Novice: 308W to 600 yds...

[bajaaa]

A couple years ago I visited this site and got some great help about using my 7RM out to 600 yds...well, it never happened...life got too busy!

But now I have a bunch of time!

I have a CZ 550 American 308W [23.6" barrel/ 1/12" Twist] that's a shooter but just sits in the safe...I wanna start using it as a 600yd max long-range-to-me shooter.

I want to shoot a hunting bullet that would be good for this type of distances to shoot deer when I get proficient with it...~ 1000 rounds or so I hope.

The last time I took it out three years ago it was shooting PMC Ammunition 308 Win. 168gr PSP into very tiny groups @ 100 yds.

IIRC these are Sierra Bullets loaded by PMC...don't know if there's any truth to that tho?

Does anyone here know?

I was thinking of buying some Sierra GK 168grain bullets to reload to start with if so.

What type of powder(s) should I start with?

What other bullets should I consider and what grain for my situation?

Thank you for your help I need it!

 

[Korhil78]

Gamekings are not a bad bullet. You might want to try a few others as well incase you cant get the gamekings to shoot. Might try Nosler accubond or Hornady SST or Interbonds. 165 or 168gr bullets are fine for the 308. If you wanted more velocity, you might even drop down to 150 gr bullets.

For powders, you might give Varget, BL-C2, or H4895 a try. For primers, I have always had good luck with CCI BR-2 primers.

I gave you a few powders and bullets to try because I don't like limiting myself to one powder and one bullet and try to make it shoot. All guns are different and just like different combinations of powders and bullets.

Good luck with your shooting and keep us posted on the results.

 

[diriel]

The gamekings have always been good to me, so I will gladly 2nd that one. The 155gr Amax is also real nice.

Powders:
- ARComp by alliant
- Power Pro 2000MR by alliant (temp stable ball powder. real nice)
- Varget
- H4895 - always a good one to have on hand.

There are others of course but these will certainly get you started powder wise.

Brass: Winchester unless you got money to burn, then Lapua.
Primers: Winchester LR, these have always been one of my favorites.
Wolf or Tula LR primers also do real well.

Good shooting,
Gary

 

[Nomad]

The 175gr SMK is a 1000 yard bullet but the bullet is not for hunting...
You will have better luck with a 180 gr for you longer range shooting
It was a surprise to me but took my 308 fed match king brass did the
primer pockets and the flash holes put a 210M in and some Reloader 17
yes RL-17, been doing some reading on Snipershide about this powder
pushing the 208gr Amax out of a 1/12 twist good read....
So did a ladder test with Speers 180gr spbt bullet they say it has a BC
of .540 in their reloading book......
Long story short shooting 2742 fps out of a 22" barrel 1/10 twist, this load
is shooting one hole in two different rifles. One an 03A3 and the other a 44 Dot action
the 44 is a 20 inch barrel.......
Just my ......02.

 

[diriel]

@ Nomad,

You might mention that RL17 is temperature sensitive sir. Don't get me wrong, under the right circumstances it can definitely work well. I know the thread you are talking about, pretty cool read. That guy is shooting mainly at about 4500-5000 Ft. Elevation as well, which helps with bullet stabilization.

Have a good one,
Gary

 

[WildRose]

A couple years ago I visited this site and got some great help about using my 7RM out to 600 yds...well, it never happened...life got too busy!

But now I have a bunch of time!

I have a CZ 550 American 308W [23.6" barrel/ 1/12" Twist] that's a shooter but just sits in the safe...I wanna start using it as a 600yd max long-range-to-me shooter.

I want to shoot a hunting bullet that would be good for this type of distances to shoot deer when I get proficient with it...~ 1000 rounds or so I hope.

The last time I took it out three years ago it was shooting PMC Ammunition 308 Win. 168gr PSP into very tiny groups @ 100 yds.

IIRC these are Sierra Bullets loaded by PMC...don't know if there's any truth to that tho?

Does anyone here know?

I was thinking of buying some Sierra GK 168grain bullets to reload to start with if so.

What type of powder(s) should I start with?

What other bullets should I consider and what grain for my situation?

Thank you for your help I need it!

Welcome, good luck, and prepare to have fun.

Swift Scirocco's are a great hunting bullet with very high BC's for long range shooting on game.

I love the CZ's and own a truckload of them. The absolute most accurate out of the box factory rifle I have ever had my hands on is my .527 varmint in .204. That gun has amazed me since the first time I pulled the trigger.

In shooting the .308 win, I'd lean towards staying below 170gr so you can still maintain good velocities while still having good enough ballistics for long range precision on game.

That's not a big issue with target shooting but flight time on things that move can be very important.

