New to Group, got a .308 question

[bamban]

M118 LRs 175 SMKs meplatted work great. I have put pigs and deer on the ground with them in a suppressed M1a. Short range though, between 175 and 250 yards

 

[K.E.C. Darkside]

Thanks guys, I had a friend give me 20 nosier BT 180 gr today and I lucked up on the last box of 178 gr ELD-X bullets at a local shop. I will do some testing this weekend. Only powder I have is Varget, so if anyone has a good staring point I'm all ears.

Hornady load book, Varget - 35gr. 2100fps. Max -42.4 gr. 2450 fps, Fed 210, c.o.l.= 2.800. Maybe this will help, please be careful. Happy shooting.

 

[General RE LEE]

We shoot 130 grain Barnes TTSX over Ramshot TAC 3000 FPS. Kills deer like lightning with complete pass throughs and effective out to 450-500 yards although we rarely shoot over 300 yards here.

Ask yourself, realistically how far are you going to shoot? Do you need a high BC bullet for a 2-300 yard shot? I prefer the forgiveness of a fast, accurate bullet in most hunting situations.

 

[Fatboy1970]

We shoot 130 grain Barnes TTSX over Ramshot TAC 3000 FPS. Kills deer like lightning with complete pass throughs and effective out to 450-500 yards although we rarely shoot over 300 yards here.

Ask yourself, realistically how far are you going to shoot? Do you need a high BC bullet for a 2-300 yard shot? I prefer the forgiveness of a fast, accurate bullet in most hunting situations.

Good point, I rarely will have more than a 250-300yd shot. Thanks

 

[xsn10s]

Good point, I rarely will have more than a 250-300yd shot. Thanks

If that's the case then a 165 Partition was my buddy's load for elk out to 300 yards. If deer is you game then a 165-168 Ballistic Tip in the easy button. Nosler 2nds will be fine of deer. I used Nosler seconds for all my hunting.

 

[Fatboy1970]

May have found my load…180 gr nosler partition, Varget powder! Had a flyer though.

 

[Montana'eer]

IMR 4064 ~44 gr, CCI 200 primers, 178 ELDX, close to lands

Yup. Works great for 168 MK and 165GameKing or Speer 165's.

My midrange .308 steel plinking load is between 43.3-44gr IMR4064 with the Sierra168MK. I loaded the same thing using Sierra 165 Game Kings and achieved the same velocity and POI. Same thing using Speer 165's.

I'm hunting with the Sierra GameKing 165gr this year. They shoot as well as this-

 

[xsn10s]

Varget is a good powder, although my rifle didn't like it. I had my best results with the 175 gr class bullets with RL15, TAC, H4895. But shoot what works best with your rifle. Good luck!

 

[Montana'eer]

Vaarget is a good powder, although my rifle didn't like it. I had my best results with the 175 gr class bullets with RL15, TAC, H4895. But shoot what works best with your rifle. Good luck!

I'm trying Varget with Sierra's fairly new 169MK- supposedly designed for 1,000yds. So far I'm seeing much slower velocity using that powder compared to IMR4064 and the 168MK loads.

However my 168MK loads are using LP Peterson Brass, the 169MK's I'm using SP Lapua. Too soon to really make a final observation until I fireform some of that new Lapua and try again.

 

[Fatboy1970]

Guys I may need to start a new post, not sure how this works, but I shot several loads with different powder yesterday. I'm going to reload the Nosler 180's today and do some single cold bore shots to put me at ease. But I thought about barrel cleaning and would like to know what everyone does. I clean about every 100 rounds or so. Do I need to clean with powder changes. Should I clean or dry patch between powders. Maybe just oil patch. Input would be appreciated

 

[xsn10s]

I'm trying Varget with Sierra's fairly new 169MK- supposedly designed for 1,000yds. So far I'm seeing much slower velocity using that powder compared to IMR4064 and the 168MK loads.

However my 168MK loads are using LP Peterson Brass, the 169MK's I'm using SP Lapua. Too soon to really make a final observation until I fireform some of that new Lapua and try again.

During this time of the year maybe LRP might be better than SRP. I really want to get some SRP but may have missed the boat for now

 

[xsn10s]

Guys I may need to start a new post, not sure how this works, but I shot several loads with different powder yesterday. I'm going to reload the Nosler 180's today and do some single cold bore shots to put me at ease. But I thought about barrel cleaning and would like to know what everyone does. I clean about every 100 rounds or so. Do I need to clean with powder changes. Should I clean or dry patch between powders. Maybe just oil patch. Input would be appreciated

That's really a barrel dependent answer. I generally clean my barrel very well when changing powders and expect the barrel to need a few shots before settling in. If shooting monos or bonded bullets I clean to bare metal. Standard cup and cores are a bit more forgiving in my experience.

 

[Montana'eer]

During this time of the year maybe LRP might be better than SRP. I really want to get some SRP but may have missed the boat for now

That test was during warmer months, but yeah I'm not going to put a whole lot of faith in that observation until I get some of that brass fired. For a while I was only able to get SRP at Sportsmans Warehouse, so I have like 7,000 of them. I have about 3,000LRP's, so I'm going to use the SRP's for a while.

 

[akmtnhnt]

Hey guys. New member. Been reading post here for a couple years. Finally joined the group. Thanks for the info you provide. Have a reloading question. New to reloading, just a couple years in. My .308 shoots 175 SMK's very well. Never used it for hunting until this year. Having trouble finding a good load with a "hunting bullet". I bought a box of Barnes 175 gr LRX BT because the sectional density and bc are almost identical to the SMK's I'm shooting. No go on a group, about 1.5 moa. Any recommendations? Thanks in advance!

Those 175s are going pretty slow out of a 308. Not ideal for a copper bullet. I'd step down in weight.