308 reload questions advice appreciated

[rockwind]

bought this rem 700 308 about 10 years ago and just now getting around to shoot it. need some reloading advice. the rifle was described to me as a PSS but i don't see that on the barrel or receiver anywhere. the bull barrel appears stock at 25"

i've been shooting some 10 year old cabela's reloads that came in an old army can. also shooting some federal army surplus stuff i think (which is the suckiest of the two apparently) and some nosler match ammo. the federal M118 had muzzle velocity spread of 80 fps. the nossler had a spread of around 15 or 20, as did the cabellas reloads. my friend had an older chrono (with the "V" wires)

i have 400 once fired lapua brass and 400 once fired federal brass. i have a lot of retumbo powder

my best group of 3 shots (pictured) was at 200 yds with the cabellas reloads. sadly, i have no idea what bullet they use. my other groups were nothing to write home about.

i was hitting about anything i wanted out to 400 yds yesterday with any of the ammo so it shoots pretty nice i think.

1. which brass should i use?
2. which bullets should i buy for target shooting, slight chance of hunting with it.
3. this must be a common enough rifle, i dont' want to spend hours experimenting with loads,,, does some have something cooked up already for this set up using retumbo and lapua brass? can you please share? email or even call?

any idea if remington ever made a PSS model, and is this it?

thank you in advance for any help or advice. i have never reloaded before.

 

[rockwind]

a few more pics. thanks

 

[rockwind]

oops, forgot to click upload button

 

[Jud96]

bought this rem 700 308 about 10 years ago and just now getting around to shoot it. need some reloading advice. the rifle was described to me as a PSS but i don't see that on the barrel or receiver anywhere. the bull barrel appears stock at 25"

i've been shooting some 10 year old cabela's reloads that came in an old army can. also shooting some federal army surplus stuff i think (which is the suckiest of the two apparently) and some nosler match ammo. the federal M118 had muzzle velocity spread of 80 fps. the nossler had a spread of around 15 or 20, as did the cabellas reloads. my friend had an older chrono (with the "V" wires)

i have 400 once fired lapua brass and 400 once fired federal brass. i have a lot of retumbo powder

my best group of 3 shots (pictured) was at 200 yds with the cabellas reloads. sadly, i have no idea what bullet they use. my other groups were nothing to write home about.

i was hitting about anything i wanted out to 400 yds yesterday with any of the ammo so it shoots pretty nice i think.

1. which brass should i use?
2. which bullets should i buy for target shooting, slight chance of hunting with it.
3. this must be a common enough rifle, i dont' want to spend hours experimenting with loads,,, does some have something cooked up already for this set up using retumbo and lapua brass? can you please share? email or even call?

any idea if remington ever made a PSS model, and is this it?

thank you in advance for any help or advice. i have never reloaded before.

For brass, we have always used Federal brass in our .308s and it has proven to be great stuff. Lapua is known to produce some of the best brass you can get. So, if you've got Lapua brass you might as well use it to better your reloads.

As far as bullets go, we've shot a lot of 168gr A-MAXs over this past summer and they shot lights out and performed well on game to boot! Sierra also makes an excellent match bullet, the Sierra 168gr MatchKing. If the rifle won't shoot them great then you're doing something wrong haha. There are many other options out there that are also superb, but from my personal experience, the bullets I suggested have been phenomenal!

Now for powder, RETUMBO is way way to slow for a .308, it is best suited for the big magnums such as the .300 RUM. You need a faster powder to take full advantage of the .308 cartridge. We've used a lot of IMR 4064 in our .308s and it provided great velocity and accuracy. Other great options are IMR 4895, IMR 4350, Varget, and IMR 3031. In terms of velocity, Varget seems to be the fastest and have heard great things about it but have no personal experience with it.

Our load with the 168s and IMR 4064 is 44.0grs with a Winchester LR primer loaded at a C.O.A.L. of 2.800, hope this helps. Feel free to ask anymore questions, I'm sure myself or others can help!

Very nice rifle by the way!

 

[AZShooter]

My friends and I use Varget with 168 weight bullets in our 308s. Recently switched to IMR 8208 XBR in my 308 because Varget is hard to find.

Here is a good article on the 308:

.308 Winchester Cartridge Guide

 

[Rick Richard]

My best load for my remington 308 is 44 grains of IMR 4064 shooting 168 grain AMAX. Also, the same with Varget.

 

[mike06]

I have almost the same rifle only it is a 700 308 VSSF bought new in 1995. Standard trigger adjusted to 2lb pull. Best loads so far.

Any of these 3 bullets:
Sierra 150 gr match
Sierra 155 gr Palma match
Nosler 150 gr Balistic Tip

Powder Win 748 43.0 to 43.5 grains.

Case Federal Match

Primer CCI Bench Rest

Neck Size .002 squeeze

This load combination produces 1/2" groups at 100 and 200 yards.
I have not tested 168 grain match bullets that much. Also I load the round .005 to .010 off the lands. They have to be hand fed one at a time.

 

[cornchuck]

They did make a 700PSS. But now they just call it 700P. I have one and shoots 175gr. SMK with 42.5grs. of Varget. It can shoot .25 MOA at 200 yards. I am in process of trying 178gr. A-Max with Varget and IMR 4064.

It's an awesome gun. Will never get rid of it.

Jason

 

[556]

I shoot a Savage 10. My best load is 175 SMK with RL15 and CCI bench rest primers. My 100 yard groups will be under 1/2". IMR4064 is very close in accuracy as well.

 

[gator45]

Ive got a marlin x7vh 308 that run really well on Sierra 168, over 46.9 of imr 4350 that has been repeatable 5/8 " groups at 300 yrd mark. Just made first test batch with ramshot tac and xterimator, less powder, higher posted vel. 16 batches of 3, low -high charge and comericial - military brass, can update if any interested

 

[liltank]

The M118 LR mil spec is 175 SMK, LC Brass, and more than likely 42-43 gens of RL15. That is their standard loads. Now for me and my .308. I found Allint power pro2000MR to give velocity and accuracy. As for bullet, I've used 168 Berger hybrids, Nosler custom comp 175's, and Sierra 180's with good effect. Just bought my first boxes of the Berger juggernaut 185. I look forward to this bullet doing quite well for me. Going to be using IMR4064, and PP2KMR. RL15 is always a good choice for .308 in any bullet weight.

 

[rockwind]

thanks for all the responses, i will put them to good use.

has anyone seen a big realworld difference with the lapua palma brass vs the regular lapua 308 brass?

 

[AZShooter]

I considered using the Palma, read this article and decided that regular 308 Lapua with large rifle primers was the way to go:

The Rifleman's Journal: Cartridges: Lapua Small Primer .308

 

[lloydsmale]

first thing you need to buy is a good reloading manual. the internet is a great place to get loading advice but you need to have the knowledge to sift through a lot of bs.