.308 long range shooting

[TonyAngel]

Hey guys, I was just getting ready to order more bullets to load for my .308 and ran across the Sierra 200gr Match King. Just out of curiosity, I checked it out.

According to Sierra, it has a really high ballistic coefficient at .560 and keeps that bc even at lower velocities. According to Hornady's ballistic calculator, it should also stay super sonic out to 1000 yards with a moderate muzzle velocity of 2400fps.

It all looks good on paper, so my question is...why isn't everyone using them in .308? Has anyone tried them? If so, what were your results?

I'm running a 1:10 twist barrel and believe that it should do ok with bullets that long/heavy.

 

[USSR]

Hi Tony,

Don't be fooled by the high BC numbers. Unless you can drive the bullet at a reasonable velocity, the high BC will do little for you. While you can probably get more than 2400fps with the right powder (N550), taking the 2400fps velocity number, your drop will be 491 inches at 1k. Using the 175SMK with it's .505 BC at an attainable 2750fps as an example, the drop at 1k is only 386 inches. And the 155gr Lapua Scenar will shoot even flatter! Bottom line: not enough powder capacity in a .308 case to take advantage of the heavier bullet's high BC. Just MHO.

Don

 

[TonyAngel]

Thanks Don. I'm just going to stick with what I've been using.

 

[GJgo]

I use them. A not-max load of RL17 in Win brass in my Savage 10FP produces 2630 fps. In my rifle best I can get them to shoot is .75-1 MOA, not great but it works. I figure I can dial in drop, but not so much windage..

 

[P-32]

Tony, the 168 SMK was the bench mark for many years as a match bullet. Federal gold match uses the 168 SMK with outstanding results. Problem is in a 308 they go subsonic at around 900 yards.

So out comes the 155 gr Palma SMK. Palma shooters are restricked to using the 308 in their bolt guns. The 155 has better numbers and stays supersonic at 1k and beyond.

I've been known to shoot a M-1 Garand or two at High Power matches. I use the 155 for my 600 yard bullet. Works very well without using a heavy load. I use the 155 because I have not figured out how to get a 168 to fly worth a hill of beans out of a GI barrel. The 155 showed promise from the start.

 

[TonyAngel]

I think I'm going to let the idea of the 200 grainers go. I find that shooting the 175s to be a bit rough for shooting 22 round strings, so I figure that the 200s are only going to be worse at the velocity that I'd need to get out of them.

The 168SMK over 44gr of either RL15 or Varget is what I'm shooting now. It is a nice load, but always have my eye out for something better. I've also had good luck with the 155gr Palmas too.

I was just taking a look at the 200s and thought I'd ask to see if anyone here had any good experiences with them.

 

[taliv]

i don't know for sure, but i think depending on whether you're shooting international or US palma, you are restricted to 155g bullets (not a recent development)

 

[taliv]

42g of r15 and the 168 was sierra's 'accuracy load' back when i first starting shooting 308. certainly worked well for me

 

[TonyAngel]

taliv, I'm just shooting a local F-TR match. We can shoot any ammo we want. I've been bouncing back and forth among loads, but always seem to come back to the 168, although I've had good luck with the 155 Palmas. One of the reasons that I keep bouncing is that I can't always find the Palmas in stock when I run out, so I just get the 168s to hold me over.

I did start out shooting the 168s with 42gr of RL15 and it shot really well. I shot several .2" groups with it, and by several, I mean lots. I even came really close to the ever elusive "0" group a few times. While experimenting, though, I thougt I'd up the load a bit to see what would happen and was able to get up to 44gr with no decrease in accuracy, so I figured what the heck.

Another reason that I like the 168s is that my chamber was cut for 168 Federal Gold Medal Match. I don't even need to monkey around with seating depths. I load to a 2.8" COAL and the bullet is touching the lands.

I still get bored and like to experiment. I have some Berger 168gr Hybrids on their way. I'm gonna see how those shoot.

 

[P-32]

I have to laugh at the 175 SMK's. I loaded some 175 SMK's for 600 yard work with my tuned 308 M-1. I ended up shooting 42 of those buzzards in short order one day shooting 2 600 yard matches. One with sighters and one without. Needless to say my shoulder hurt. I shot another 22 the next day in a 600 yard match. On one of those days where my shoulder was hurting, I watched a guy shooting offhand with the butt of his AR almost not on his shouder and he wasn't getting kicked. I thought hto myself there was something wrong with this picture, went home and ordered a AR.

 

[TonyAngel]

P-32, my rifle weighs in at 16lbs, so recoil isn't that big a deal, but why deal with it if you don't have to, right?