am i thinking too much of the .308

[Michael Eichele]

Michael Eichele

Hay I know we talked before about the 308 what weight ACCUBONDS do you shoot?

In the 308, mostly 150's. You can get the velocity up to a point you have reliable expansion farther than the 165's, 180's or 200's.

I have also used the 180 at good velocities (2700+) but find the 150's adequete. My cousin shot clean through a mature bull moose last summer at 600 yards with the 150 AB. Sounds a bit light for that task and maybe it is, but it worked.

As a side note, I am getting superb speeds out of my new Hart 26" 11x barrel with all bullets except the 150's. 2700-2800 out of the 178 AMAX and 2700 out of the 190's, 2560 from the 208 AMAX. Federal gold medal match is running 2785 with the 168 SMK's. Primers are perfect and extraction is as easy as if there wasnt a case in the chamber in all loads. 150's are average at 2900-2950.

 

[Varmint Hunter]

I've been fooling around with a Lawton based .308 for awhile now. The 165gr Accubond over 44.0gr Of RE15 in a Lapua case with 210M primers is putting every round on a 1.25" orange dot at 300yds. I never built the rifle to shoot much farther than that but I'm rethinking the whole utility of this rifle considering the ballistics and the accuracy. Velocity is 2,700 ft/sec

Just for the heck of it I loaded 5 Nosler 150gr E-Tips with the same load and had them set .050" off the rifling. Shooting @ 200 yds produced a 4 hole group of .6 with a single bullet 2" away. ?? I'll give her another try. The Oheler wasn't set up so I could only guess as to the accuracy.

I'm really starting to like the .308. The best part is I won't have to replace the barrel every 1,000 rnds like the big guns.

 

[ICANHITHIMMAN]

Come on guys you making me regret turning my Mcmillan M98 from a 308 to a 260rem.

Michael Eichele

Hay thanks for the quick reply thats quite a feet that 150 passing through that moose like it did but Im not supprised. I think the 308 gets the short end of the stick most of the time.

Glad to here that barrel is working out so well. I have thought a few times about shooting over there to there shop its about an hour away and just picking through things.

I have a blackstar barrel sitting in the basement unchambered thinking 300 win this time.

 

[Michael Eichele]

I've been fooling around with a Lawton based .308 for awhile now. The 165gr Accubond over 44.0gr Of RE15 in a Lapua case with 210M primers is putting every round on a 1.25" orange dot at 300yds. I never built the rifle to shoot much farther than that but I'm rethinking the whole utility of this rifle considering the ballistics and the accuracy. Velocity is 2,700 ft/sec

Just for the heck of it I loaded 5 Nosler 150gr E-Tips with the same load and had them set .050" off the rifling. Shooting @ 200 yds produced a 4 hole group of .6 with a single bullet 2" away. ?? I'll give her another try. The Oheler wasn't set up so I could only guess as to the accuracy.

I'm really starting to like the .308. The best part is I won't have to replace the barrel every 1,000 rnds like the big guns.

This post is very well put and illustrates why I have been such a 308 fan all these years. Where the 308 lacks in horsepower, it makes up for in accuracy, consistency, low recoil, long barrel life and ease of tuning. It certainly is NOT a very "sexy" round but from a long range shooting standpoint and everything that goes into LR shooting, she is a very practical round. It is definately one of the most overlooked and underrated calibers on the LR scene. Choosing the right bullet for the job may be more critical than with a big boomer as a 308 has less starting velocity and doenst deliver as much remaining velocity so a bullet that will expand at lower velocities are a must for using this round as a long range hunter. This is what is nice about the ACCUBOND and ballistic tip. Very close POI's and you can use one for closer shots and another for farther shots. Throw in the AMAX for even longer shots, keep em in the ribs and youre in buisness. The 190's have been a long time favoraite of mine in the 308. The BERGER 190 VLD with a .570 BC at 2715 FPS is a formidable LR big game smitter.

 

[Nomosendero]

What powder do you use to get 2,715 with a 190?

 

[Michael Eichele]

What powder do you use to get 2,715 with a 190?

VV N-540

Trust me, this stuff is awesome. I have run the 190 faster with it, just not accurately.

I have also got 2850 with the 178. This was absolute max. I have got over 2900 with the 168 AMAX with room to spare. My accuracy loads for the 178 are 2750 and 2810 with the 168. 2715 was the best overall for the 190's.

 

[Varmint Hunter]

Geeeez M.E. - your loads make mine seem kind of whimpy. I was loading all the 165-168gr bullets @ about 2,700 ft/sec and the 150's to 2,800 ft/sec. I never loaded any hotter because the Lapua brass is hard to find lately and kind of expensive too.

 

[pressman]

Hello guys
My brother-in-law has got a Remington 700 Sendaro in 308
all stainless steal and synthetic stock. He was asking me if i would reload some test loads for him so he did not have to use factory loads. i said yes. so he bought the dies. and he has bought 150 BT and some 168 Bt Noslers. I do a lot of reloading for myself so i have lots of different powders. does anybody have any recommendation. on powder and charges. I was reading some of the post with some very good velocities. and would assume good accuracy. ( coming from this form) but just one person actually listed the powder and charge.
any suggestion would be great.

 

[Michael Eichele]

VH,

That is the beauty of N540. These loads are anything but hot. I am using cheap remmy brass and dont even get so much as loose primer pockets. Primers look perfect and extraction is like there isnt even a case in the chamber.

2810 with the 168's are mild. This is what the powder was made for. It is a double base powder made for super high velocity without running super high pressure. I dont know the science behind it but it works. The accuracy nodes are REALLY wide also. If you try some I think you would be amazed. 308 accuracy with 3006 and better velocity. My 168 load is running 5 shot groups in the low .3's at 100 yards and sub .5 MOA at 300.

