Am I Missing Something?

[veriest1]

Hi guys, I've been lurking here for a few years and love this forum. I've now moved to a location where I can practice at longer ranges so I thought I might go from lurker to active.

EDIT: I posted this kinda late and rambled a bit. Let me do away with that wall of text.

Savage Long Range Hunter in .308
Super Sniper 5-20
Harris Bipod 9-13"

Cheaper than dirt sells the gun for about $780 and I don't think I can build one that would be any better without spending a few hundred more (minimum). Plus I think I'd rather have the nicer scope than a semi-custom gun.

I plan on shooting 180 grain Nosler Ballistic tips, 200 grain Game Kings, and 208 grain Amax bullets through it along with a pile of cheap ball for practice.

So any comments? Am I missing something here? The only downside I'm seeing is the LRH is still really a 24" barrel since Savage is measuring the brake. A 26" would be kinda cool and what I'd use if I built one.

The big plus I see here is the ability to make it into a single shot .338 Edge with just a barrel, bolt face, and about 20-30 minutes. I don't want to spend the money shooting the Edge to learn on even though it's the cartridge I really want to hunt with in the long term.

 

[texan79]

My personal opinion is that 308 case is not ideal for the 200 and 208 gr bullets. I would look at the 175 on the heavy side for the 308 win. Depending on what your shooting, and your definition of long range, you may want to consider a different calibre. I love my 308, but limit it to 500 yds for game due to the ballistics. My 7 mag gets the work past 500.

As far as the 24' barrel, it should be fine for that caliber. Again, dont get wrapped up in the name of that gun, there are other good choices out there for the same money. I would check the clasifieds here and see if you can find a deal on a semi custom build. (i just took a bath on mine)

 

[veriest1]

Couldn't agree more. The 308 will be for practice and hunting out to mid range. After that I'll be swapping barrels and bolt face to 338 edge. Lotsa learning on my part between now and then though. The only thing I'm sold on right now is the savage action. I like the feel and my Savage 17 hmr shoots sub MOA so I feel pretty good about them.

I just want to play with the heavy bullets for punching holes in paper and learning. I want to work out or at least 1000 yards on paper. Assuming the gun likes them the 180 grain Nosler will probably be my hunting load since I've already got quite a few.

I like the Savage 10fp well enough and can get one for about $600. That'd give me some money to put toward a few mods. But it'd just be stuff already done to the LRH and the LRH gives me a bit more. Found he LRH for 766 shipped to an ffl.

I guess what it comes down to is I'm kicking around the best off the shelf or semi custom Savage .308 for my money. I'd like to keep the gun under $1000 before adding a second barrel into the mix.

 

[veriest1]

I think I found what I was missing. The 10 fcp-k is a bit cheaper, has a detachable box magazine, and what looks to be a better break. I'll just need to add the Karston Cheek Piece at some point down the road if I want it.

 

[trebark]

My personal opinion is that 308 case is not ideal for the 200 and 208 gr bullets. I would look at the 175 on the heavy side for the 308 win. Depending on what your shooting, and your definition of long range, you may want to consider a different calibre. I love my 308, but limit it to 500 yds for game due to the ballistics. My 7 mag gets the work past 500.

As far as the 24' barrel, it should be fine for that caliber. Again, dont get wrapped up in the name of that gun, there are other good choices out there for the same money. I would check the clasifieds here and see if you can find a deal on a semi custom build. (i just took a bath on mine)

The 208Amax is a great bullet in the 308. Load them with RL17 and a CCIBR2 and you can get them going 2600fps with relative ease. 208Amax has G1 BC of .648 that crushes any 175grainer. Run the ballistics of the 208Amax at 2600 and you will see that it is capable of taking deer at well beyond 500 yards. Last year a buddy of mine took a shot at a whitetail at 768 yards with his 308 shooting 208Amax. He missed, but never at anytime did either of us think the round was incapable of the job.

In order to shoot the 200+ grain bullets, you will need at least 1:11 twist.

Another great bullet for the 308 is the 190g Berger VLD.

 

[FEENIX]

The 208Amax is a great bullet in the 308. Load them with RL17 and a CCIBR2 and you can get them going 2600fps with relative ease. 208Amax has G1 BC of .648 that crushes any 175grainer. Run the ballistics of the 208Amax at 2600 and you will see that it is capable of taking deer at well beyond 500 yards. Last year a buddy of mine took a shot at a whitetail at 768 yards with his 308 shooting 208Amax. He missed, but never at anytime did either of us think the round was incapable of the job.

In order to shoot the 200+ grain bullets, you will need at least 1:11 twist.

Another great bullet for the 308 is the 190g Berger VLD.

+1. Michael Eichelle wrote an excellent article on .308 ...

Making A Case For The 308 Winchester


veriest1,

The only thing missing is to send the rifle to me so I can break it in for you and save you the hassle.

Good luck and happy safe hunting/shooting.

Ed

 

[veriest1]

The 208Amax is a great bullet in the 308. Load them with RL17 and a CCIBR2 and you can get them going 2600fps with relative ease. 208Amax has G1 BC of .648 that crushes any 175grainer. Run the ballistics of the 208Amax at 2600 and you will see that it is capable of taking deer at well beyond 500 yards. Last year a buddy of mine took a shot at a whitetail at 768 yards with his 308 shooting 208Amax. He missed, but never at anytime did either of us think the round was incapable of the job.

In order to shoot the 200+ grain bullets, you will need at least 1:11 twist.

Another great bullet for the 308 is the 190g Berger VLD.

