Renewed respect for the 308 Win

H

homesick

New member
I went for years without liking or wanting a .308, guess I just didn't have a need or desire for the caliber. Well about 4 months ago I bought a Remington 700 heavy barrel stainless steel with an HS Precision stock. I bought it to get the scope off it 6 X24 Burris USA made. I did take the scope off but not before I worked up some loads for it and wow did it shoot. In the process of working with it, a guy at our range wanted it worse then me so off it went. Well that reignited my affection for the 308. I now have 2 a 40XBR and a 700 Remington VSF model.
I have been working on loads for them with 155 gr. A Max and 168 gr HPBT / with RL 15 and Varget.
The 40 X will shoot 1/4" MOA with out much effort, and the 700 gets close but at this point is more of a 1/2" MOA rifle.
Haven't used any thing special so far Lake City brass/ CCI 200 primers / Hornady bullets.
Working up loads for the 40X is really enjoyable as it is really accurate a bit heavy though.
Any pet load info you have would be appreciated. ( if they are near max I would work up to them of course)
Every thing I've worked up so far that has been near max shows no sign of pressure. With that said any time I change any thing in a load I start from scratch.
 
I've got two .308s - a Ruger scout, and a LMT MWS. The MWS eats M316mod0, M188-LR or 175gr FGMM (all nearly the same thing).

I need to do a load experiment for the Ruger - my plan is to get a 165gr Accubond up to 2600 ft/s or so using RL-17 as an all-purpose load. I think that's about the most I can get out of that short barrel.
 
At my gun club many of us shoot 308 for target. It is just so simple to load for. We all had good luck with around 42.0 grains of IMR4895 over a 168 grain Sierra HPBT. My custom 700 likes 42.2 and my AR-308's like 42.0.
 
It is just so simple to load for
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That is what attracts me. I'm a hunter, not a target shooter, but so far every load I've tried has been more than acceptable. It doesn't seem to matter which case, powder, or bullet I put together they all shoot well.
 
We all had good luck with around 42.0 grains of IMR4895 over a 168 grain Sierra HPBT.
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That is (was) the standard load for the M14s in high power. You wont go wrong with that load.

The only modification I made was to replace the 168s with 175 SMKs (or the old 180 SMKs before the 175s came out) for 1000 yard shooting.

Remember when the 308s were king in ISU 300 meter 3 position matches it was determined that the 308 was most accurate will loaded to 2200 fps. 2550 fps was better for working the actions on gas guns.

Lately I've been playing with Hornady 168 A-Max. Some of my 308s like them better then the SMK's but everything else is the same.

I've played with other powder/bullets but always ended up coming back to the standard 41.5 - 42 gr. of 4895.

In my Model 70 308 tgt. rifle (24 in. barrel) this load with 175 SMKs stay super sonic to 1300 yards meaning it makes a good long range load for PR matches.

The same load (42 gr.) of 4064 is a close second.
 
With my two .308 Savages, I recently tried Sierra Tipped Match Kings in 155 grain #7755, 168 grain #7768 and 175 grain # 7775.

They all shoot better than the regular Match Kings in 150, 168 and 175 grain respectively although one .308 prefers the 175s over the lighter bullets and the other shoots the 155s and 168s better than the 175s.

You might try them if you want to see just how well your .308 can really shoot.

They are longer than the regular SMKs so I seat them out by about 80 thousandths than the regular SMKs. Even with the longer length, they still fit in the Savage magazines.
 
I load on the low side do to our ranges are 200 yards max. Using FC & AMI brass that is much thicker then most brands, I load 1. less then listed. 40.5 Gr. of IMR 4064 under a Sierra 168 gr. HPBT bullet with a slight jam .002 into lands. With Rem. & Win. brass 41.5 worked well also. RL15 & IMR 4064 almost the same, my rifle never shot well with Varget for some reason.
 
I was never a fan of the .308 till Winchester announced they were closing their northern factory. At that point I purchased a model 70 Stealth in .308 Win. That rifle made a believer out of me. Haven't shot long range with it yet but it is one of my favorites.
 
I have a Savage 10T from Cabela's in .308 Win, and bought my son a Savage 12FV in .308. Both of them shoot very well, my standard load is 42.5 gr of IMR-4064 with the Nosler 168 gr HPBT Custom Competition bullet. He likes the heavier bullets, usually 41.7 gr of IMR-4064, although we are trying some other powders like TAC, 2000MR and maybe some Reloder 17. We generally use Federal 210 primers, although they seem to shoot well with CCI-200's or Remington 9 1/2's as well.
There is a lot to like about the .308 Win. I am another one that didn't think much about it forever, believing that the .243, .260 Rem. and 7mm-08 were much more intriguing. Now I think I should have paid more attention to it earlier.
 
