[Gary H]

I finally got the Conquest 3.5-10x44 scope setup on my Savage 10 with 20" barrel and aftermarket trigger.

Loaded for the first time using 39.0gr. 2230C, Nosler 168 HPBT seated 0.010 away from the rifling as measured by my Stoney Point 0.A.L. Guage.

I was getting 5/8" 5 shot groupings fairly consistently. Holes were perfectly round. Only shot about 20 rounds. You know, with all the cleaning and such.

This gun is for Silhouette, so I don't want to get overly involved in tweeking the load, but for my own information..what comes next?

In my mind the 39.0 gr. load must be providing a stable bullet exiting the barrel. Perhaps I want to progressively drop the load weight and keep track of the shape of the hole and Chrono. results. Once finding the lowest load that provides round holes and low S.D. I could then play with the seating depth, but how much should I push that one?

OOPS: Silhouette can go out to 500 yards, I don't want to drop the velocity excessively since I'm testing at 100 yards. Anyone know how to predict stability based on velocity and rifling characteristics?

I also have a complete set of lapping ammo for 308, but if I'm already at 5/8" I'm not sure what blowing off a box of this stuff would do for me...???

Am I off base in this line of thought?

BTW: The Conquest is an incredible scope. My wife's new Leupold II 3-9x40 had a washed out poorly saturated view and the Conquest's image was so stunning that I could see the holes better with the Conquest than with my 20x50 spotting scope.

[yankytrash]

5/8" at 100yd = 3.125" at 500yd.

Keep tweaking. 308 bolties are capable of better.

[dakotasin]

i am unfamiliar w/ that powder, but here's what i would do.

first, do all testing at 200 or 300 yards, especially if you will routinely shoot that distance. you get a very different story at 200 than you will at 100. you will quickly learn that .5" at 100 does not = 1.0" at 200...

powder - assuming you started at a low powder charge, i would up the powder charge in 1 grain increments until 1) accuracy falls off, or 2) pressure signs show up. then come back in half grain increments to find the charge that gives max accuracy and velocity.

can't predict stability that i am aware of. however, if you are getting fair velocity at the least, stability shouldn't be an issue as most 308's are set up to handle 175 grain bullets. however, if your velocity is too low, stability will become an issue.

i don't usually mess around w/ seating depth much unless i have to. i usually seat the bullet to mag box length or to rifling and just go from there. i doubt you'll need move seating lengths around much.

lapping ammo will speed up the wear in the throat of your rifle for you. i wouldn't use it in any gun that had a reasonable chance of shooting well (and yours does).

on the conquest...i am a little surprised at what you found. when i compared the conquest to fixed 6's and variables, i found the conquest to be brighter than most scopes and at least as bright as leupold, but the resolution was second best to leupold. perhaps your results are from comparing it to a varix-2, an inferior scope compared to the 3 and conquest.

what is cool about the conquest is that it provides high quality w/ a low price tag. the eye relief is nice, and although a little heavy, it isn't too heavy. when you compare it to the high-end zeiss stuff, you'll be even more pleased w/ the conquest. my favorite feature of the conquest was the reticle - absolutely perfect as far as i'm concerned.

anyway, enjoy. and if you just want to try and beat your current load, might i suggest rl-15 or varget? have had much luck w/ those two powders.

[Steve Smith]

I'd suggest you try to test at 300 and then 500. The "cone of fire" does not exist. After you are happy with performance, stop testing. Barrels only last so long, and load testing is a good way to waste a barrel for the competitive shooter.

Your game at 500 is not very different from my game (Highpower Rifle) at 600 yards, except you have to knock your target over, and I have scoring rings. We both want our shots on target as accurate and fast as possible. Perhaps switch to a 175/180 grain. You will want some punch at 500 yards. Don't back down your charge. In fact, you may find that you want to change powders (Varget, VV140, VV540, or RL-15) and push harder, so you get less time in flight and therefore less wind drift at 500.

Ball powders get funny in temp swings.

What twist rate is your barrel?

I can advise you on seating depths. First things you need are Stoney Point OAL gauge, a .308 case adapter, and a bullet comparator.

[uglymofo]

I agree with Steve. See if the rifle shoots paper consistently out to 500yd. If you can stay under 1MOA, I wouldn't worry about tweaking more accuracy out of the rifle for silhouettes. That's not to say that greater accuracy isn't desirable; it's just not "necessary". For competition, sure, tweak the load, but I'd devote my time to a 175 or 180gr bullet. They'll do much better in 10-20mph winds. I use only 175 SMKs or 178 AMAX. I shot a friend's 168 SMKs, and that was to squirrelly in high winds (15-25mph) for me. At those wind speeds, the 175s are much more "dependable" if you can call anything dependable in >20mph winds.

[Steve Smith]

The more than I think about it, the more I think you might even want to go to 190s as a bolt gun can take it.

I guarantee you the top shooters in any Highpower Rifle event (including Silhouette) will shoot the heaviest bullet they can find, and push it faster than your shoulder prefers. Less wind is less wind.

Maybe play wiht 175s or 178s first, then see if you want to save some wind.

[Jim Watson]

I don't know your classification, but noting that MS is shot offhand (Only the chickens in BPCR which is my new game, but those cross-sticks aren't all that steady.) I am better off trying to reduce my standing wobble by a foot than my bench group by an inch.
Practice with a good load might help more per shot than trying to tweak it to a great load. It does me.

[Gary H]

The twist rate is 1 in 10" out of a 20" barrel. I am already using a Stoney Point OAL setup. The range that I will be shooting at for the next few months only goes out to 200 yards with reduced targets. I've not tested the load at 200 yards because the 200 yard range wasn't open last visit. So, I had to do my shooting at 100 yard. I'll use a heavier bullet for future efforts.

My main interest in posting was to see how folks approached developing a load.

I've got the same task going in parallel with my wife's compact Ruger in 7mm-08. It shoots sub-MOA as long as she doesn't over-heat the barrel. The rifle is extremely small and light. My wife is only 4'9" and she demanded a light rifle. She seems to be rather immune to recoil. Go figure.. ohh forgot .. here she is shooting her Ruger (forgive my spelling "miniature"):

http://thehighroad.org/showthread.php?s=&threadid=27042