I have been under the impression that the 208's need a chamber with a longer throat than SAAMI specs and a minimum of 24 or 26 inches of barrel to really benefit from them. At that point the long range ballistics look really good and it wouldn't cost much to have my smith do the work since the 10's all seem to have 1:10 twist barrels. I want to get some more trigger time before I bother shooting the better bullets though. gun)

Has anyone even shot anything other than paper at 700+ yards with the 208 Amax from a .308? I'm not sure how comfortable I'd be with that just looking at the numbers.

Concerning the Savage 10 fcp-k. I'm pretty settled on it being the best bang for the buck. Savage lists the barrel as 24" but it has a break and a lot of the Savages list the break in the barrel length.

Can anyone confirm the true length of the 10 fcp-k barrel? The standard 10-fp does list a 24" barrel so... who knows? I guess it doesn't matter a whole lot though.

Is there another Savage model I should look at in .308 and under $1000 for off the shelf performance? All the numbers and letters run together on me. If not I'll probably order a 10 fcp-k sometime this week.

 

[trebark]

I have been under the impression that the 208's need a chamber with a longer throat than SAAMI specs and a minimum of 24 or 26 inches of barrel to really benefit from them. At that point the long range ballistics look really good and it wouldn't cost much to have my smith do the work since the 10's all seem to have 1:10 twist barrels.

Generally speaking, the chambers on factory rifles tend to run a bit long. As a result, you can seat bullets out pretty far and still have them chamber. The issue will become whether you want to single feed your rifle or be able to load from the magazine. Unless you're shooting a tactical match that requires fast shooting, single loading will not handicap you in almost any target or hunting situation.

I want to get some more trigger time before I bother shooting the better bullets though. gun)

The beauty of Amax bullets is that they are great bullets AND inexpensive. The Sierra bullets you mentioned earlier will cost you more than Amax bullets. Also, if you're not totally sold on the 208grainers, they do make a 178.

Has anyone even shot anything other than paper at 700+ yards with the 208 Amax from a .308? I'm not sure how comfortable I'd be with that just looking at the numbers.

Yes. Plenty of big game animals have been taken at 700+ with the 308 and Amax bullets. the 208 going 2600fps is still going 1740fps with 1400lbs of energy at 700. What about those numbers makes you uncomfortable?

Would you shoot a deer with a 44magnum pistol at 50 yards? I sure would. If you load a 210grain bullet in 44mag and send it at 1450fps, it is going 1355fps with 856lbs of energy at 50 yards.

Concerning the Savage 10 fcp-k. I'm pretty settled on it being the best bang for the buck. Savage lists the barrel as 24" but it has a break and a lot of the Savages list the break in the barrel length.

Can anyone confirm the true length of the 10 fcp-k barrel? The standard 10-fp does list a 24" barrel so... who knows? I guess it doesn't matter a whole lot though.

Is there another Savage model I should look at in .308 and under $1000 for off the shelf performance? All the numbers and letters run together on me. If not I'll probably order a 10 fcp-k sometime this week.

Generally I would agree that Savage provides great bang for the buck. As to specs and options on the various rifles, it's all alphabet soup to me when I look at all the models available on their website. Hopefully there's a 'Savage Expert' that will reply and can help.

 

[diriel]

Winchester cases, WinLR primers, Alliant 2000MR, Berger 185gr VLD. For LR work I think you will find this a VERY nice compromise in the 308.

For intermediate work: Win Cases, WinLR primers, IMR8208xbr, 155gr A-Max....

Between those two load outs... you can get dang near anything done. The joy of the 155gr load is the powder is extremely temp stable, and has been very easy to tune. Then again the 308 usually is pretty easy to tune.

Gary

 

[veriest1]

Posting from my phone so bear with me.

Thanks for the good information there. I'll be sure to order some 208's to play with if my chamber is on the large side.

Concerning the numbers, and part of this is my newbness tothe long range game, I'm worried about getting an accurate range reading in field conditions. As far as I can tell your drop calculation has to be spot on compared to shooting the bigger magnums. I understand that this can be done I just need to practice it before I'd be comfortable.

Edit: for ranging and wind I'm going with what seems to be the tried and true formula of Leica 1600 and kestrel 3500.

 

[trebark]

Posting from my phone so bear with me.

Thanks for the good information there. I'll be sure to order some 208's to play with if my chamber is on the large side.

Concerning the numbers, and part of this is my newbness tothe long range game, I'm worried about getting an accurate range reading in field conditions. As far as I can tell your drop calculation has to be spot on compared to shooting the bigger magnums. I understand that this can be done I just need to practice it before I'd be comfortable.

You are correct. When it comes to longrange work, you do need to have your elevation and windage dope figured out. This is especially true when the range gets beyond 600 yards pretty much regardless of what you're shooting. Don't sweat it too much though. Spend your time on the target range. Develop your load well and learn how your rifle and ammo behaves in different conditions. Then when it's time to make 'the shot' you will be ready.

Edit: for ranging and wind I'm going with what seems to be the tried and true formula of Leica 1600 and kestrel 3500.

Good call! Buy once and cry once. Leica and Kestrel are top notch gear.

 

[veriest1]

Ok, one more question. For .308 and .338 Edge down the road with a 5-20x50 SS scope should I go with a 20 MOA base and medium rings? Tall rings?

 

[trebark]

Ok, one more question. For .308 and .338 Edge down the road with a 5-20x50 SS scope should I go with a 20 MOA base and medium rings? Tall rings?

I would go with 30moa base and use the lowest rings possible. Whenever I am in doubt on the right height of rings, I just order both, check which one is lowest and still has some clearance between the objective bell and the barrel, then return the other one.

 

[crittrgittr]

Don't know where I've been, but I didn't realize Cheaper Than Dirt sold guns.