308 loading question

scotty250 · Post by **scotty250** » Sat Nov 10, 2007 4:39 pm

I am working on my loads to start the HP game. using 130 gr bullets for the cpt load, measured my rifles distance to the lands and if i seat the bullets .010 off the lands, i dont have much bullet bearing surface in the case. in other words my bullets when seated to be .010 off the lands are hardly in the case. about .18 to .20 depending on the bullet brand i use. is this ok or should i look into some other bullets to get more bearing surface in the case. thanks for any input
scott

steel_ram · Post by **steel_ram** » Sat Nov 10, 2007 6:17 pm

Shoot them and see how they work. Personally I've tried the 125 and 110 30 cal bullets, and even with a fare jump, got good accuracy with them however when the wind pic's up, they suck, even just out to pigs. Also, pigs can at times be stubborn to leave the rails when not hit hard enough.

sobrbiker883 · Post by **sobrbiker883** » Sat Nov 10, 2007 7:43 pm

Holy crap Scott, do I gotta bring some Milsurp 7.62 for you to shoot the match or are you gonna get some ammo made???

Just kidding. I only know 168/180 stuff. I'd go with loading to a factory spec oal (2.810") to get rolling and play with seating depth once you've found a good powder weight.
Usually you can make up enough of different charge weights with the bullet you want to use to shoot a few groups of each to find what groups best. Then make a few different seating depths with that charge weight to tweak into smaller groups.

scotty250 · Post by **scotty250** » Sat Nov 10, 2007 7:48 pm

i am trying. they wont load themselvs yet. i am trying to teach the kid to run the 1050 for me!!! so far he eats the powder and throws the bullets at me.

maybe when he turns 9 months i will try again. i may just shoot all 168's until i get bullets on paper. i got my cases all loaded up for SB next weekend!!!!
scott

sobrbiker883 · Post by **sobrbiker883** » Sat Nov 10, 2007 7:54 pm

scotty250 wrote:i got my cases all loaded up for SB next weekend!!!!
scott

That's funny, now get back to your press young man. Those animals aren't gonna knock themselves down tomorrow!!

Just kidding, I hope your domestic scene lets you come out. Seriously, let me know if you need some ammo to shoot. I've seen KFleetwood shoot respectably at Rio with a Savage and surplus 147's......

Gringo Grizzly · Post by **Gringo Grizzly** » Mon Dec 03, 2007 2:34 pm

By far the best LIGHT bullet I've used in my stable of .308's is the 135 gr Berger.
This bullet was designed for hunter bench rest and shoots like crazy.

It IS, however - SHORT. Nonetheless, I've found it to be great out to the pigs.
Email me at grbuss@yahoo.com and I'll give you the loading specs and zeroing info.
I use VV N140 for this one.

Gringo

K Danz · Post by **K Danz** » Thu May 08, 2008 11:41 am

I've had good luck with the Sierra 155 Palma bullet in my Rem. 700 varmint factory barrel.
The strange thing about it is that the faster I tried to push the bullet, the worse the accuracy got. So just to see what it would do, I went the other way and found that the starting charge of Benchmark for this bullet gave me groups of 1.25" at 200 Meters. Recoil was soft and the bullet performed well all the way out to Turkeys.
Discussing this with my gunsmith who is a benchrest shooter, he confirmed what I had found and said that a bunch of benchrest shooters shooting 308's were doing the same thing with the 155's. Using the minimum starting loads with several powders and getting good results.

308 loading question

308 loading question

.308 W Light Bullet Loads