Improving the 308 Win performance

The OP manufactures/sells long range bullets?

I'm totally willing to try working up loads for .308, I'll provide the powder and other components if he's willing to send me a few hundred bullets (to start, might need more if he really needs to hit that 2900 fps with a 178gr).

Got my own range, several .308 rifles and some spare time until Spring. Been reloading since 1980.

View attachment 422090
I shoot 2880 with 168s no problem. It's not a real hot load possibly warm. Not sure about a 178 @ 2900 but it'll be close.
 
The OP manufactures/sells long range bullets?

I'm totally willing to try working up loads for .308, I'll provide the powder and other components if he's willing to send me a few hundred bullets (to start, might need more if he really needs to hit that 2900 fps with a 178gr).

Got my own range, several .308 rifles and some spare time until Spring. Been reloading since 1980.

View attachment 422090
In my 50 years of reloading, I have never been able to load my 308's to 2900 with 175 gr pills. 2795 yes. And then only with new brass. All matter of reliability problems when I tried it. No matter which bullet, case, primer, or powder combo I used. What's your secret?
 
Well I've put a whole box of the 212ELDX through my 308 since last year with 4 or 5 different powders, charge weights, and mainly CCI BR2's and fed gold metal match large rifle primers. The other requirement out of the combo was it need to fit in a standard length mag. I can run my mag at 2.830 comfortable and I did not really want a compressed load. Well really fast I realized the compressed load thing was out the window. CF223 gave me the highest velocity. Powders used was Varget, CFE, IMR4895, H4895, and Accurate 4064. Best velocity was around 2550 but as said above I got some pressure spikes when above 75 degrees really bad pressure spikes. I want more stability. I pushed a 195ELDM to a little over 2600FPS but same thing with the CFE223. I was also running some mixed brass and it was also creating some large ES data. I had a Varget load that shot really great one day but was never able to duplicate it. It was like 2485fps. I think this was the different brass issue. So I now have chucked my different brass, well set them aside and currently have a larger batch of just Hornady brass. I also anneal, bump shoulder, trim, and VLD ream after each firing. I'm now stepping back to the 178 ELDX and I might try the 195ELDM later or the 200ELDX. I really wanted to shoot the Berger 200.20X bullet and call it done. High BC, and would mathematically speaking I think it would produce what I was looking for possibly. I know its not a hunting bullet but who now days holds onto that any more.
Well here was my requirements that I wrote down in the reloading book for this one.

1/10 twist 308 to shoot any thing I needed within reason.
26 inch barrel to squeezer out any available speed.
1/2 to 3/4 MOA consistently and no more then 1MOA at 1000yrds.
Threaded barrel for muzzle break.
Shoot heaviest bullet I could get into a mag length gun and still have regular cycling.
Something that could produce 1000ft/lbs at 1000yrds and 1200ft/lbs at 800 yards above 5000ft elevation or there about.
Hopefully keep retained velocity at minimum 1600fps.
Did not want a compressed load if I could manage that.

Other biggest reason picking the 308 was evetime I went to the store during covid I always seen 308 ammo on the shelf. So in a pinch its always around but I would of been much better trying this with a 3006. I know I can always load up or down on a 300 Win mag but that is no challenge. I do feel a little defeated on this one with the 308 so I'm stepping back to the 178 ELDX. I also have some old 178AMAX loaded with IMR4895 from a previous 308 that I had. Really sweet shooting gun. That gun had a 1/11 or 1/12 twist but it shoot the 168 and 178 AMAX fine. Never shot anything larger that the 178's. Wish I still had it.

So this is where I'm at with my 308 and will see what I can get out of it. Sad thing its been over a month since I've been shooting and man do I have the itching finger.
 
Believe it or not a boring old .300 win mag.

Peterson brass, hexagonal boron nitriding the bullets and bore of the rifle, and the ultra dense progressive burn rate Superformance powder make it possible. 26 inch.

As that 120gr Barnes Tac TX might be a bit over spun in a 300 win mag at factory length? AND SINCE YOU CLEARLY HAVE NOT REACHED ESCAPE VELOCITY YET?

I suggest your next step be having a good machinist pull the plastic tips off those Banes 120 Tac TX projectiles,(they just melt in flight anyhow), open up the tip, and using the smallest size of tungsten rod electrode available, add an aero spike about 1.5 calibers long (that is, front of spike would be extending about .45" past end of copper bullet tip), with a slightly over rod OD flat point- Extending those bullet noses and handling the shock front in such a way as to reduce drag losses (probably attaching tungsten rod via a brazing operation of the type used for attaching TC saw teeth to a saw plate).

If you want more, I'm thinking a .308 base bleed unit could be a thing.

Trident-C-4.jpg
 
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To me the first step in improving the 308 win preformance is to use tougher, reliably expanding, high BC copper bullets which in my personal experience out perform a 300 WSM using heavier lead core bullets.
Gday nrailer please explain in more detail the above as
This can be misleading so let's get a few parameters into those lines like various impacts & different resistance also angles so the new to the sport don't take the above as gospel
Yep I'm going into bat for c&c as we have to be careful on recommendations like this


I'm not wanting a dog fight just show me facts & I'll eat my pie & shut my hole
If not I'll stand by what I've witnessed & this includes your bd but I've not used your bd 2 so if that's the difference from gen 1 to gen 2 I would appreciate some insights into that also on the difference between the 2 generations terminally

Cheers
 
I'm interested in this post, but….what's a "150 gr BD"?? I'm just starting load development for an Aero Precision in .308, interested in others exeriences
Tell me about your AP version, cause I'm a big help in that category!
 
me the first step in improving the 308 Win performance is to use tougher, reliably expanding, high BC copper bullets which in my personal experience out perform a 300 WSM using heavier lead core bullets.
It's this kind of nonsense right here that cause one to lose all credibility and me to remind myself where to find the ignore function. If your bullets are so good you wouldn't need to resort to the multiple ludicrous comparisons you have made in this thread.
 
1st off I was never a 308win fan! That all changed after buying a rock river ar10 w/26" tube. It's a great shooter and might possible get .030" added to the throat. I'm doing some load work on 170's and 185's with expectations on 185's at 2,750fps. I could be running shy of 2,700? I've noticed my best gains and performance come by m118 chambers. I have 1 ar in m118 chamber 22" cbi hybrid barrel. I do a lot of AR building and custom work (no chambering or machine work), so I do things differently than other do.
 
In my 50 years of reloading, I have never been able to load my 308's to 2900 with 175 gr pills. 2795 yes. And then only with new brass. All matter of reliability problems when I tried it. No matter which bullet, case, primer, or powder combo I used. What's your secret?
Mysecret is sheer ignorance, Sir. It's allowed me to believe that I can do impossible things- And misinterpret experimental results badly enough to make me believe I HAD succeeded at some of them.

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Seriously, I've never pushed a 175gr out of a .308 Winchester rifle at a chronographed 2,900 fps either. BUT I HADN'T TRIED TO before...

Frankly, I kind of need to sit down with load software and work out actual energy content of relevant powders vs. % estimated to be burned @ barrel length, consider max estimated efficiency for the heat engines we burn these in & decide if the whole enterprise makes even ballpark theoretical sense.
 

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