308 berger load

[trigger puller]

I got arobeen getting around to doing some testing for the 168 Berger hunting bullet, I thought I would start a new thread instead of continuing the old one. The load data that Berger sent stated a max load of 42.5 gr. of Varget, I started 1 grain below and have worked from there. I have found that IN MY GUN 43.5 gr. of Varget with a overall length of 2.810 is producing a 5 shot 1/2" group @ 100 yards. I am not seeing any signs of that this is to hot. I sis go up to 44.0 gr. but groups opened up. I am going to play with seating depth a little to see if I can shrink the groups as I am layed up with a bad knee. I can't shoot @ range because of mud at the moment but will update as soon as I can.

 

[liltank]

I got arobeen getting around to doing some testing for the 168 Berger hunting bullet, I thought I would start a new thread instead of continuing the old one. The load data that Berger sent stated a max load of 42.5 gr. of Varget, I started 1 grain below and have worked from there. I have found that IN MY GUN 43.5 gr. of Varget with a overall length of 2.810 is producing a 5 shot 1/2" group @ 100 yards. I am not seeing any signs of that this is to hot. I sis go up to 44.0 gr. but groups opened up. I am going to play with seating depth a little to see if I can shrink the groups as I am layed up with a bad knee. I can't shoot @ range because of mud at the moment but will update as soon as I can.

With Varget and a 168 you can go as high as 46 grains. However you are going to have to work up to that. I know that in my rifle I could only go to 44.5gr using a 178 A-max. I can use up to 45.5 grains of RL15 with a 175, but accuracy is right at 45.0 grains. So just be careful and maybe you'll find a second accuracy node.

Tank

 

[trigger puller]

I thought I could go higher but was being careful, like I said no sign of pressure so far but in winchester cases 44.0 is real full I will have to seat bullet out alittle I think. Thanks for the info. I am hopeing to get velocity up around 2750 to 2800 don't know if I will be able to or not, 43.5 is running 2640@54 degrees out of my 24" barrel.

 

[liltank]

I thought I could go higher but was being careful, like I said no sign of pressure so far but in winchester cases 44.0 is real full I will have to seat bullet out alittle I think. Thanks for the info. I am hopeing to get velocity up around 2750 to 2800 don't know if I will be able to or not, 43.5 is running 2640@54 degrees out of my 24" barrel.

That's about right. You should be able to get up to 2750. I am getting 2790 with mine. I am using a faster powder than Varget, so I know I could push it a little faster with Varget or RL15.

Tank

 

[trigger puller]

Thanks I was hoping I could get that but without any data in the books I just was not sure. I had heard that Berger was going have reloading data out in the future just not sure if it will be much help. The data they sent was real conservative I can understand in this day and time with everybody looking to get rich on someone else.

 

[Michael Eichele]

46 of Varget, RL15 and VVN540 under a 168 is a sweet spot for the 308 in a 26" bbl. There are always exceptions to the rule but for the most part, 46 is a good all around weight. I have found though with the 24" bbls in 308 that the sweet spot is with less powder. 43ish is about right. You certainly can go hotter but the accuracy is not there. 45 has also been another sweet spot with the 175-178 in 26" tubes. 42 grains in 24" tubes is where the accuracy is. Tank is right, if you want more than 2650ish and maintain good accuracy in a 24" bbl, you need a powder a tad faster. If you really want to wring speed out of a 308, the 24" bbl is not the tube to do it in. With the right powder, 2800 is possible in a 24" tube but it will be on the hot side and you will likely not have the best accuracy. 26"ers are so much more forgiving when you want velocities on the upper end of the 308 velocity range. Now the GOOD news is that 24" 308 barrels tend to be less finicky and a tad more accurate than 26" bbls.