 

[Greyfox]

I found that 165 Ballistic Tips expand better than Game Kings at 500-600 yards in my 308. I load 45.3 gr.of Varget which is pretty good with temperature variations. I'd start a grain or two lower and work up. I get 2800 FPS with this load and .25-.5 MOA in my MilSpec Remington. Hornady 165 SST's also work well.

 

[bajaaa]

Wow!!!!!!!!!!!

You folks over here come out in droves to offer help to a noob LR shooter....Hats off to you my new-found friends!!!

I appreciate the wealth of details shared by everyone!!!

Not going to marry the SGK 168gr bullet but I'll try it again first and the Nosler BT 150gr as I do want the higher velocities as mentioned being that I'll be 600+/- yds...hoping I don't find a need to go to heavier bullets in regards to BC because of excessive wind-drift.

Don't see myself taking too many "across canyon shots" where swirling winds may be pose a problem in the areas I hunt most often.

I do have Varget on the shelf and CCI 200 primers and WLR primers so I'll start off with that too!

What about IMR 4064 for this size pills?...I do have some of that on the shelf as well...

I appreciate your folks help and staying with me on this and getting me sortedgun)

You folks are GREAT!!!

 

[Greyfox]

4064 will work. 150 gr.will give you another 100 fps or a little more in velocity but even at 3000 fps, at 500-600 yards, the 165 will be traveling as fast, give better wind drift, and have substantially more energy. Check out the difference in BC between the two in the same bullet design. .335 vs .425, At 300 yards or less, you probably wouldn't see much difference between the two, but at longer ranges you surely will.

 

[backwoods83]

The 308, one of my favorite toys. I'm not going to tell you to use 150s, my top 5 choices for powder is Varget, H4895, RE15, 4064, and W748, bullets I feel are suitable for whiitetail at 600 yards are 168 SMK, 175 SMK, 168 Amax, 168 Nosler BT, and the 175 berger vld, yes the 150s will start out 1-200fps faster but the heavys will catch them by 250 yards. I use varget for the best accuracy and RE15 for the best speed and 4064 for a midways compromise, H4895 and W748 work better with lighter pills. Win or lake city brass is pretty reasonable, lapua is great 25+ reloads per case easy. In my toy tinkering 308 which is a 10 twist it favors win brass, hornady bullets, varget, and br2s or 210Ms. That combo with br2s has gave me sub caliber groups.

 

[liltank]

Well, I have been shooting the .308 for quite some time now. I have loads for three different pills. 41.0 IMR4895, 175SMK, F210M primer, Norma brass. This shoots at 2450fps from an 18" barrel. I have two loads, one in development, and one that shoots .25-.5MOA. The first is my accuracy load out of my Long Range gun. It is a 28" 1:12 barrel. 45.0 RL15, 175 Nosler Custom Comp, F210M, RWS brass at 2750fps. My current hunting load in development is 200 SGK SPBT, w/ 51.5grns Ramshot Hunter running at 2665fps. I'm using Federal 215 primers. I think I am going to back off 1.5grns to see if I can rain in a flyer. Right now I get 2 side by side and one that opens the group up to 1MOA. Even backing down to 50grn I will still be at 2600fps w/ a 200grn bullet.

Tank

 

[bajaaa]

Awesome...

I'll stay with the 168gr SGK, 168gr Amax, 168gr NBT....and Varget or IMR 4064 as I have those powders on hand.

Thank you for getting me up to speed in regards to velocity and wind-drift and down-range energy!!!

Another question...in my original post I mentioned the superb accuracy I was getting from PMC factory ammo 168gr PSP....literally one itty-bitty whole @ 100 yds consistently!

However, a few months later I bought the same brand ammo but 165gr because the shop ran out of the 168gr ammo.

I was a bit disappointed because the groups opened up to ~ 1-1/2" @ 100 yds [3-shots]...

When I went back a couple weeks later I found more of the first ammo again [168gr] and my rifle went right back to producing easy 1/2" groups when doing my part.

Could just 3 grains diff in bullet weight do this????

Just curious....

 

[backwoods83]

Its not that the 3 grns difference makes them shoot different its the bullet design, the 168s are probably sierra mtach kings or speer match which are both bthp's the 165 psp or pointed soft point may be a speer spitzer or game king and may be the flat base version, design has more effect than weight typically unless you go to heavy to stabilize.

 

[diriel]

The 165 load is a different recipe, you will find that most rifles like what they like and when you feed them something that is different than what they like groups will open up.

BTW, you may want to play with some 155gr Amax bullets as well. They BC on them is not as good as something like the Lapua Scenar, but they are actually a real nice bullet performance wise.

Lots of great advice has been given in this thread, you can hardly go wrong.

Gary