Fieldcraft .308 Loads??

[lightner07]

My Barrett Fieldcraft (308, 21" bbl) should be arriving at the end of the week. Has anyone spent much time with the 308 yet? Trying to gather reloading components and looking to see if there is any info on bullets/powder that look promising. I have Varget and 4064 and am partial to Accubonds so I'll probably grab some 165s and start with that over Varget. The plan is to eventually try some 180s and heavier bullets to take advantage of the 1:10 and long box, but that will probably have to wait until after season. This rifle will be used for deer and elk at 400yds and in as long as I can get the velocity to keep the KE up at that distance. Any insight on this combo would be great!

 

[AK Troutbum]

Please keep us posted on how she shoots. I've been eyeballing that same rifle now for the past week. You might want to take a look at Barnes TTSX bullets as well, I've had really good luck with them, in multiple calibers, on both animals and paper. I've never tried them in a .308 though, because I don't own one, but maybe soon.


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[luke moffat]

I have loaded for 4 308s now. Mainly heavier weights and I found the 1:12 still stabilizes a 200 accubond at 100 yards. And 180s were no sweat.

I was able to achieve 2550 fps with 200 grain bullets with RL-17 out of the 20" barrel .308s and 2650 out of 180 grain bullets with 2000-MR powder.

These loads were all loaded into a 2.820 COAL due to mag restricitons. Being as the fieldcraft has a 3" mag box you got more lee-way to seat the bullets out further for longer sleeker bullets as well as seat further to acutally reach the lands and more space for powder. I see no reason why you shouldn't be able to meet or exceed the velocities I am getting being as you have 1" longer barrel and nearly .200" more room in the mag box to work with.

Personally I wouldn't bother with super tough bullets in a .308. 2650 fps is far from blazing in reality and any good cup/core bullet will be just fine and reliably expand more readily and hold together pretty well due to the non-magnum velocities.

I am switching from accubonds and sciroccos to ELDX and ballistic tips in my 308s. I can see you getting 2700 fps from your rifle potentially and 2600 should be easily attainable with 178 ELDX.

 

[robtattoo]

Just a note towards monolithic bullets....
In the .308, you really need to drop down in weight for reliable performance. If you're thinking in that direction I'd be leery of going above 150gn & would probably be much happier with 130s

I've loaded for several .308s & I've come to the conclusion that 150gn projectiles just seem to hit the sweet spot as far as bullet construction & velocity goes. In my 20" Savage I'm getting 2830fps with 150 Accubonds over a healthy load of cfe223. The best I could do with 165s was 2680 which is more than adequate but my mind seems to be able to figure holdover much better at 2800+
I know it's purely a mental issue, but to my mind, anything coming out of the tube at 28+ will DEFINITELY kill whatever I'm shooting at any distance I'm comfortable shooting. Any less than that & I start second guessing whether it might be too far....

 

[lightner07]

Once this rifle does come, range time will probably be limited to just a few sessions before season, baby #2 is coming in just a few weeks. Typically I would load a bunch and see what works but I'm trying to maximize time.

Luke, the 178 ELD-Xs look pretty sweet and numbers are good even in the factory loads. Probably give them a try. BTW, thanks for posting about the Whittaker sale price, had to pull the trigger when the shipped price was about 400 less than at the local shop.

I'm topping it with a Leupold CDS so I don't have to worry about drop/holdover...is what I'm thinking anyway. On my flat shooting 7mag I have a ballistic reticle, but I have a lot more room for error with it than the .308.



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[SavedByGrace2001]

I know that this thread is old, but just picked up the the same rifle and was looking for the same information. Thanks in advance

 

[Dr. Strangelove]

Hey @lightner07 and @SavedByGrace2001, I know this is an old thread but can I ask how you guys are getting on with your FCs please?

I’m tempted by one and would consider monolithic copper bullets in the 110-130gn weight range for it. Did either of you experiment with anything like that?

Thanks!

 

[eaglemountainman]

Please keep us posted on how she shoots. I've been eyeballing that same rifle now for the past week. You might want to take a look at Barnes TTSX bullets as well, I've had really good luck with them, in multiple calibers, on both animals and paper. I've never tried them in a .308 though, because I don't own one, but maybe soon.


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All three of my 308s like 130 TTSXs.

 

[yfarm]

Barnes 150gr TTSX in my Ruger, my sons Fieldcraft only loves the 130.

 

[lightner07]

Hey @lightner07 and @SavedByGrace2001, I know this is an old thread but can I ask how you guys are getting on with your FCs please?

I’m tempted by one and would consider monolithic copper bullets in the 110-130gn weight range for it. Did either of you experiment with anything like that?

Thanks!

I haven’t tried anything that short. It does well with longer bullets. My go tos are 165 sierra gamechanger over ARComp, but that bullet fragments too much for heavy game. I recently switched to fed terminal ascent and 2000mr. Accurate enough and great velocities.

 

[Dr. Strangelove]

I haven’t tried anything that short. It does well with longer bullets. My go tos are 165 sierra gamechanger over ARComp, but that bullet fragments too much for heavy game. I recently switched to fed terminal ascent and 2000mr. Accurate enough and great velocities.

Gotcha, thanks!