 

[Nomosendero]

VH,

That is the beauty of N540. These loads are anything but hot. I am using cheap remmy brass and dont even get so much as loose primer pockets. Primers look perfect and extraction is like there isnt even a case in the chamber.

2810 with the 168's are mild. This is what the powder was made for. It is a double base powder made for super high velocity without running super high pressure. I dont know the science behind it but it works. The accuracy nodes are REALLY wide also. If you try some I think you would be amazed. 308 accuracy with 3006 and better velocity. My 168 load is running 5 shot groups in the low .3's at 100 yards and sub .5 MOA at 300.

I see that you have found these loads not to be too hot. I know it is not the same thing, but I think it was GG that said these high energy powders (VV) could be rough on barrel life, hot flame I believe. Have you seen any difference in barrel life?

 

[Michael Eichele]

I see that you have found these loads not to be too hot. I know it is not the same thing, but I think it was GG that said these high energy powders (VV) could be rough on barrel life, hot flame I believe. Have you seen any difference in barrel life?

Not sure yet, it is still fairly new. What I can say is that I have seen major barrel changes in as few as 65 rounds through HOT calibers and I have 500 down this 308 barrel and have yet to detect ANY changes even minor in velocity, pressure or accuracy. These loads may shorten the life some but with a traditional life excpecancy of 5000+ rounds, I can sacrifice some life. So far it has been MUCH more concistent than any of my 300 RUM barrels so reduced life or not, it is a good sign. My opinion is that 100 grain case is 100 grain case and a 50 grain case is a 50 grain case. A 50 grain case barrel will last many times longer than a 100 grain case period. Even when loaded to the max potential. Yes max potential may yield a shorter life than traditional loading but (IMHO) yield a much longer life than a 300 WSM or 300 WM. If youre loading a 308 so hot that the barrel life equals a 300 WSM or 300 WM you would never be able to open th bolt let alone shoot more down the pipe.

Time will tell. I have 500 rounds down with flawless results, more than I can say for the 300 mags I have toyed with. We shall see how many more she tolerates.

If there were abnormal heat and pressure I would suspect that the brass would give me some insight as to what is happening inside the barrel. If the loads arent hard on the brass, I dont see how they would be hard on the steel bore.

 

[Varmint Hunter]

Hello guys
My brother-in-law has got a Remington 700 Sendaro in 308
all stainless steal and synthetic stock. He was asking me if i would reload some test loads for him so he did not have to use factory loads. i said yes. so he bought the dies. and he has bought 150 BT and some 168 Bt Noslers. I do a lot of reloading for myself so i have lots of different powders. does anybody have any recommendation. on powder and charges. I was reading some of the post with some very good velocities. and would assume good accuracy. ( coming from this form) but just one person actually listed the powder and charge.
any suggestion would be great.

I picked up a box of the newer 168gr B-tips. While loading other bullets I decided to throw 3 of the 168's into cases that were already charged with 44.0 gr of RE15. I arbitrarily loaded them .045" off the rifling. To my surprise, the 3 bullets landed in a perfect triangle that measured exactly .50" @ 200 yds. One of the best groups this sporter rifle ever shot.

 

[Nomosendero]

Not sure yet, it is still fairly new. What I can say is that I have seen major barrel changes in as few as 65 rounds through HOT calibers and I have 500 down this 308 barrel and have yet to detect ANY changes even minor in velocity, pressure or accuracy. These loads may shorten the life some but with a traditional life excpecancy of 5000+ rounds, I can sacrifice some life. So far it has been MUCH more concistent than any of my 300 RUM barrels so reduced life or not, it is a good sign. My opinion is that 100 grain case is 100 grain case and a 50 grain case is a 50 grain case. A 50 grain case barrel will last many times longer than a 100 grain case period. Even when loaded to the max potential. Yes max potential may yield a shorter life than traditional loading but (IMHO) yield a much longer life than a 300 WSM or 300 WM. If youre loading a 308 so hot that the barrel life equals a 300 WSM or 300 WM you would never be able to open th bolt let alone shoot more down the pipe.

Time will tell. I have 500 rounds down with flawless results, more than I can say for the 300 mags I have toyed with. We shall see how many more she tolerates.

If there were abnormal heat and pressure I would suspect that the brass would give me some insight as to what is happening inside the barrel. If the loads arent hard on the brass, I dont see how they would be hard on the steel bore.

Good to know & thanks for the info. I would think that if there was an unusually hot burn, it would show as cracks in the chamber area with a borescope.
Looks like it is worth trying to me, thanks!!

 

[85grNBTat3500fps]

I know that we all are talking about long range hunting of game in this discussion of the 308 Win. I know that the military thinks highly enough of this round to ownly chamber their standard sniper rifles(M-24) for it and train all of the sniper trainees to shoot to 1000meters. The thing that really comes into play also with long range accuracy is the distance the bullet becomes trans sonic (the speed in which the bullet falls below the speed of sound) at this distance and bullet speed the bullet will start to rapidly loose speed,start to drop like a rock and could possibly become unstable enough(yaw) the accuracy becomes inconsistent. The military states 800 meters as the effective range for sniping but the bullet can and does kill at 1000meters and a bit further out. I think that if the military is using it to huntenemy soldiers than it should be fine for the civilian world to hunt game animals with to within the range that the shoot feels is their max distance(right bullet and practice). Some of this information I am pulling from memory from reading the book precision shooting at 1000 yards.

Andrew