 

[Johnboy]

I am loading the same bullet with 43.0gn's of varget.but have a longer COAL than you do.my load is just touching the lands but cannot say at this momment.when working up my load I loaded down from my everyday load useing the 168gn SMK useing 45gn's of varget.I did this because I wanted to put alot more energy into the deer rather than the bullet coming apart.and it worked backwords.the bullet just went right through the deer at 100 yards away.so now I am going to work up the load again to make sure that this kind of thing doesn't happen again.I want the bullet to come apart not pencel through like it did.but I did have a deer DRT when I walked right to him.so who knos to what my way of thinking really did to the bullet.I think this is one for Bryan from Berger to answer.

yes, I think you should see if your rifel will shoot the bullet faster.I would hold the bullet at around .010-.020 from the lands and work up to about 45gn's while looking for pressure.instead of say 2500 fps you should be around 2650 fps.then this should allow the bullet to open up faster like Berger says it should.I think that after about 2-3 inches its going to just blow up while traveling the rest of its way through the deer.or atleast thats what Berger says.

 

[trigger puller]

I do have some RL15 but have not tried it yet I load Varget for a 260 so I keep alot of it on hand.

 

[liltank]

I've been doing some load testing with AR Comp and 175grn Berger OTM's. I have two loads right now that work really well. The one is 41.3 gr at 2.300" (measure to ogive, .066" off the lands) that shot a 3 shot group of .282" at 100yd. The second best is 41.8" at 2.356" (.010" off the lands). I am going to run this load again as I was getting and ES of 5 with an SD of 3. The other I'm not sure. Preliminary with the 41.8g show 2720-2725 fps. This is about .4gr over max. Alliant doesn't have load data for any of the Berger's, so I used the SMK load data.

Here's how it panned out. I didn't chrony all of the loads due to a brain fart on my part! All 3 shot groups accept for one.

Pwd wt, C.O.L, group size
41.3- 2.351" .678"
41.3- 2.300" .282"
41.8- 2.346" .609" 4 shots. This might be another to look at. The fouling shot dropped about 2-3" from center, next 4 shots were in the center.
41.8- 2.356" .362"
41.8- 2.300" .734"

Tank

 

[trigger puller]

I think I found the recipe for my gun.

43.5 gr Varget overall length 2.810
168 gr. Berger Hunting Bullet
Velocity 2710
1 hole @ 100 Holding 1.25" @ 300 and 2.00 @ 400 2.85 @ 500.
I will see what it does out to 950 as this is as long as I can shoot close to the house. I post results when I have them.

 

[liltank]

I think I found the recipe for my gun.

43.5 gr Varget overall length 2.810
168 gr. Berger Hunting Bullet
Velocity 2710
1 hole @ 100 Holding 1.25" @ 300 and 2.00 @ 400 2.85 @ 500.
I will see what it does out to 950 as this is as long as I can shoot close to the house. I post results when I have them.

It doesn't get much better than that. Sounds like you have a good load.

 

[coprecisionshooter]

I think I found the recipe for my gun.

43.5 gr Varget overall length 2.810
168 gr. Berger Hunting Bullet
Velocity 2710
1 hole @ 100 Holding 1.25" @ 300 and 2.00 @ 400 2.85 @ 500.
I will see what it does out to 950 as this is as long as I can shoot close to the house. I post results when I have them.

Wow Berger must have Kryptonite bullets! Calculating the ballistics Drop at 200 is five inches, drop at 300 is 16" and drop at 400 is 36" drop at 500 is 65" and drop at 1000 is 390 inches. My experience bears this out when actually shooting at these ranges, which I often do.

 

[Hondo64d]

Wow Berger must have Kryptonite bullets! Calculating the ballistics Drop at 200 is five inches, drop at 300 is 16" and drop at 400 is 36" drop at 500 is 65" and drop at 1000 is 390 inches. My experience bears this out when actually shooting at these ranges, which I often do.

I'm betting the holds are referring to group sizes at those ranges, not drop.

John

 

[MudRunner2005]

44.0gr of Varget is what I run for all my 168 and 175gr loads, and it shoots perfect out of my .308.