Another newbie

Savagenut · Posted: Wed Apr 29, 2009 11:47 pm Post subject: Another newbie

Greetings ALL. First post hope i'm not to boring or for that matter long winded.... Just read all 15 pages on this forum (5 1/2 hours) and learned alot you guys are great!!! Have a Savage 110FP chambered for .308 winchester with a Sightron SII 4-16x42 siting on top of Burris signature rings with 40 thousants off set. Started two things at once, shooting a rifle again after many years and just started reloading for it. Living in southwest Michigan has seen many years of shotgun hunting and shooting.
Sooooooo tell me if I've gone off the deep end.... Just new to reloading have f/l resized 500 rnds of 308 once fired military brass all Lake City four different head stamps (years) cleaned and deburred the flash holes cleaned the primer pockets trimmed deburred and chamfered all, then proceded to sort all buy case weight in respective head stamp groups checked and noted case capacity by the sort and have loaded quite a few test rounds from data found on this site, Lee reloader manual, hornady, sierra, and Ken Waters "pet loads". Started shooting and "tuning". I have noticed that alot of you load to what I'll call maximun velocity, I started with the suggested starting loads and worked my way up noting group size etc. To date (almost five month to the date) have worked up loads for some and still experimenting with others. Have used CCI 200 and remington 9 1/2 primers IMR 4895, H4895, WW748, WW760, H414, IMR 4064. 110gr hornady, 135gr sierra's, 147gr FMJ, 150gr WPP and some nosler 168gr custom comp bullets. Have followed advice, comments and the knowlege of those on this site and started with groups of 1.25 inches with the power points and have dropped that to a what I would call an amazing group that I shot this morning at the range of .538 @ 100 yards five shots! off a bench rest. In all of this would like to try 2 more powders
H322 and IMR3031 with different bullet weights. Have or do any of you use these powders and to what are your experiences. Thanks in advance for any replies.......... Very Happy

gelandangan · Posted: Thu Apr 30, 2009 12:32 am Post subject: Re: Another newbie

Gday Savagenut!
Welcome, grab a beer drag a log and all that..

Savage Arms made one of the better 308 shooter straight out of the box!

Never use any of your listed powder, but I am sure someone would pipe up.

Anyhow, sit tight and yap up Very Happy

Vince · Posted: Thu Apr 30, 2009 12:32 am Post subject: Re: Another newbie

First up...welcome to Hunting Nut Savagenut. Grab a beer, pull up a stump and sit awhile...although from what you say...you've already done 5 1/2 hrs of sitting. Good effort mate.

You are chasing advice eh....mate, from what I just read, I reckon we'll be chasing you for advice Laughing

You seem to have done things pretty much the right way, although I would consider using commercial brass rather than ex military, although that is just me.

Your powder selection is pretty diversified, the only other powder I would suggest you try is Varget. I suppose I am a little biased because Varget is manufactured in Australia as AR2208 and was designed for the 7.62mm NATO round, or as civilians call it, .308 Win.

Apart from that mate, keep doing what you are doin'....its working.

Cheers, Vince

PaulS · Posted: Thu Apr 30, 2009 1:28 am Post subject: Re: Another newbie

H380, H335 and WW748 are the best powders I have used in the 308.
H4895 is a good powder but it is hard to meter - I much prefer the double base powders.
Using military brass I have found that I have to reduce the load maximum by 1 to 1 1/2 grains to avoid over pressure. It also cuts down the velocity so I use mostly Winchester brass. I like the CCI primers - they seem to be more consistent over a wide range of conditions.
NOTE: light loads of WW748 produce some of the biggest fireballs I have ever seen! It seems to tone down a bit with loads closer to max.

lesterg3 · Posted: Thu Apr 30, 2009 2:05 am Post subject: Re: Another newbie

Hey Savagenut
Welcome aboard, as the others have already suggested a beer, I won't as it is 5:04 AM.

SW Michigan, were abouts, do you know Allegan?

