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Hi all, I am in need of some help. I have recently picked a 308 with a barrel length cut down to 18 inch. I have done a bit of shooting with some 150 grain federal fusion but seems to have preformed poorly at range so am looking to switch to some new ammo
Just wonder what factory ammo people are running for 0-400m out of a 18inch .308, I'm sure there have been many threads on this before but any help or advice would be much appreciated.
Cheers
Depends on what you meant by "performed poorly at range"
Hornady superformance 150gr or 165gr ssts good to 500yds.Buy some FMJ 147gr to waste at the range first.Practice shooting to get moa at 100yds then move to 200yds.Photo below at 100yds with FMJ 147gr,get a result like this befor you move out to 200yds.FJM 147GR only about $25 box.When you get good at 200yds,change over to Hornady 150ssts.Attachment 179796Get somebody else to check rifle over first as Mimms suggests
double up thread LOL...... double tapped the enter key perhaps....
strangely the OP hasnt answered question on either thread....problems at "long range" or the riffly rangi type range
riffly rangi...two do gooders from we will say one news got all into their te reo pronouncing stuff..came to a road sign...it riffly rangi says one.....nah its a rifle range ya dork says the other...
Must be good wine down the Waitak.Quote:
Originally Posted by Micky Duck
Non bonded bullets are a better bet with the reduced velocity from the shortened barrel and extended range.
Frangible projectiles like the sst nbt eldm will do more damage at range but may require picking your shot at closer ranges to avoid excessive meat damage.
Its just a factory bergara extreme hunter rifle. Im not one to do a lot of paper shooting and get too into that sort of carry on. Just wanting to see what sort of ammo (mainly factory) people are running out of short barrels. When I say preformed poorly I am getting about 31 inchs drop at 300m. I don't have a chronograph but working fps out based on the bullet drop the muzzle fps goes form 2820 to just under 2000fps as a result of a 18inch barrel.
That aint right.
Zero at 200m
You will be 2-3inch high at 100m 6-12 inch low at 300.
I take it that is ZEROED at 100 yards????
yep sure isQuote:
Originally Posted by Micky Duck
When my tika zeroed at a 100yds with its 18 inch barrel.Bullit drop at 300yds is 12 inchs with Hornady Superformance 150gr ssts.Flying at 2900ft/sec at the muzzel.When i had a 20 inch tika,ssts were flying at 2963ft/sec.I dont reload either.
I've punched the numbers into Strelok. With a 100m zero, the absolute drop in inches at 300m is right around 31 inches with an MV of about 2800. Or about 5.5 MOA. Sounds pretty normal so far. What does it group like at that distance? If it's dropped 31" from your 100m POI, yeah, that ain't right.
Factory ammo is always a bit of a gamble. You could get lucky and find the cheap stuff shoots amazingly. If not, you might have to try a selection premium stuff. Chances are at least one will shoot well. But still there's no guarantees.
16" 308 shooting 165 BTs at 2650
100 zero
200 -4.3"
300 -15.4"
I had a not to bad a run with the hornady whitetail out of a howa with a 16 inch barrel
s&b 150gr left target - 168gr sako powerhead barnes ttsx 3 shot group - 100m from my bergara 308 extreme hunterQuote:
Originally Posted by Jim356
Attachment 179893
Seems to group alright, at least well enough for me anyway. Yeah it has dropped 31inchs form the 100m POI. It seems odd that it looses so much FPS and drops so much. Just wondering what the thoughts on that areQuote:
Originally Posted by Pommy
That seems a lot of drop, very slow....your rifle may have generous chamber dimensions dropping pressure and speed perhaps.
Handloading for it would be the go ideally but maybe trying some hornady superfomance might get the speed up and lessen the drop.
Also zero at 200 if not dialing up scope.
ok I m going to have to poke some numbers in to have a look myself..... Im thinking its the 100yard zero is issue....
hold the line caller.
2100 if you half inch low at hundy........you would need to be closer to 3" low at hundy to get 30 low with 2800fps.
Cheers Micky, Ill do a bit more testing and try some superformance see where that gets me. Hopefully a change in ammo will see me right!Quote:
Originally Posted by Micky Duck
DONT DO IT......... or be careful if you do.....mates brand new sako really didnt like it...blown primers and harsh recoil.... but maybe you have generous chamber and loose bore causing low velocity from the fusion..so it may be ideal.....
.414 is advertised BC if anyone else cares to punch numbers...took a bit of digging to find it LOL.
If other ammunition has the same problem leaning towards a loose bore issue can cause other issues?Quote:
Originally Posted by Micky Duck
My Bergara I think from memory was 2650(?) with the 18 inch factory barrel federal blue box . Is the 2850 the factory speed with a 22(?) inch barrel ?
So not going as fast , more drop.?
Greetings @Jim356,
My 20 inch barrel in .308 delivers 2,750 fps with my handloads which should work out to 2,700 fps in an 18 inch barrel which is not all that short. You really need to chronograph the load to see what you are actually getting. The chronograph will tell you if it is a slow load or not. If it is slow, say under 2,600 fps, chronographing the load in another .308 will tell you if it is a load problem or a rifle problem. My guess would be a scope problem or perhaps different holds used at the two ranges. Chronographing will narrow down the problem to the actual cause. When testing everything needs to be the same. Same position, same hold, scope power unchanged and preferably same day and conditions. Otherwise you learn nothing.
Lastly a plug for handloading. Using factory ammo leaves us at the mercy of the manufacturers. Some ammo is good most of the time, some good some of the time and some no good whatsoever. Taking charge of this variability via loading your own gives you much more confidence in the ammo that you shoot.
Regards and best of luck Grandpamac.
right...so IF your velocity IS INDEED only 2100fps...sight in 3" high at hundy...dead on 3" high..you will be 2" low at 200yards....
but that seems really slow...highland/ppu slow.....
loose chamber/bore no real issue once you reload as you will grow cases to be more snug fit and will be able to up powder charge accordingly untill velocity gets more in line with what you want...apparently some barrels are just slow....chuck chronicgraph into mix and some folks get really depressed about it....not me,velocity matter not a bit to me....most of my shots under 200 yards.
Cheers for that. Have always been interested in reloading but never taken the jump mainly considering due to my circumstances limiting that ability. Will try something else and really make sure my variables are correct and see what happens! Thanks All!Quote:
Originally Posted by grandpamac
Federal claim 2820fps from a 24" barrel. I chrono'd it in a Remington 700 22" barrel at just on 2800fps so was happy enough with that.Quote:
Originally Posted by Chunk
Right quick update, I managed to get into town and pick up some ammo. I ended up grabbing some Hornady American Whitetail 165gr just to see how it went. RE-checked zero and shot a few groups to see how it would go. The rifle didn't think much of it with the best group being 3inches, with the fusion shot miles better interms of grouping. Thought bugger it I'll have a few shots at 300yards to see what it would do. Grouped poorly as to be expected based on the 100 yard grouping, and ended up with 24inchs average drop form my 100 POI once again going through the same system as last time its about 2200fps.
Now correct me if I'm wrong but I am shooting a heavier projectile that is already going 110fps slower than the fusion based on the factory testing would it not be inclined to have more drop than the fusion at 300m?
I am still waiting to get my hands a chronograph which will give me a more defiant answer but just though I'd see what everyones thought are on that. On a side note I have done this system to find my FPS/Drop for 2 other rifles with good success.
For anyone interested my scope is a Swarovski Z3 4-12x50bt with bases been correctly torqued.
Alway been planning on getting into reloading and now seems like the right time to take the jump and see what happens.Quote:
Originally Posted by mimms2
