Sierra .308 GameChangers (and some others now)

[Nature Boy]

Ok, I figured out a few things that made a significant improvement in results

Bottom line. There’s nothing wrong with the rifle

I took the rifle off the F Class bipod, put it on a rest and moved the contact point further back.



The 165g Sierra GameChangers will work.




The lesson for me here is don’t jump to conclusions until isolating all the variables. Doing otherwise leads to frustration, a lot of tail chasing and wasted time. I’ve been shooting target rifles exclusively for a year. Regardless of my expectations, this rifle is designed for hunting. The ergonomics of the stock aren't optimized for the bench and the trigger is set at 1 1/2 lbs, not 8 ounces.

Still not sure why it performed so erratically with the bipod. At the end of the day it doesn’t matter. I don’t hunt with a bipod.

 

[Bfh_auto]

Ok, I figured out a few things that made a significant improvement in results

Bottom line. There’s nothing wrong with the rifle

I took the rifle off the F Class bipod, put it on a rest and moved the contact point further back.

View attachment 813194

The 165g Sierra GameChangers will work.

View attachment 813195
View attachment 813196

The lesson for me here is don’t jump to conclusions until isolating all the variables. Doing otherwise leads to frustration, a lot of tail chasing and wasted time. I’ve been shooting target rifles exclusively for a year. Regardless of my expectations, this rifle is designed for hunting. The ergonomics of the stock aren't optimized for the bench and the trigger is set at 1 1/2 lbs, not 8 ounces.

Still not sure why it performed so erratically with the bipod. At the end of the day it doesn’t matter. I don’t hunt with a bipod.

I'm happy for you. 4895 may be the magic powder for it. Bipods usually don't play well with hunting rifles.

 

[Blue68f100]

On composite stocks some time they have a pressure pad at the very front. So where you place your hand/rest impacts the barrel harmonics. I fought this with a Rem Model 7 in 260.

 

[Nature Boy]

On composite stocks some time they have a pressure pad at the very front. So where you place your hand/rest impacts the barrel harmonics. I fought this with a Rem Model 7 in 260.

I don’t think there’s a pressure pad on this McMillan stock, however, there was obviously something going on that affected accuracy with the bipod attached. It surprises me considering how stiff the stock is.

Also, using the bipod provided a very stable shooting platfom that tracked great under recoil. I think that alone caused me to initially overlook the bipod as a potential factor. Add the fact that I have a friend who recently had problems with his PROOF barrel and I started to doubt the wrong components.

 

[Bayourambler]

Ok, I figured out a few things that made a significant improvement in results

Bottom line. There’s nothing wrong with the rifle

I took the rifle off the F Class bipod, put it on a rest and moved the contact point further back.

View attachment 813194

The 165g Sierra GameChangers will work.

View attachment 813195
View attachment 813196

The lesson for me here is don’t jump to conclusions until isolating all the variables. Doing otherwise leads to frustration, a lot of tail chasing and wasted time. I’ve been shooting target rifles exclusively for a year. Regardless of my expectations, this rifle is designed for hunting. The ergonomics of the stock aren't optimized for the bench and the trigger is set at 1 1/2 lbs, not 8 ounces.

Still not sure why it performed so erratically with the bipod. At the end of the day it doesn’t matter. I don’t hunt with a bipod.

Sometimes we think we have it all figured out, we know the exact procedure what it will take to find the right load, and bam, We get stumped! I've been there! I have been fighting with a hunting rifle since last season, trying to get it to shoot the way I hoped. Low and behold,what did this darn rifle want? To jump the the bullet 1.3 miles to the lands! Lol. It shoots great now! Another thing I've learned is to take it easy trying to shoot groups with hunting rifles, it really does not mean squat. Cold shots is what really matters. It was chilly one morning this week and I checked my hunting load at 400 and 500 yards, cold shots. I'm happy with it.View attachment 813241 View attachment 813241

Ok, I figured out a few things that made a significant improvement in results

Bottom line. There’s nothing wrong with the rifle

I took the rifle off the F Class bipod, put it on a rest and moved the contact point further back.

View attachment 813194

The 165g Sierra GameChangers will work.

View attachment 813195
View attachment 813196

The lesson for me here is don’t jump to conclusions until isolating all the variables. Doing otherwise leads to frustration, a lot of tail chasing and wasted time. I’ve been shooting target rifles exclusively for a year. Regardless of my expectations, this rifle is designed for hunting. The ergonomics of the stock aren't optimized for the bench and the trigger is set at 1 1/2 lbs, not 8 ounces.

Still not sure why it performed so erratically with the bipod. At the end of the day it doesn’t matter. I don’t hunt with a bipod.

Sometimes we get way comfortable with our practices and think we have it all figured out, and wham , we get stumped! I went through this with a hunting rifle this past year and tried 20 something loads and never was satisfied. Come to find out , for some reason this rifle wants the bullet to jump 1.2 miles to the lands! Lol! It shoots great now! I have learned also that I worry way too much about shooting groups with hunting rifles. Cold shots is what really matters when hunting. I shot my hunting rifle one cool morning this week to confirm at 400 and 500 yards cold barrel and I'm happy.,

 

[MCMXI]

Carbon fiber transmits heat really well along the length of the fibers but not perpendicular to the fibers so I've wondered how Proof barrels dissipate heat. Regardless, if a barrel is stress free it'll shoot well over a wide temperature range. There could be an issue with the bonding process of the fiber to the barrel core. There have been cases where the carbon fiber delaminated from the steel in some composite barrels but I don't know if this issue has occurred with Proof barrels or only other manufacturers. It sucks to have such a good build with good parts not perform as expected but it looks like you figured it out.

I like the proportions of the rifle.

 

[Nature Boy]

Carbon fiber transmits heat really well along the length of the fibers but not perpendicular to the fibers so I've wondered how Proof barrels dissipate heat

One thing I noticed is a good bit of heat mirage coming off the barrel, more than I would have expected. When I was concerned I might have a barrel problem I did an internet search looking for others that may have had similar issues. I couldn't find a single bad review, however, the mirage issue was commonly expressed.

 

[LoonWulf]

2. Dispite the marketing claims, the PROOF carbon barrel behaves more like a sporter weight barrel and less like a heavy contor barrel. It scatters shots if you don’t allow it time to cool.

Just a note but I've heard the same from two Christensen owners.
You got 3-4 shots on top of each other then need to cool the barrel. Ones a 300wsm, the other is a 300wm.

If you give up on the Game Changers I'll buy your left overs to try in my 06.

 

[Nature Boy]

The 180g Nosler BT looks pretty good. I may go with that. I killed a buck 3 years ago with this load.