Pet load..hmmm anything over 43-45gr of varget.
This is what i've been running.
Hornady 178gr BTHP match
Lapua brass
45gr of varget 2700 out of a 24" barrel, 2630 out of my 20" with suppressor
FGMM Primers
COAL 2.865
W Comp 3.193

.308 is an awesome classic round. Great barrel life, very accurate, well known load data, and easy to find match ammo for.
 
fan

Been a .308 fan for a long time, begining with an heirloom early production M88 Win that belonged to my Grandad. That sleek lever, mushy trigger and all, can stack W-W factory 150 power points into tiny groups that are hard to improve on.

Next up, a stubby Savage scout, with one of the best production triggers I've experienced. No kidding. It too shoots seemingly better than it should with its dinky scope and stubby barrel.

Then I was fortunate enough to be issed a genuine, near new, M14 (semi only) at work, Win manufacture, and the dang thing again shot better than I could believe with W_W 168 gr Match ammo, either scoped or with irons. Had a wandering zero though. Eventually we returned those rifles to DoD, but for about a decade, I had a treasure.

Then a pal got me into F-T/R for a while, and the resultant range monster, right at the weight limit (17 lbs?)based on a Savage action, shoots better than I can, or can afford to, out to 1000 yds. Something I'd always wanted to do. Simply tried to beat my last score, and not finish last.

My favorite rifle cartridge, no doubt.
 
I have the Savage FVSS in 308. I was die hard RL-15 till just 2 weeks ago.
IMR came out with 3 new powders. I tried 4166. Man that is my new load now. Good By RL-15. 41.0 4166 and Serria 168BTHP. It is a tack driver more then it already was. This 4166 says it has Anti Fouling compounds in it. I did shoot 150 rounds with out cleaning, Never lost accuracy and when I went to clean it, 3 rags later it was done. It is about $5.00 /lb more exspensive, but oh well.
I now shoot my 308 every weekend again.
To those just checking-- I suggest you try IMR 4166 for the heck of it.
The recoil is about the same, but it seems to have more snap to it. Also I did notice a small loss in MV
 
4runner I heard some good reports about that IMR 4166. A couple guys I shoot with at the range have tried it. One guy thinks it's just OK but the other has done the same as you with the RL 15. I'm gona give it a try with 168s.
I'll be in Nimrod MN the 2nd weekend of Nov. :).
 
The 40 X will shoot 1/4" MOA with out much effort, and the 700 gets close but at this point is more of a 1/2" MOA rifle.
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Didn't Townsend Whelen say that only accurate rifles are interesting? :D

Gotta love an accurate 308 :p
 
To the OP, was that rifle the LTR? I own two, one in .223 and the other in .308. Both with the 40x trigger. One of Remington's better executed concepts IMO. Accurate as heck, both shoot 1/2" groups with Federal GM Match ammo, come in under 11 lbs with Andy Langolais leather chings and Nikon Monarch scopes. Five gallon propane bottle hits at 700 yards are child's play for both of these rifles. Did I mention I own five .308 platforms? Kimber 84, Winchester Featherweight, Ruger syn stocked GSR, Remington 600 custom scout, and 1985 build Springfield M1a NM. Ya, I likey the 7.62x51.
 
Every guy as a vaforite caliber....i have a 300 win mag a 7mm rem mag a 7mm-08 and a 223....and i 8 time out of 10 regardless whats the purpose. ..i take my 7mm rem mag...for me its amazing for target and extremely good for hinting
 
Gotta agree with Mr. Whelen an the accurate rifle thing.:) I do a lot of handloading so working up accurate loads is always my goal. I did go to a flea market to day and bought some 7.62 Lake City Match ammo just to see how it shoots. It's 173 grain 1968. I'm looking forward to our Wed. shoot.
Elmbow my 40X is not the LTR mine is about 15 lbs.
 
Whelen

I think Whelen's statement is completely misconstrued today when we talk about interesting guns, and I believe he would, (and I do) insist that accuracy for its own sake is pretty far down the totem pole when it comes to interesting. Remember, for Col Whelen, a rifle that shot 2-3" groups was pretty accurate. Is a 1918 Remington model 14 accurate if it shoots its bullets into 3" at 100 yards? I would say yes, very much so. Even if it were only capable of 12" groups I would still find it interesting. I might not hunt with it, but I would find it very interesting for a whole bunch of other reasons.
I find all sorts of firearms interesting, and sometimes how accurate they are doesn't even enter in the equation. I have a 1985 Remington BDL, 30.06. It wears a Redfield 70W receiver sight, has beautiful hand rubbed oil finished wood, Pachmayr 752B recoil pad, pillar and glass bedded, trigger tuned, etc. all performed by my hands. The best I can ever get group wise from a rest at 100 yards is about 2-3". Much more interesting gun for me than my custom barreled Kimber Montana 270WSM with it's fancy Austrian scope that will hold 5" at 400 yards off a field rest. One is a utilitarian game getter, the other is a thing of beauty. I know which one I'd sell first too, and it ain't the Remmy. ;)
 
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