Boat Tails and Bearing Surface? (.308Win)

[gotboostvr]

It's a Ruger Scout Rifle. The flash hider just seemed unnecessary. And yes, I believe it is a 1:10 twist.

I ordered 3 boxes of Federal Sierra Match King Gold Medal 168gr yesterday. Now I'm very interested to see how it works.

That's a good place to start. If it dosen't shoot that well, it'd try a box of Hornady match, if it dosen't shoot that well, I'd contact Ruger and see what they have to say. FGMM is the "gold standard" and just about any rifle should shoot that to about 1MOA unless the guns out of whack.

But even that ammo isn't prefect. My handloaded ammo holds a more uniform COAL (Cartridge Over All Length) and my powder charges are uniform to <0.1gr.

If you want tiny groups and bragging rights with your buddies, you practically need to roll your own.

 

[WrongHanded]

If you want tiny groups and bragging rights with your buddies, you practically need to roll your own.

That's definitely not what I'm after. I wanted a compact convenient bolt action in .308 with a heavy enough barrel that I could shoot it more than my Tikka T3x Lite Stainless without it getting too hot (after 5 rounds of .30-06 it's pretty toasty). One of the purposes is off trail hiking, and another is to practice shooting from field positions. Given the reputation of the Ruger Scout, I wasn't expecting 1 MOA. For my purposes and in my hands with a 2.5x scout scope, I was hoping for 2 MOA to maybe 1.5 MOA from the bench.

 

[bihj]

I've always handloaded for hunting purposes and do my hunting within 300 to 350 yards. Beyond that it just doesn't seem to be hunting, more like sniping.
I've usually found an accurate load easier with a flat base bullet and at that range limit the difference in drop, compared with a boat tail, just doesn't make enough difference to worry with.

 

[Peakbagger46]

It looks like your rifle likes the CorLokts and doesn’t like the other cheap crap you tried- that is perfectly normal.

Each rifle is different, but your might try some Hornady American Whitetail ammo. Although I reload, I used a box of this stuff in my 30-06 and it was sub MOA DURING barrel break in. It’s not expensive either.

 

[Poper]

I feel comfortable saying that Core lokt / SP are not your issue.
My advice is to select good components and develop a load.
vvv this is 200 yards with a hunting rifle

Yes, I agree 100%.
Here is a Tikka T3 Hunter in 6.5x55 10-round group fired at 200 meters. It measures 2-3/4" for 10 consecutive shots.

 

[Boattale]

I have a simple suggestion/solution here. Buy a case of that core lokt that your rifle likes. It will kill anything you want dead as dust.

 

[JFrank]

My Tikka 308 likes every bullet that has 44.2 grains of powder behind it.
Varget
RL-15
H4895
Current load is Hornday 165 BTSP IMR 4064 just off the lands about .006

 

[WrongHanded]

I have a simple suggestion/solution here. Buy a case of that core lokt that your rifle likes. It will kill anything you want dead as dust.

I'm planning on it. Whenever such quantities become easily available. But it doesn't hurt to have other options.

I also have a couple boxes of Federal Fusion MSR to try out.

 

[horsey300]

I'm planning on it. Whenever such quantities become easily available. But it doesn't hurt to have other options.

I also have a could boxes of Federal Fusion MSR to try out.

Fusion is a good one but have been able to keyhole a few out of 1 rifle (out of many), add the non msr to the mix, and federal loading of the sierra gameking and if you haven't, try the blue box for cheap.
Eta fed premium loads many out of house bullets and will tell you exactly what bullet they're running, check out everything with a more forward ogive vs a vld secant ogive. I.e. a sierra gk or ph vs that 168 hpbt.

 

[WrongHanded]

Whilst I have the attention of you knowledgeable gents, I did something that may negatively effect accuracy. I thought I'd run it by you just in case.



When I removed the flash hider, I left the washer on, and intentionally installed the thread cap backwards. Everything is tight, fits fine, and isn't vibrating or moving. I did this to protect the crown (in the event I drop it on the muzzle), and figured that it shouldn't cause any issue that the flash hider wouldn't have cause. Am I wrong in that assumption?

 

[Steve S.]

I would think that flat or BT projectiles is way down the list of causing accuracy problems. Factory fodder resulting in superb accuracy in any rifle is luck of the draw. In my shooting experience with many, many rifles, tuning reloads to a specific firearm is really the only way to squeeze out improved accuracy - as is stated on this forum ad nauseam, all rifles behave differently.

 

[gotboostvr]

I would think that flat or BT projectiles is way down the list of causing accuracy problems. Factory fodder resulting in superb accuracy in any rifle is luck of the draw. In my shooting experience with many, many rifles, tuning reloads to a specific firearm is really the only way to squeeze out improved accuracy - as is stated on this forum ad nauseam, all rifles behave differently.

Heck, even lot to lot variation may be a bigger issue than BT v. FB. I've bought some ammo that shot well in a rifle, then the next lot I picked up accuracy fell off. Shot side by side, there was a notable difference 1.5" v 2.5"