I don't follow POF very close any more but I am not sure what barrel your friend's rig is wearing based on 18" or 24"?

Still a good idea to baseline the rig with something like FGMM ammo in either 168 or similar just to get an idea of what you are working with. At mag length, we should be able to match that stuff and do better on most samples with a handload.

In so many words, a factory 308 gas gun should be able to perform with a classic M14 SR load.
A good guess is to try the following and then explore tuning options.

I would start a gas gun with virgin mil-spec brass if possible. These are harder on brass than bolt guns and your friend will have to learn to watch the brass life and reliability issues.

If you don't find FGMM ammo, you can try the following for a starting point or baseline to see what you are working with.

IMI brass from their factory ammo or virgin Mil Spec brass
41.5 H4895
CCI BR2 or something like a CCI 34
Sierra 168 at 2.800 COAL, may or may not want to try a light taper crimp but I have never "needed" one for an AR-10 or M14.

This should give you an idea of the rig's personality and then you will know how you stand when you feed it a varmint bullet. A POF should digest the standard loads at standard mag length. How it will do with a varmint bullet who knows. It should hold a 10 ring or better with the above out to 300 yards and sometimes these will go out to 600 but typically require tuning to do their best past 300.

Good Luck to you and your friend. If the coyotes and cats come calling, AZ is on my route so send up a flare if he gets into trouble.

 

[Doom]

Known the guy for over a decade , and he has excellent shooting skills . Least of my worries , and someone mentioned a "Liability" issue ? That isn't even on the table . Rodeo people , and former Rodeo people don't have Lawyers on speed dial . Must be a East Coast thing .

But insurance companies do. Particularly health.

 

[markm87]

just go buy some factory ammo and take it out of the boxes...zero liability.
168 match ammo 150 hunting ammo

Agreed. Handloading for a POF isn't the best use of precious time.

 

[Turpentine]

Depends quite a bit on your particular brand of brass. You can get a 1.5+ grain difference between Winchester brass and military brass. What's good for one can be way over pressure for the other. I load for the same type rifle and have some good ocw type loads for 168s. And a ballparks load or two for 150s, just need to know your brass brand. FYI my LR 308 hates 150s but falls right in with 168s.

 

[Turpentine]

Sorry. I see where you are using Lapua cases.
saaaaàMy gun shines with AR Comp and 168s. 40.6 grains in LC Match Brass. 41.7 in Remington Brass, 42 in Winchester Brass.
42.8 of IMR 4064 in Federal brass pretty much duplicates FGMM. 168 load
41.5 of IMR 4895 with a 168 is a classic.
IIRC 39 grains of 3031 and a 168 was an accuracy load for 300 yd and in competition many moons ago.
43 grains of IMR or H4895 was the best load out of my g2 308 and my 700 in 308 with 150s at around MOA in Winchester Brass. 42 garains in LC Brass.
I use standard federal 210s in all of my loads. Standard rules apply. As usual, Start low and work up.

 

[Doom]

Depends quite a bit on your particular brand of brass. You can get a 1.5+ grain difference between Winchester brass and military brass. What's good for one can be way over pressure for the other. I load for the same type rifle and have some good ocw type loads for 168s. And a ballparks load or two for 150s, just need to know your brass brand. FYI my LR 308 hates 150s but falls right in with 168s.

Don't you mean 15+grains between Winchester and Military, like 165 vs 180?

 

[Turpentine]

Don't you mean 15+grains between Winchester and Military, like 165 vs 180?

Sorry, The difference I was referring to was the actual internal powder difference between brass types. It's not unusual to see a 15 to 25grain difference In actual case weight. For example my Winchester cases way around 155 where my Lake City match weighs 176 to 178. For my gas gun with my loads the difference in grains of powder between LC and Winchester is about 1.4 grains. That's where the velocity is the same with AR Comp between the two.
With my 700 load with Varget the difference is around 2 grains less in the Lake City case to get the same velocity that I get in a Winchester case. That will also change slightly if I change lot years in the Lake City. Not much, just slightly.

 

[jccinohio]

Integrate what DiffEq said into your process, don't differentiate.. Sorry.. But yes the 110gr v-max is a killer out of the 308. I loaded to about 3100fps with Varget for my gas gun and it did real well on coyotes.

 

[RegionRat]

Integrate what DiffEq said into your process don't differentiate..

Slide rule folks got a chuckle.....

 

[Acyr]

Slide rule folks got a chuckle.....

 

[Bamban]

Slide rule folks got a chuckle.....

Still have my K&E.

 

[Homerange]

Integrate what DiffEq said into your process, don't differentiate.. Sorry.. But yes the 110gr v-max is a killer out of the 308. I loaded to about 3100fps with Varget for my gas gun and it did real well on coyotes.

130's with a compressed load of Varget behind them works great too doing 3k fps. And works well on medium deer too. Actually also provides my lowest ES of 6fps with 1/2 MOA groups outta a sporter.
What's not to like ?