I'd like your opinion

I'm working on a target load for my 308.
I've access to a 600 yard range and from time to time I can shoot past that at my friends property.
My goal is a load that allows me to practice beyond max range with my woods hunting rifle. Its O.A.L is less than a yard stick the barrel is 16.5" and it weighs 7.5 lb
My philosophy of use is to shoot out to 1/2 a second of bullet travel time. With my hunting load that is just over 440 yards and that about 100 yards ahead where the velocity drops below where the Barnes bullets minimum opening velocity is.

So now I'm working on a target load to practice with that doesn't cost as much to shoot.
I'm working with the following IMR 4895 and Hornady 150 FMJ-BT. I shot each group into its own target dot. The truth is at 100 yards I'm not seeing much difference in the group size about 1.5-2 MOA(not enough to know one is worse than the other) .
I know that I can seat the bullets later on to improve my groups some what.
I'd love any insight on which way to go keep in mind this is a short rifle so I know that the FPS will be low.
For perspective my hunting load gets 3/4 MOA groups which is all I need for this rifle.
Thanks

If you're not getting 1.5 - 2.0 moa in the vertical then load #2 seems to be where you have good ES. Somewhere to start playing with seating depth, etc.

It appears that your ES&SD on load 1 are about half the value of load 2. At the distances you specify, not sure it matters, but I'd probably opt for load 1. Only 35-40fps slower and more consistent overall.

#2 if it meets your 3/4 MOA goal.

IMO, you picked one of the worst bullets you could choose.

On this site, a sponsor has some 170g Norma Tip strike that I am shooting 1/4" groups with and less at 100 yards with Varget, R#15, and AR comp. These bullets cost $39 per hundred, and I have not shot a hog with them yet. The ogive lengths of these Norma Tip strike bullets are equal to the best lots of Berger bullets I have ever measured.

It would help to see the targets for 1 and 2 to see impact points and groups

I wouldn't use those 150 fmj other than to fireform some brass.

Are you stuck on that bullet? Because even for a plinking load, I would not be happy with 1.5-2 MOA.

I would look at a 150-155 Sierra Match King of you want to shoot a light bullet.

Also, ES doesn't mean much at 450 yds. 35ES shows little variation on POI at that distance. I would be looking at what shoots best in 3 or 4 consecutive charge weights.

Also, .1gr difference in charge weight is too little for initial load testing in my opinion. I do coarse charge weight testing at 1% increases. .4gr is where I would have started.

VinceMule said:

IMO, you picked one of the worst bullets you could choose.

On this site, a sponsor has some 170g Norma Tip strike that I am shooting 1/4" groups with and less at 100 yards with Varget, R#15, and AR comp. These bullets cost $39 per hundred, and I have not shot a hog with them yet. The ogive lengths of these Norma Tip strike bullets are equal to the best lots of Berger bullets I have ever measured.

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Unless I misconstrued the OP (@copper still), he is developing a target load and already has a hunting load developed, but I could be wrong.

copper still said:

I'm working on a target load for my 308.
I've access to a 600 yard range and from time to time I can shoot past that at my friends property.
My goal is a load that allows me to practice beyond max range with my woods hunting rifle. Its O.A.L is less than a yard stick the barrel is 16.5" and it weighs 7.5 lb
My philosophy of use is to shoot out to 1/2 a second of bullet travel time. With my hunting load that is just over 440 yards and that about 100 yards ahead where the velocity drops below where the Barnes bullets minimum opening velocity is.

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My brother last year killed a 350 lb hog at 525 yards with a custom 308, 125g Sierra TGK, 3150 fps that shoots tiny bug holes. He swears by the 155 g Berger VLD Hunting bullet on deer and hogs with incredible groups to 700 yards. He shoots Krieger, Hart, and Shilen barrels with a Modified Palama reamer with a short freebore that also works well with all 168-169g bullets.

Frank in the Laurels said:

..replace that hunk of scrap metal bullet and start over...bullet serves no purpose in big game hunting..

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Why would it matter when he said this in the very first sentence?:

copper still said:

I'm working on a target load for my 308.

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chav0_12 said:

Why would it matter when he said this in the very first sentence?:

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Because if you are trying to develop a "target load", you should be using a bullet known for accuracy. Not a crappy FMJ bullet that only shoots 1.5-2 MOA in a rifle that has proven to shoot at least .75MOA with even a decent bullet.

lancetkenyon said:

Because if you are trying to develop a "target load", you should be using a bullet known for accuracy. Not a crappy FMJ bullet that only shoots 1.5-2 MOA in a rifle that has proven to shoot at least .75MOA with even a decent bullet.

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I don't disagree that the bullet is ****. But as he said it's a target bullet. So the statement that the bullet has no purpose in big game hunting is what I was asking about. I agree that if you're trying to see and practice with the rifle a good bullet that shoots well is ideal. Perhaps having such a bad bullet would actually make him better.