Help with a .308 load

[CBB1]

I’m am relatively new to reloading and have trouble finding an accurate load for my 308. It is a Remington 700 ADL. It shoots federal gold match sierra 168 into 5 shot 3/4 MOA group and Hornady 150 American Whitetail 5 shots at 1MOA.

My starting load is Hornady brass, federal 210 match primers, 168 eldm loaded to mag length. I have only tried Varget. Showed slight pressure at 44gr and it was 1.5+ MOA. Backed off to 43gr and it was closer to 2 MOA. Frustrated, this afternoon I tried another group with the federal 168 match and it was again easily 3/4 MOA.

Any obvious observation before I start chasing my tail and swapping components?


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[CBB1]

For more context the rifle is cut down to 16.5” running a suppressor. I am looking for a whitetail bullet to preform within 400 yards.


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[S-3 ranch]

For more context the rifle is cut down to 16.5” running a suppressor. I am looking for a whitetail bullet to preform within 400 yards.


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Hornady 150 American Whitetail , 1 moa should be plenty in your criteria

 

[CBB1]

Hornady 150 American Whitetail , 1 moa should be plenty in your criteria

You are right but I like to shoot and enjoy the process of reloading. I also find I shoot more when I reload. When I buy factory ammo I tend to save it.


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[Pickettpuncher]

You didn’t elaborate on how you’re going thru loads. Half grain increment? Full grain? 44.6 varget was my load with 165/168 but if you’re seeing pressure than that won’t work.

 

[A382DWDZQ]

Are you running these through a chronograph?

 

[VA2MT]

44.1gr Varget 168VLD close to the lands. Works in 4 different 308s. Work up to this load but never had any pressure signs. 46.1 gr Varget and pretty much any 150 gr bullet.

 

[CBB1]

I started at 45gr varget and found definite pressure signs so I backed off to 44gr. Still seemed to have slight pressure signs with a couple heavy bolt lifts and slight ejector marks. I then went down to 43gr with no pressure signs but a large group. Again I was discouraged and wondered if it was the gun or me. I decided to go back to what I knew had shot well in the past a put together an excellent group with the federal 168 match.


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[VA2MT]

I started at 45gr varget and found definite pressure signs so I backed off to 44gr. Still seemed to have slight pressure signs with a couple heavy bolt lifts and slight ejector marks. I then went down to 43gr with no pressure signs but a large group. Again I was discouraged and wondered if it was the gun or me. I decided to go back to what I knew had shot well in the past a put together an excellent group with the federal 168 match.


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How long were you running them. I am running the vld’s at 2.875, so much longer than sammi.

 

[A382DWDZQ]

Here are the variables I would look at:
1. How far off the lands are the loads & what is the COAL
2. What’s the velocity & ES/SD

 

[Rob5589]

308 and Varget is like peanut butter and jelly. I'd look at changing projectiles if it were me. I used the 175 smk with the factory 12 twist Rem 700 very well; not sure how that eldm would be stability wise. I'd guess 12 twist would be absolute min.

 

[orelkaddict]

So you've already said your rifle likes the gold medal match with 168 SMK. So I'd be testing with 168 SMK instead of hornady bullets at this point

 

[jimh406]

I think you are done unless you want a reloading hobby. In that case, choose a few good bullets and have fun experimenting.

 

[antlerz]

Try the Amax 168. If that doesnt shoot well???

 

[SamsonMan22]

You might try some IMR 4064, I have had better luck with it in my 308s than varget. If that doesn’t work I would go up or down in bullet weight. It’s usually not that hard to get an eldm to shoot in my experience but I have had a couple of 308s that were kind of picky about the bullet weight.

 

[49ereric]

Like was said before play with the bullet seating length.
try different bullets and see what the barrel likes.

 

[CBB1]

The eldm I loaded were set to COAL 2.803 which was my magazine length. The BTOG measurement is 2.175. I measured my throat to the lands with a hornady tool and got 2.313. I got my hands on some 165 interlocks. I’m going to load the to 2.80 and see what they do.


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[49ereric]

The eldm I loaded were set to COAL 2.803 which was my magazine length. The BTOG measurement is 2.175. I measured my throat to the lands with a hornady tool and got 2.313. I got my hands on some 165 interlocks. I’m going to load the to 2.80 and see what they do.


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Try shorter as well some barrels like jump

 

[A382DWDZQ]

The eldm I loaded were set to COAL 2.803 which was my magazine length. The BTOG measurement is 2.175. I measured my throat to the lands with a hornady tool and got 2.313. I got my hands on some 165 interlocks. I’m going to load the to 2.80 and see what they do.


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That might be why you hit pressure at 45gr. It’s a grain over book max for that bullet, and only seated .003 long. You might try doing some sets in 0.3gr increments, 43.3, 43.6 & 43.9 and see if it is still not shooting. 1gr jump on a 308 is probably enough to miss a node.

 

[Vern400]

I’m am relatively new to reloading and have trouble finding an accurate load for my 308. It is a Remington 700 ADL. It shoots federal gold match sierra 168 into 5 shot 3/4 MOA group and Hornady 150 American Whitetail 5 shots at 1MOA.

My starting load is Hornady brass, federal 210 match primers, 168 eldm loaded to mag length. I have only tried Varget. Showed slight pressure at 44gr and it was 1.5+ MOA. Backed off to 43gr and it was closer to 2 MOA. Frustrated, this afternoon I tried another group with the federal 168 match and it was again easily 3/4 MOA.

Any obvious observation before I start chasing my tail and swapping components?


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I have the same rifle with a B code serial number. My rifle prefers 150 grain bullets strongly over 165. At 400 yards the 150s do fine. The best shooting deer bullet I have found is Sierra 2125 SBT . The 150s and 165 shoot almost as good as match bullets in my gun. They hit really hard.

Your rifle also has a lot of free bore and I've had less success with long pointy bullets in that gun. The very sleek bullets at mag length have a tremendous amount of jump before the bullet hits the lands. Test my idea by single loading some that are perhaps 0.020 off the lands. My groups went from one and a half inch to 0.78, 0.62, 0.58, 0.62 five shot groups. I load it 2.825 and if I want to shoot on paper I sing a load at length 2.85. you got to make triple sure you won't have problems in your magazine.

Try Varget one or two grains off Max load.
Try RL15 and I shoot 46 grains with 150s. I like RL15 because in many 308 rifles, velocity SD drops as you push it harder toward Red line. Be careful though because rl15 is temperature sensitive. Federal 210 primers work best for this load.

Good luck.

Lots of people say load length doesn't matter much, but in my rifle it did. I also have a Remington 700VS. Same situation with freebore. So I had a gunsmith square the receiver and barrel and set the barrel back 0.125 in and reset the chamber headspace with a reamer. All that does is pull the lands of the rifling 0.125 closer to the bolt face. It shoots consistently in the 0.6 range. And when I say that, I can usually shoot four groups that size, or put 20 through one group and it's all the same. I don't do the"but the flyers don't count" thing.

Hope this helps