Savagenut · Posted: Thu Apr 30, 2009 2:09 am Post subject: Re: Another newbie

Thanks for the fast replies gentlemen, wish I may wish I might get some commercial brass tonight! Popular caliber, I havent been able to find commercial brass online or at the local gun shops (50 mile radius) for several months now winchester announced that they may release more brass by June at least thats what I am seeing at the sites I've been to. Will let you know how things progress will be Joining a gun club this summer that has a 600 meter rifle range Yahoo!!

Savagenut · Posted: Thu Apr 30, 2009 2:16 am Post subject: Re: Another newbie

Yep little early for a beer lesterg3, as for Allegan great town, great people, one of them..............

lesterg3 · Posted: Thu Apr 30, 2009 3:24 am Post subject: Re: Another newbie

That's neat, yes I really enjoyed Allegan.

I lived in Allegan for about 15 years.

Do you know the old school house on the corner of 38th and 108th streets.

I was the one who remodeled that.

10spotterminator · Posted: Thu Apr 30, 2009 7:08 am Post subject: Re: Another newbie

I see you shoot a wide range of bullet weights so of course you are going to need a diverse range of powders . One I do not see but is hard to find at the moment I would add to your list is Varget . It tends to cover a wide range of bullet weights in the .308 Winchester . 2 other performers in the medium bullet range that can give good results are RL15 and VV N140 . A point to note is in many cases selecting powders with lower density that tend to fill the cases to 90% or higher , even to the point of compressing the powder have shown me to give an edge when it comes to accuracy in the .30 bore rifles . That 1/2 in. group sounds like a keeper for sure !!! Nice to see a fella such as yourself that starts out right by reading and learning the processes first instead of jumping right to the loading and asking guys like us " what happened" ??? Hope you get a few more of those "sweetheart" loads going for you ,,, 10 Spot

Savagenut · Posted: Thu Apr 30, 2009 2:24 pm Post subject: Re: Another newbie

Yes gentlemen Varget runs the gambit on many weights 110gr through 2oogr bullets. On many of the burn rate charts it is a slower burning powder than three that I currently use as are H380,H335, RL15 and VVN140. Ran the H414 in several load cominations even compressed with a wide range of accuracy issues at least with me. Particular rifle has a 1:10 twist and what I have noticed with a majority of the load "recipies" that a rifle with a 1:12 twist is used. Biggest problem right now that is driving me nuts is the 110 varmit loads accuracy issues with velocities over 3000 fps have slowed them down as low as 2000 fps with the beginings of detonation showing up but better accuracy, BC on 110 hornady actually improves at slower velocities because of the bullets ability to stabilize ...... Still got that itch to try IMR3031..... and I do range between 20 and 40 thousants off the lands some bullets like that "jump"

Savagenut · Posted: Thu Apr 30, 2009 2:28 pm Post subject: Re: Another newbie

I do by the way take all suggestions, critiques and comments to heart thats how we learn to become better at what we do...........NEVER stop learning
thanks guys Very Happy

fnuser · Posted: Thu Apr 30, 2009 4:24 pm Post subject: Re: Another newbie

168g smk, 43 g Rl 15, Lapua brass neck squared and neck deburred inside and out fed gold medal lr primer. works great out to 600 and beyond got this one from the sierra load manual listed as accuracy load; yes indeed.

Dimitri · Super Member Joined: Nov 25, 2005 Posts: 5946

44-45gr range of powder seems popular with the 168gr SMK and Varget.

Dimitri

chambered221 · Posted: Thu Apr 30, 2009 5:25 pm Post subject: Re: Another newbie

Most .308’s come with a 1-10 or 1-12 twist.
To get the lightweight 308 bullets to shoot to their potential you need a 1-14 to a 1-16 twist.
The light bullets are to short in length for the standard twist.

If you want to do some reading on the issue search Randy Robinett owner of BIB bullets.
He’s a hunter class bench rest shooter who has done some amazing work and experimentation with the .30 cals.

Savagenut · Posted: Sat May 02, 2009 10:34 pm Post subject: Re: Another newbie

Found another sweetheart load this morning fellas.
168gr Nosler custom competition pushed by 40gr H4895 at 2553fps out of GGG military brass match weighted cases and bullets .368 groups (2) five shots each verified off a shooting bench with front rest only 112 yards