best .308 round for consistant 1,000 meter shooting?
- Thread starter K_Dubbya
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armchairQB
Member
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- Aug 5, 2009
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Probably the 168 gr Federal Gold Medal Match
LeonCarr
Member
For 1000 yards start at the 175 Sierra Matchking in the .308, either handloaded or in Federal or Black Hills factory ammo.
LeonCarr
Member
Check several reloading manuals (I would start with the Sierra manual) and look at Varget and RL-15 as good starting points for maximum velocity and accuracy with the 175 grain .308.
Always follow safe handloading practices and always work up to maximum loads.
Just my .02,
LeonCarr
Always follow safe handloading practices and always work up to maximum loads.
Just my .02,
LeonCarr
VA27
Member
Leon has nailed it. MatchKing 175s and Varget.
dubbleA
Member
meh.... Varget or R15 and 155gr scenar and a whole lot of practice will get you there.
USSR
Member
The 175SMK used to be the bullet, until guys figured out they could run the 155gr Lapua Scenar with the same BC, 200fps faster.
Don
Don
SharpsDressedMan
member
Some people feel that staying over the speed of sound at 1000 will keep the bullet from going into a yaw, and disrupting its path. I have seen a lot of .308 bullets come through the 1000 yard target at Camp Perry at a yaw, but they were still in the black. As the bullets descend though the sound barrier, they lose stability temporarily, not completely, but enough to disrupt them a tad. Then they restabilize. A 155 grainer with modern high end powders easily stays supersonic at 1000 yards, by my quick check of a ballistic readout off the internet. This is the reason a lot of Palma match shooters like the 155 grain bullet. You MIGHT get that with a 168 grainer, but it might be tough with a 175. Is anyone getting 1100fps or better at 1000 with a 168 or 175 grain bullet?
USSR
Member
No problem getting the 175SMK to fly at 1000 yards. A bullet leaving the muzzle at 2600fps is still well over 1200fps at 1000 yards. The 168SMK, on the other hand, is not a good 1k bullet. I was spotting for a guy using them a couple years ago, and his bullet was going transonic and causing all kinds of problems for him. The boattail angle on the 168SMK is all wrong for LR shooting (it was designed for 300 meter competition).
Don
Don
Jim Watson
Member
I am at present shooting the 155 gr Scenar and 46 grains of Varget from my .308 F-T/R.
I have shot a lot of 175 gr SMKs with 44 gr Varget. Either way, that is one grain below the Hodgdon maximum, but it is above Sierra load data.
I see no difference in the various extruded powders. Varget, Re 15, 4895, and 4064 give about the same accuracy in appropriate charge weights. I tried hard to like AA 2520 ball process powder because it metered so precisely as to save the work of weighing powder. But it was not as accurate in either of my present barrels as any of the extruded grades. So I swapped it off to a shooter who had better results with it and got a PACT dispenser to weigh Varget for me.
I think Sierra has upgraded their 155 Palma and Berger makes a 155.5 gr VLD for the purpose. (The maximum bullet weight for real deal international Palma matches is 156 grains.)
Sierra, Berger, and JLK 175s, and the Amax 178 all approximate the old 173 gr military match bullet and will do good work.
They tend to shoot heavier bullets in England, and they shoot farther. It is not reasonable to expect any .308 to stay supersonic to 1200 yards so they need bullets that can handle the transonic velocity range without getting upset.
I have to ask the OP, though, just what application calls for shooting from 50 to 1000 meters?
I have shot a lot of 175 gr SMKs with 44 gr Varget. Either way, that is one grain below the Hodgdon maximum, but it is above Sierra load data.
I see no difference in the various extruded powders. Varget, Re 15, 4895, and 4064 give about the same accuracy in appropriate charge weights. I tried hard to like AA 2520 ball process powder because it metered so precisely as to save the work of weighing powder. But it was not as accurate in either of my present barrels as any of the extruded grades. So I swapped it off to a shooter who had better results with it and got a PACT dispenser to weigh Varget for me.
I think Sierra has upgraded their 155 Palma and Berger makes a 155.5 gr VLD for the purpose. (The maximum bullet weight for real deal international Palma matches is 156 grains.)
Sierra, Berger, and JLK 175s, and the Amax 178 all approximate the old 173 gr military match bullet and will do good work.
They tend to shoot heavier bullets in England, and they shoot farther. It is not reasonable to expect any .308 to stay supersonic to 1200 yards so they need bullets that can handle the transonic velocity range without getting upset.
I have to ask the OP, though, just what application calls for shooting from 50 to 1000 meters?
As a few other posters have mentioned pretty much everyone now shoots 175smk or a 155 (scenars are most popular but there are other options). Most people probably shoot 175 still but more and more are going to 155. 168smk goes subsonic (in most rifles, but may make it in longer barrel rifles) and tumbles at 850-1000yds.
rangerruck
Member
the russians figured this out for us long ago actually; they got an extra 500 yds of volley type fire, when they switched to bullets in the 170's.
So depending on your setup , powder, bullet choice etc., figure somewhere between 165 and 185.
So depending on your setup , powder, bullet choice etc., figure somewhere between 165 and 185.
Jim Watson
Member
The main thing with specifying a huge spread of ranges is that many popular scopes do not have enough elevation adjustment to go from 50 to 1000 yards. The "20 MOA rail" mount is pretty much standard to get you on target at 1000 yards.
How close you can come back to depends on the scope and the alignment of scope, receiver, and barrel. Some combinations will not go down to 100.
How close you can come back to depends on the scope and the alignment of scope, receiver, and barrel. Some combinations will not go down to 100.
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