Thread: 308 reloading

hey guys I have a 1:11 twist 20" barrel finnlite and been doing some reloading but not having alot of luck. Shooting 150gr factory corelokts sub moa and federal blue box about 1-1.5moa so these will be what I shoot majority of the time in the bush but do chase Rusa and will be doing some kaimanawas tops and ruahines slips shooting out to 500m.
Loading 165 speer btsp @ 2.8" COAL from 44-46gr. Got about 0.9" @ 45.5, which was the best by far, so loaded up a few of those however shot a group of 5 today and it was massive(first 2 close enough, 3rd opened up to 1.5-2" then 4th and 5th were fliers). I was shooting off a bipod with a rear rest and was very comfortable so wasn't shooting position.
Unsure if i should try loading 150s or stick with 165grs or even try 178s. Thinking more LR suitable pills like eldms, NBT etc. About to be massively time poor so any help is welcomed!
Cheers

I'm not going to be much help other than .9 of an inch is Deer-OA out to 500m

Yeah agree with you there. I am more concerned about the size of my 5 shot group, even the 3 shot. Last thing I want is to shoot a deer in the guts or leg then either not recover or spend hrs chasing a wounded animal.

There's ya problem, right there! You're using a Hunting and Fishing target
Specifically designed to make you chew through the ammo and have to go back to them and buy more

But seriously, as long as you stay away from attempting neck shots @500m you will still be on the money

Clean the living shit out of it then get a sample pack of Sierra 165 Gameking hpbt, load em up 44grains 2206H at 70mm OAL measured at the metplat - if it won't shoot sell it quick! That is my datum load for testing 308 out of the box.

The 178gr ELD-X shoot really well in my 1:12 twist 24" 308. 42.5gr of AR2208 gives me 2560fps.

so by all accounts the rem corelocts are a mild velocity load......maybe just maybe they suit your superlightweight skinny barrel rifle and loosy goosey shooting style better..... oops I mean free recoiling.... sub inch is good to 500 if you not trying to get fancy and head shoot.
50 quid to knob of goat shit the hornady superpreformance factory load WONT shoot well in your rifle either...and highland PPU will do.
cake
eat it too

So if the first set of reloads shot sub MOA, and the second didn’t, somethings changed.
Different brass, primers ?
Altered the die ?
How about the rifle, mounts tight ?
Did you pull the barrel through after the last range session ?

Originally Posted by 257weatherby

Clean the living shit out of it then get a sample pack of Sierra 165 Gameking hpbt, load em up 44grains 2206H at 70mm OAL measured at the metplat - if it won't shoot sell it quick! That is my datum load for testing 308 out of the box.

Love those bullets. Shot them from my first 308 and they were fantastic but not what I am looking for in this rifle. Shoots the corelokts really well and all the animals I have shot with them in this rifle have gone down spectacularly.

Originally Posted by Micky Duck

so by all accounts the rem corelocts are a mild velocity load......maybe just maybe they suit your superlightweight skinny barrel rifle and loosy goosey shooting style better..... oops I mean free recoiling.... sub inch is good to 500 if you not trying to get fancy and head shoot.
50 quid to knob of goat shit the hornady superpreformance factory load WONT shoot well in your rifle either...and highland PPU will do.
cake
eat it too

Not that lightweight and barrel is definitely more heavy profiled than model 7s and they have no problem shooting solid projectiles accurately unsuppressed from my experience.
Not looking to shoot the same hole or a deers head at 500m either just looking for helpful suggestions from people who have/had the same or similar rifle. I can shoot i am just trying to figure out how I can get it performing to an acceptable, repeatable level

Originally Posted by Frogfeatures

So if the first set of reloads shot sub MOA, and the second didn’t, somethings changed.
Different brass, primers ?
Altered the die ?
How about the rifle, mounts tight ?
Did you pull the barrel through after the last range session ?

Didn't clean between sessions(have just done now).
Fired a fouler like I always do. Same procedure with my reloading too.
They weren't in the exact same spot but both times the first 2 were close and the 3rd was starting to wander. Next time i am at the range will do my 3 and see if the first 2 are tight.
Am close to ordering some 165 or 150NBTs

Same load from load development

ok that was a tad naughty of me to answer like that.....there is an almost identicle thread going back 2 weeks ago with almost identicle question phrased differently...
point being you have corelocts going sub inch...I take it thats consistantly????
eg after you shot unhappy 2plus inch group with reloads you then tried corelocts and again went sub inch.....= eliminating ANYTHING else.
so if thats case...you have two things...a seating depth rifle likes...and velocity rifle likes.....
set dies using factory coreloct sorts one out.....velocity isnt something I delve into....but MAYBE drop down half grain then grain and SEE what happens...10 projectiles and a bit of time and you MAYBE might find magic sweet spot.

Originally Posted by Micky Duck

ok that was a tad naughty of me to answer like that.....there is an almost identicle thread going back 2 weeks ago with almost identicle question phrased differently...
point being you have corelocts going sub inch...I take it thats consistantly????
eg after you shot unhappy 2plus inch group with reloads you then tried corelocts and again went sub inch.....= eliminating ANYTHING else.
so if thats case...you have two things...a seating depth rifle likes...and velocity rifle likes.....
set dies using factory coreloct sorts one out.....velocity isnt something I delve into....but MAYBE drop down half grain then grain and SEE what happens...10 projectiles and a bit of time and you MAYBE might find magic sweet spot.

Yeah I understand the frequency questions like this are asked so Don't blame you for your response haha.
I shot 3 of each from 44-46 grain and as I said 45.5 was the best. Was improving with speed but then 46gr opened up again. I went off the reloading manual for length but I will definitely try setting my dies off thr factory and see what happens there. Imagine it will compress my loads a bit more so will see what that does.
Corelokts have been shooting consistently. I was wondering if my rifle preferred the 150s based on how it shot the factory but then remembered it didn't shoot the 165gr sako loads too badly just a shame they are too slow and too hard for the intended purpose