308 winchester with heavy VLD bullets

[davisdewald]

hello everyone

I am new to the site and wanted to get some of your input on something I have been thinking about. I am having my first custom gun built and will be ready in April. I wanted to get some loads made up to experiment with when the rifle is ready. My rifle is going to be a tactical style rifle that I will be using at the range and hunting with as well. It is a 308 win built around a defiance deviant action and benchmark 20 inch barrel with a 1 to 10 twist. I like to shoot heavy bullets. I have been reloading now for a few years but haven't had any experience with the 308 cartridge. I was thinking the 190 or 210 vlds. My question is has anybody tried anything similar? What kind of velocities do you get? What components do yall use that work well with a similar set up? Also, the deviant action is cut for AW mags and I just picked up 2 of them. I know those VLD bullets like being right up on the rifling. Do you think the COAL will be too long for the AW mags? If they are how much of a difference in accuracy will I see if I seat them a little deeper to fit in the mag?

Any input yall can give will be greatly appreciated. Thanks

 

[AZShooter]

PM sent

 

[Michael Eichele]

If the barrel hasn't been cut yet, I'd consider going longer. At least 24. 26 is better. You can really spit 190s out in a 26" tube. 2700-2750'sec is common with the longer barrels. Another favorite if mine is the 208 amax. These expand at lower velocities than the vld. Getting 2600+.

For the 190, H4350 can be good. VV-N540, 550 and RL17 are awesome. For the 210 class, VV N-550 and RL17 are tough to beat. Varget, 4064, 4320, RL15 also work fairly well.

M

 

[MontanaMarine]

208 AMax is my go-to bullet in the 308 Win.

I have a standard load that works well in two Rem 700 Varmint 308s.

Moly'd 208 AMax
49.0gr RL17
Win brass
CCI 200
3.08" OAL

Velocity in summer runs about,
2575 fps from 20.5" bbl (older barrel, 4K+ rounds)
2620 fps from 22" bbl (newer barrel)

This load shoots sub-moa past 1000 yards when wind is not too bad.

I've also dabbled with the 210 Berger, 215 Berger, 220 SMK, 225 Hdy HPBT. They all worked well over anywhere from 48-50 gr of RL17. I moly'd them all.

My Remingtons have typical long throat, so I'm kind of capitalizing on that by seating the bullet way out there and gaining useable case volume. The tradeoff is effectively having a single-shot rifle. No big deal for my style of shooting.

 

[davisdewald]

Thanks for the input fellas. Useful information!!! I know I am sacrificing a little with the 20 inch barrel but I also run a thunder beast 30p-1 suppressor so I wanna keep it as handy as possible. Im going to get the the vld 190s and 210s and amax 178s and 208s and seat them as shallow as I can to still fit in my AW mag. Then just see which ones shoot the best. Thanks for yalls input.

 

[ToKeepAndBear]

I cannot comment on VLD bullets, but I also like shooting heavy bullets out of my 308 TRG with a 20" barrel. I am shooting 200gr Sierra Gamekings at 2571fps out of Win fire formed brass with Power Pro 2000 powder. Michael Eichele's post on this site turned me on to the 200gr Gameking for long range hunting with a 308. It certainly shoots accurately in my gun and the terminal bullet performance has worked well on deer and most recently an elk. The elk was shot at 400 yards and with a DA of 9000 feet and temp 50 degrees had a velocity of 2108 fps and energy of 1973 ft/lbs. See pic below of bullet recovered under hide on the far side of animal. The bullet expanded beautifully and retained most of its weight! The bullets are also $30/100!





I tried RL-17 as well and Power Pro 2000 worked better in my rifle.

I also have a thunderbeast 30p-1 and love that suppressor. It has been really nice to be able to hunt with that setup and not worry about damaging my hearing.

Have fun!
TKAB

 

[davisdewald]

Thanks TKAB

 

[davisdewald]

Also TKAB

What kind of mag do you use in that set up. Mine is going to take accuracy internationals AW mag. Do you have any issues getting those long heavy bullets to fit?

Thanks

 

[ToKeepAndBear]

My Sako TRG uses Sako 10 round mags that do allow for a longer OAL loaded cartridge. I just quickly measured my 200gr SGK load and it's OAL is 2.8425 inches. Those feed fine out of my 10 round mags. For comparison, some Southwest Ammo factory loaded 175 SMKs measure 2.7965 inches. I am not sure what AW mags allow for regarding OAL.

The nice thing about the Power Pro 2000 powder is that it meters like water and wastes no space in the brass unlike some of the extruded powders. This helps somewhat when loading the longer, heavier bullets.

TKAB