308 range report

[diriel]

Denny2277, and Retiredcpo,

One thing I nearly always recommend is Win LR primers. They are not The EndALL DO-ALL but they work in a very wide variety of situations very well. They are very consistent primers, and they are hotter than most regular LR primers without being As hot as most Mag LR primers. For ball powders, slow burning powders, and under harsh winter circumstances the Win LR primer will usually do a very consistent job. If you think about it, What kind of Powders does Winchester / Olin use? Ball. Why do you suppose they designed their primers to be a little hotter than average...? Win LR and Wolf LR are my two go-to primers these days. For different reasons of course.

By the way, I am not your average keyboard commando, my mentor was an Army Green sniper in Viet Nam. I consider myself to be extremely lucky to have had such a mentor for the last 20+ years. Mark taught me all phases of reloading and many of the various ins and outs of shooting. To this day he is still hands down the better shot, but I am not an average shot any more thanks to him. I am a shooting enthusiast who enjoys helping others when I can. Just a general FYI is all.


Have a good one,
Gary
P.S. By the way, RL15 and Win LR primers with the 168 you listed should be a good loading combo. Unless you have something strange going on with your chamber or your bore you should find it near to impossible to get into an Excessive Pressure Situation as it should reach maximum SAMMI right about the time RL15 and that 168gr bullet go compressed.
P.P.S. I am watching with avid interest your guys results with CFE by the way, Thank you!

 

[retiredcpo]

Diriel
I use Win primmers in everything I load, Win brass as well for that matter.
I have a RL-15 load that shoots real good but its slow
Im trying the CFE for two reasons
1 beacuse I want to try as several to make sure I have the right one
2 Because I (like you) Iam very interested in this new powder.
I tired it in my 223 and like they say I got more velocity but my groups where real bad and the SD was high(29fps) Im getting one hole groups with SD of 9 fps using a BLC2 They say it a real dirty powder but it shoots so good Ill put up with it
Ill try some lighter loads in the 308 becuase I am still intruged by this powder and I have some left so why not ever if I lose some speed If my groups settle in Ill still be Faster than I am getting with the RL
The CFE load was 300 fps faster the the SD was a third of what the Rl gave me.
retiredcpo

 

[Getgen60]

Tested Burger 168 Match Grade VLD BTHP today:
RL-15
Benchmark
IMR 4895
IMR 3031
Varget
Rifles:
788 Remington
Styer Scout
Best groups were with the 3031 and RL-15. Don't yet have crony so not sure of sd. Range near me only has 100 yards. One group for final sight in was nine shots in ragged hole, one inch bull diamond.
Expect to get at least one pound of the CFE 223 on Tuesday and will retest. I have promise of an 8lb jug next week.
I use CCI primers, will try the Winchesters.

 

[diriel]

Ahh good old 3031 ! Man I wish they would "update" that old warhorse for better metering and temp stability. Not that it is bad.... I have a light bullet load in 6.5 swede using 3031 that is really nice.

Glad to hear you are having good luck with RL15 as well. As for the Win LR primers, overall I have the best luck with them but a good friend of mine uses mostly CCI and he has good luck with RL15 and H4350, which are his 2 go-to powders for what he shoots.

Good shooting,
Gary

 

[Denny2277]

O.K. I did a little shooting this past weekend with the CFE 223 and some 165gr Sierra Match Kings. I started with the starting load of 45.5 grains and worked up to 46.3 grains in .2 gr imcrements. The starting load had an average speed of 2656fps with a five shot group. The strange thing was the very first shot had a speed of 2707. After that last four shots had an extreme spread of 9fps and around 2654fps. All groups under 46 grains were right at MOA. At 46.1 grains the groups started to tighten up. At 46.3 grains the five shot group was at .5 MOA. There wasn't enough light to use the chronograph after the first group. I had another set of five rounds at 46.5 grains, but I didn't get a chance to shoot them. The rifle I used was a Savage Precision Carbine 20" 1 in 10. I used Winchester brass, WLR primers, at around 80 degrees and I ran a bore snake down the barrel after every five round set.
My next move is the get the chrony back up with good light and start out with the 46.3 grains and work up to the max load of 47.5. I think I'm getting pretty close to the money load now. Once I get close, I'm going to switch to Nolser brass and CCI BR2 primers and see where that takes me.

P.S. Every swipe with the snake was clean as a whisle. No fouling what so ever.

 

[Denny2277]

O.K. I did a little shooting this past weekend with the CFE 223 and some 165gr Sierra Match Kings. I started with the starting load of 45.5 grains and worked up to 46.3 grains in .2 gr imcrements. The starting load had an average speed of 2656fps with a five shot group. The strange thing was the very first shot had a speed of 2707. After that last four shots had an extreme spread of 9fps and around 2654fps. All groups under 46 grains were right at MOA. At 46.1 grains the groups started to tighten up. At 46.3 grains the five shot group was at .5 MOA. There wasn't enough light to use the chronograph after the first group. I had another set of five rounds at 46.5 grains, but I didn't get a chance to shoot them. The rifle I used was a Savage Precision Carbine 20" 1 in 10. I used Winchester brass, WLR primers, at around 80 degrees and I ran a bore snake down the barrel after every five round set.
My next move is the get the chrony back up with good light and start out with the 46.3 grains and work up to the max load of 47.5. I think I'm getting pretty close to the money load now. Once I get close, I'm going to switch to Nolser brass and CCI BR2 primers and see where that takes me.

P.S. Every swipe with the snake was clean as a whisle. No fouling what so ever.

That's suppose to be 175 grain Sierra Match Kings, not 165

 

[diriel]

I read between the lines Nice report by the way! I have not had the opportunity to use CFE yet so I am very interested. Would it be possible to test with Wolf LR primers ? I use Win and Wolf most often these days in LR sizes. Not that Fed 210M are suddenly bad or sub part but for a while it was literally impossible to get them. Given how well Wolf was able to Sub-In I just went with wolf instead these days.

Thank you!
Gary

 

[Denny2277]

I read between the lines Nice report by the way! I have not had the opportunity to use CFE yet so I am very interested. Would it be possible to test with Wolf LR primers ? I use Win and Wolf most often these days in LR sizes. Not that Fed 210M are suddenly bad or sub part but for a while it was literally impossible to get them. Given how well Wolf was able to Sub-In I just went with wolf instead these days.

Thank you!
Gary

Thanks Gary, I'll put out what ever I find out. I have never used the wolf primers and I got a bad taste in my mouth for wolf after shooting some of there ammo. I don't see myself using any of there primers anytime soon.

 

[diriel]

Wolf does not make the primers, they are a Russian primer that is considered by quite a few competitors to be top notch. Personally the only wolf ammo I will shoot at all is their .22LR gold match... don't think they make that either

Gary

 

[Denny2277]

O.K. last post for the CFE 223 for me. I know ya'll are tired of hearing about this stuff, so I'm going to stop posting about it. This was my latest test load. As you can see I had one flyer. With the flyer my group was still under MOA. This is a five shot group. I'm very to say the least.
Attached Images

 

[jsthntn247]

Deny, what was the final load u settled on? Thinking about getting a pc for deer hunting. Brass, primers, charge, how far off lands? Good shooting!!

 

[Denny2277]

Deny, what was the final load u settled on? Thinking about getting a pc for deer hunting. Brass, primers, charge, how far off lands? Good shooting!!

Nosler, CCI BR2, 47.1, .005. 175 grain Sierra Matchkings. There wasn't enough light for the chronograph, but I figure the speed was right around 2750fps. gun)