Thread: Factory Hornady precision hunter 178 and 308 short barrel Howa

Anyone having or come across stabilisation issues with these bullets in Howa?
They seem to be not going thru the 100m board straight but at a 30degree angle, as well as going from good groups to grouping like a mad woman shits
One side of the bullet hole on target feel raised as well but well off keyholeing
Barrel is 14inch and the rifle is new


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

A mate has a howa at 18inch and uses those with very good results maybe your 14 is to short just a thought

did whoever shorten the barrel do a good job on the crown?

Originally Posted by Howa1500

did whoever shorten the barrel do a good job on the crown?

This

That and is the suppressor thread straight.
Bullets clipping inside of suppressor?

Originally Posted by Howa1500

did whoever shorten the barrel do a good job on the crown?

Absolutely beautifully done by dpt when the suppressor was fitted
Fmj is fine so I’m picking it’s a stability issue


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Not the same rifle but my 16 inch tikka .308 wouldnt shoot the 178gr Precision Hunter to save itself. Best i got was a 1.5 inch @ 100m fluke group, most were like 2-2.5 inch. Wasted a packet of the stuff thinking it was scope/rings/supressor etc. Then noticed some of the targets the holes looked a bit elongated. One of them towards the end looked like the projectile had gone through almost completely sideways. Bought a packet of 150gr corelokt and it shot that considerably better. Handload for it now with a 130gr TTSX and it shoots 1/2 inch groups no problem. I could only assume the 178gr at the slow speed it was going just couldnt get enough rpm to stabilise properly out of such a short barrel with a 1/11 twist.

Yep short barrel = low velocity = low rpm = low stability

The 308 with 178 are stunning harvesters of deer in factory barrel lengths

The 178 shoots really well in my 23.5” 1:12 twist, pushed along at 2560fps

I've had a shooter at our local range have accuracy issues with a very short barreled 308 shooting this anmo, the other day. He asked me to shoot the gun and after 2 groups of 50mm+ I tried some of my own 155gr reloads and managed to shoot 2 groups well under 0.75MOA.

Did you chrono your ammo out of you 14*inch barrel?
There are some programs to calculate stability factors and yours maybe marginally stable.

Nah we never got passed siting it in


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Has any one chronographed this ammo in a short barrel, such a heavy bullet I’m curious to see how much velocity is lost, I thought generally you tried to stay with lighter bullets in shorter barrels, I have an 18inch 308 and am curious if this would be a better load for out to 500m than my usual 165gr 2206h load. Velocity would be lower but the bc may make up for it. The printed velocities are for a 24inch barrel 2600fps which Cigar is getting pretty close to in his 23.5.

Originally Posted by rusl

Has any one chronographed this ammo in a short barrel, such a heavy bullet I’m curious to see how much velocity is lost, I thought generally you tried to stay with lighter bullets in shorter barrels, I have an 18inch 308 and am curious if this would be a better load for out to 500m than my usual 165gr 2206h load. Velocity would be lower but the bc may make up for it. The printed velocities are for a 24inch barrel 2600fps which Cigar is getting pretty close to in his 23.5.

Dunno but hornady precision hunter ammo, but I'm currently running targex 175gn pills over a stout load of 2208 and it does the buisness alright.
I smoked a yearling at 470yards with it in my 20" 308win.
On paper the heavier 175s out perform my 165gn btsp load for energy.
The 175s drop below 1000ft/lbs at 750 yards the 165s drop below 1000ft/lbs at 650yards, for me the better bc of the heavier pill makes them an obvious choice as they are better in the wind and carry more energy. Granted not a super short barrel but that's all I have.

If going lighter make sure you use a suitable bullet like an accubond, Sirocco or barnes etc, but this may also reduce your effective range as most of these bullets rely on velocity to expand....around 2000fps from memory

I'd Def look at the crown, or supressor. I hate how so many companies/people like the suppressors to have a second contact in the back of the barrel.