Finding a Load - Savage 11, 308 Win

[klr]

Spring is in full swing here on the farm and I'm too busy and tired to do much with reloading/shooting so I thought I'd share a story from last year.

A few months ago I removed the 358 Win barrel from my Savage model 11 and installed a 308 barrel. It's a Shaw stainless 24" lightweight barrel.

I shot a few different bullets/ and loads to break it in and then got down to business.

First up was a 150 gr Hornady SP bullet. These were "free" with the purchase of a set of their dies. I used CFE223 powder which gave me 2915 fps average.

Here is my first three-shot group at 100 yds:



Wow! One large hole.

Immediately I thought I had a wild flyer and looked all over. Nope. The backer was about 2x3 feet and clean. The clay berm didn't show any bullet impacts except for one large hole behind the group.

So, it's obvious that I have a real hummer of a barrel, lucked in to a great load, and I'm a heck of a good shot.

I loaded some more and shot them the next day. My best group was 1.25" and the worst nearly 4". Most were around 2.5"

I tweaked the load and seating depth but no luck. My one and only one-hole group was just a fluke. The product of random chance.

But it felt good for a little while.

BTW, I later found a load using a 165 gr Sierra Gamechanger and Varget that will consistently produce .75-1.25" groups.

[Ranch Dog]

Got to love a Savage. I actually held my 10FCM 308 Win for a few minutes yesterday, thinking I need to get back to it. Same issue here, there is brush to spray and other ranch duties. All of a sudden, reloading time is nil. I'm using the Speer 2053 180-grain with Varget. Same MOA as you are seeing.

[RBHarter]

I had an old 1965 110LH that was just the opposite . It was in my beginning years . I thought maybe starting with a factory load , I didn't have any brass either , I'd find something that was close to good and work back . $12/box , I shot upwards of $120 worth of FC , Win ,and RP in 150, 180 and 200s 8" was as good as it got . So I checked bore sight , rings , mounts , action screws crown ......
A guy offered me a bunch of LC 43 M2 and I figured if nothing else if was good brass . I also figured trigger time don't hurt anything either so I may as well shoot some . Wow! The first 5 shots made a 4" circle I was onto something good !!!!!!
No all of my dreams were dashed with the second 5 that landed 3 in about 2.5" and hucked the other 2 out off over there somewhere ......together but 12" out .
I bought a scope it had to be the only explanation . I gathered up what I could find of the remaining factory and some more of the LC and off to the range sure of solution .

Has anyone ever noticed the significant difference in recoil between between GI ball and a 200 gr RN in an 8.5# hunting rifle ?

There was no real improvement in the factory ammo but the LC again shot 2 paired up and 3 low and left about 7:00 . This time I had bullets , powder , brass , primers ,a manual and a place to start . I loaded some work ups out of the low end but middle of the load window and grabbed another 10 rounds of the LC . There was 130 rounds to start with and this brought me to 100 left in the box .
It was a freak show like repeat of the other trips . I'm beginning to see why it was both cheap and in the hock shop ......

In a fit of frustration I took the remaining LC to the range and sat down , shooting all of it on target . Breathing , trigger , focus , 3 and cool shoot the 9mm . Load another clip , pick up brass , boxes trash . Shoot 3 more . I guess about 5 min between volleys maybe less . By the time my temper tantrum was over I was tired the day was gone and I had 120 empty matching brass .

Not really caring but wanting to see if my shooting was better or worse I walked to the 100 yd backer .......... There was a group on target , and one at 7, and 10:00 12" out , 3.5" with a few fliers .
I didn't have any left to pull down so I water volume weighed the cases . To the count I had a few oddballs and 3 very small but different groups of brass . Weighing the empty , dry , sized brass brass revealed cases varying from 187 to 208 gr in 3 distinct groups and a few oddballs ....... I took the largest group , 34 pieces of LC 43 , and loaded a minimum load through max load in half grain steps . I shot from the top down ....... Dumb at best , but I'm older now . 8" ,6" ,4" ,3" ,2" , 5 under a nickle with the start load . Holy happy dance !
Back home I paid excruciating pain to all of the details and loaded 20 at the start load . I fired singles to get the scope and the muzzle together and shot a 10 shot group inside a half dollar and hit an 8" steel plate 3 of the remaining 5 at 350 +- yd . I had no idea of the holds , the rifle had never shot close enough with anything to worry about anything that far away . Back home I repeated for all 34 pieces and put them away as hunting loads .

The rifle as it turns out was hyper sensitive to case volume and literally knew the difference in 1 gr of water space which ain't much .

Since then if something hints at 2 out in the paw paw patch of 5 , weigh lot brass is the very next step . 95% of the time it's proven out to be a significant factor . There were other contributors in the other 5% like a 7.62 that would chamber an 8mm bullet , not a lot you can do here . Paper patched cast worked out great .

[klr]

I had an old 1965 110LH ...

The rifle as it turns out was hyper sensitive to case volume and literally knew the difference in 1 gr of water space which ain't much .

Since then if something hints at 2 out in the paw paw patch of 5 , weigh lot brass is the very next step . 95% of the time it's proven out to be a significant factor .

That's really interesting and something I've never thought about. I'm using LC brass. Now I'll have to go weight a bunch and see what I find.

[RBHarter]

Some are really touchy and some just don't care . The sister in 308 will shoot whatever you throw in the hole that it'll close on generally within 3-4" of sights . That is as long as it weighs less than 175 gr .......

As a member elsewhere says it matters when it does .