Three Questions From A Beginner

[Alexander-M]

An old beginner, that is . . . but new to the forum.

A short background.
I used to shoot a lot up until seven years ago when back problems and other less painful issues kept me away from the range. But now I am fine, and retired, so I am back to shooting.

A couple of weeks ago I shot in an F-TR match (600-yd), which was totally new to me, with my nine-year old DPMS Panther .308, and it was a lot of fun. I wasn't not aware that they would have just two sighters before each string of 15 rounds, and I did not take the opportunity to fire a few shots after I had cleaned the barrel the night before, so I started the match with a clean barrel, which is not very good in my case. Anyway, I scored 280-8X, which is not bad, but I believe I could do 290-?X with that rifle.

Now I have a new Savage 12 F/TR .308, and I am learning to use it. I have read as much as possible here and elsewhere, and have a few questions for anyone who has time to share their views.

PRIMERS
How much difference do primers make? More specifically, Federal 210 vs. Winchester-WLR / CCI-200 / CCI-250? I had always used the Fed-210, but don’t have any left, and do have the other three I just mentioned.

MIL SURPLUS FOR FOULING
My rifle(s), as I believe is true with most, shoot better after a few shots have been fired after a barrel cleaning. Instead of using my reloads to ‘foul’ the barrel, I have been using military surplus (Portuguese and Australian), which have non-corrosive primers. Do you see any harm in doing this?

BERGER HYBRID BULLETS
I had always used Sierra’s SMK HPBT 168-gr and 175-gr, with LC, Black Hills, and Winchester cases, which I resize and trim.

I just bought 200 Lapua cases to try out, and plan to order Berger bullets as well. I have no experience with the Berger bullets, and see they have a VLD as well as a Hybrid in various weights. The Hybrids appear to offer the best of two characteristics – good ballistics, and are more forgiving regarding bullet seating depth. Any reason not to use the Hybrids?

Thank you for your time and help!

Nando

 

[Keith Glasscock]

Those are three good questions. They will also take some typing to answer.

Primers: Like anything else in your load, they affect velocity, consistency, and accuracy. I have had good experience with both the Winchester large rifle and CCI-200. Your rifle will have to tell you what it likes.

Mil surp for foulers: most of us won't use two different powders without cleaning the barrel between. Same goes for bullet jackets. The fouling can be quite different and will affect accuracy to some degree. Whether it is detrimental to your rifle...

Berger hybrid bullets are great bullets. They shoot quite well in my rifles.

Keith

 

[AR Shooter]

+1 to Keith's answers.

Also, I have a 1000 Fed 210 primers I'll trade you for 1000 CCI 200 primers. I've got a load developed for my silhouette rifle that prefers the CCI 200 and I'm starting to run low.

 

[RStewart]

PRIMERS
How much difference do primers make? More specifically, Federal 210 vs. Winchester-WLR / CCI-200 / CCI-250? I had always used the Fed-210, but don’t have any left, and do have the other three I just mentioned. I have never used those, but have found a difference between Remington and Wolf primers. The Remingtons shot better with Varget, but I had better results with Wolf's using 8208. So , I would say, depending on the powder/bullet combo you may see a diiference between different primers.

MIL SURPLUS FOR FOULING
My rifle(s), as I believe is true with most, shoot better after a few shots have been fired after a barrel cleaning. Instead of using my reloads to ‘foul’ the barrel, I have been using military surplus (Portuguese and Australian), which have non-corrosive primers. Do you see any harm in doing this?I don't mix powders

BERGER HYBRID BULLETS
I had always used Sierra’s SMK HPBT 168-gr and 175-gr, with LC, Black Hills, and Winchester cases, which I resize and trim. I had a Savage 12 FTR and it shot the Berger 155.5 FB's quite well, so I would think the hybrids would also if you find the right powder/primer to go with them.

 

[Alexander-M]

Thank you all for your replies - they are most helpful!

All -
I did not think about the effects that different powders and jacket materials potentially may have on accuracy. I do not know how much they would affect my rifles, but to be on the safe side I will not mix anymore.

AR Shooter -
Unfortunately, I have only 700 CCI-200's left, but I do appreciate your offer. Also, I have yet to determine whether my Sav-12 likes them.

RStewart -
I have read about quite a few shooters using the Berger 155's for 600-yd and beyond; particularly out to 1000 and plus yards. I will try them.

My problems now are time and supplies. I would like to be at least comfortably ready with my rifle and reloads to participate in the upcoming Missouri F-Class Mid-Range State Championship on 28-29 September. I know I won't win, but I would like to do well. And then there are the supplies. I have enough primers 'combined', but my Varget is getting low, as are the bullets.

Thank you all again!

Nando

 

[RStewart]

RStewart -
I have read about quite a few shooters using the Berger 155's for 600-yd and beyond; particularly out to 1000 and plus yards. I will try them.

There is a difference between the 155 and the 155.5 FB. I shoot the 155.5 FB. I have some 155's but the 155.5's shoot so well I have never tried the others. I am pushing them around 3070 fps with 8208 powder.

Also, I did a comparison of information while researching loads for the 155.5's early on and found the following powders to be relatively close in burn rate- Varget, 4064, AA2520 (although 2520 is a ball and so more temperature sensitive) and RL15. You may want to research and come up with a list of powders than can be substituted due to availability depending on what you plan to shoot (bullet weight, etc.).

 

[swampshooter]

If you could find some 4895 it would probably shoot good. Not necessarily better than Varget but a good powder if you can't get Varget.