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New to reloading, and I'm looking to replicate (roughly) the performance of Federal 150gr rounds. I have the Federal brass, so what else do I need?
There seems to be a lot of conflicting info in regards to reloading .308.
I guess I should mention I'm shooting it out of a Howa with a 22" barrel.
Any help would be appreciated.
Are the 150 grain projectiles soft points?
Also to replicate you might need to know the OAL of the Factory Federals.
dies and a press is a good start:thumbsup:
They are soft points yes, and I do have some unfired factory rounds so I could measure them.
Quote:
Originally Posted by kiwijames
Got those :D
Dies, press, deburer,scales, funnel,primers ,projectiles, powder(2208 or n140 are good starts)
a good question is what do you have already?
I have all the required hardware, it's mostly the projectiles and powder I'm concerned about. Was going to go with Federal large rifle primers. Is one 150gr proj the same as the next?
Theses are the sort of numbers I'm interested in.Quote:
(2208 or n140 are good starts)
Reloading manual and read it a couple times before start.
This above.Quote:
Originally Posted by username
Then get some hornady interlock.
a dont think you will match the round but 2208 would be a good start, easy to get
any reason you want soft points? lots of better projos around
Yeah I'm not stuck on soft points, if there is better out there then I'll definitely look into them.
I downloaded a huge .rar file full of reloading books, I may be some time lol
Theres two ways to look at this question,
1st, if you want to replicate the federal factory load, you need to get some speer hot core 150g projectiles thht is what federal use.
then chronograph the factory loads as a base line.
Then load up the speer projies to the same oal as the factory loads with a charge of powder like adi ar2208, working from a charge of 44 grains to 47 grains, chronograph the loads till you achieve the same speed as the factory loads.
this will get you very close to the factory load.
why you would want to do that? I dont know, but none the less. There it is.
if however, you were happy with the performance of the federal factory ammo, may I suggest you could put the same level of effort and cost, towards a better quality projectile and instead of getting what you could buy for 40 bucks, you could have a custom load that will give you the best accuracy and velocities that YOUR rifle can produse. It will no doubt be far better than what you could get from a packet of $40 factory ammo.
oh, and it will cost less too.
greg
Nothing wrong with lead tips at normal ranges.
Thanks for your thoughts.Quote:
Originally Posted by greghud
The only reason I was hoping for similar ballistics was so I could shoot factory or reloaded ammo with the same zero, but I'm starting to think it may be better just to focus on doing the best reloaded rounds I can, even if they shoot differently.
Yep
Yea federal bluebox dont set the bar to high on quality. You've got the gear reload to the rifle
Ive never used federal brass, mostly because its quality and the amount of preparation its said is needed to clean it up outweigh the savings IMHO.
If its just hunting at short ranges I'd even suggest barnual steel cased, its hard to load for less than that price (87cents each).
Speaking of barnaul they do projectiles, very cheaply, 24cents for 140gr sp....worth trying 100 IMHO.
In saying this when a mate got a 6.5tikka and with fed ammo it cloverleafed at 100m....I was very impressed for out of the box(es)...brand new.
I use Federal 210 primers at the moment, mostly because choices are limited, match grade are hard to get and twice the price.
ADI 2208 and ADI 2206H seem popular for a 308...mild loads...what ever the safe min load is start there and load 5, load 5 0.5gr higher and another 5 0.5gr higher again. Go shoot them see how those do, watch for quished primers or other stress. If the heavier loads are getting better try higher.
I would certainly try both 2208 and 2206H most target shooters use one or other of these.
I would be interested in what load you find, most ppl I talk to find a similar load works.
btw an ADI reloading manual is $8 and the Lee Manual about $35...I use these 2.
Wear safety glasses, have fun!!!
With the 150 interlock id put money on you ending up at 46-47gr 2208 at any reasonable seating depth and being very happy.
Ok so went shopping this morning. Picked up a bottle/tub of AR2208, some CCI BR2 primers (not much choice) and Nosler Accubond 165gr projectiles (150gr seem to be thin on the ground also).
Will do some reading and find some starting points.
Should probably also look into getting a chrono, as I will need it when I start loading for my in-progress rifle and it will certainly be useful for this.
Interbonds are a fairly tough projectile. May I suggest you load them fairly fast if you can so they dont pencil clean thru the animal and have it run off,
All orther things being equal, the tougher the projectile the faster you can run them and the 165 interbond is probabaly mor appropriate for the faster speeds of the 300wm.
the other thing is, to aim for heavy bone. Well forward on the front shoulder or spine shots will work well with that type of projectile.
greg
Hey mate put your name on the North Island chrony list and you will have one at your disposal fairly soon as there is one guy after me at this point.Good luck.Quote:
Originally Posted by AzumitH
Yeah, I thought when you said "you're new to reloading", that you don't really want to replicate factory ammo! With my Remington 5R in .300 Win Mag, I can get my groups down from 3-1/2" at 100m (Factory Ammo):( to 1-1/2" at 100m (handloads), so that tightens them up considerably! plus I'm gaining 200fps over factory!:DQuote:
Originally Posted by AzumitH
Better than soft points in what way, are you talking about FMJ as all sporting rounds are soft points. You have soft points with plastic tips otherwise known as crap projectiles, hollow points are also fitted with plastic tips and are not much better as they are sharp and make holes in the pocket of your shorts. There is also the lead tipped soft points which are probably the most effective for New Zealand hunting.Quote:
Originally Posted by longrange308
The mono metal projectiles are only better for the manufacturer as they have the opportunity to take money off the losers they convince that they are better. The old marketing adage of "if you can't blind them with science just baffle them with bullshit" applies in this case. These are all about perceived value, nothing to do with performance. Just making money off suckers you can hoodwink. I know because this is what I do for a job. Convincing suckers to shell out more money than they need to by convincing them they are getting an imaginary benefit. We laugh every time we take these idiots for a ride and count the money going in our pockets.
That is the unfortunate truth with our modern economic system but it works and gives me the money to spend on hunting.:cool:
will remember not to buy furniture form you :ORLY:
Wow so you tried say an amax against a core lock?Quote:
Originally Posted by 260hunter
And found no difference at all???
At least you have the balls to declare you are a fucking scum bag by what you have just written but because you wrote it we don't believe you know what your are talking about anymore.because you have used truth and bullshit in the same stupid post.Do you sell projectiles? make them? or just think you know ? or are you trying to hoodwink us into believing your smart?.all hunting projectiles kill animals effectively as long as they hit there mark IMOQuote:
Originally Posted by 260hunter
Its all about impact velocity.
Match the projectile to the impact velocity and the intended range and you will be a happy man.
Now.... that I can believe VC!!:cool:Quote:
Originally Posted by veitnamcam