skeeter Posted December 3, 2011 Report Share Posted December 3, 2011 Going to find out which will shoot best in my new rifle, I have been using 168gr Barnes TSX in my 300 RUM for the last 7 or 8 years with better then half a minute results. However my new polygonal rifled barrel on my .308AR doesnt seem to like the solid coppers very well, so its off the the loading bench to try out a few different bullets. This is going to be alot of fun! <thumbsup>For the time being I will only be testing two propellants H4895, and AR-Comp Varget. Need to get ready for some feral hog eradication >:D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
planeflyer21 Posted December 3, 2011 Report Share Posted December 3, 2011 <munch>Jon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
98Z5V Posted December 4, 2011 Report Share Posted December 4, 2011 For the time being I will only be testing two propellants H4895, and AR-Comp. Need to get ready for some feral hog eradication >:DDon't rule out Varget, if those two don't give you what you're looking for. <thumbsup> Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hobbesgunner Posted December 5, 2011 Report Share Posted December 5, 2011 I always come back to Varget .....H4350 and XBR show promise but Varget seems to produce slightly better groups in almost everything I use it in... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skeeter Posted December 6, 2011 Author Report Share Posted December 6, 2011 I have to admit I have never used varget, but after getting a couple recomendations from you guys I checked it out and seems there is alot of very happy varget users out there. Now I have to go get another pound of powder. Which means I have to load more test rounds, which means I have to send more rounds downrange, and thats just terrible ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
98Z5V Posted December 9, 2011 Report Share Posted December 9, 2011 I started using Varget in my 68, 69, 75, and 77 gr 5.56 loads. I never payed any attention to it for .308 loads, before. I love the stuff. One powder does it all for me. <thumbsup> Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skeeter Posted January 2, 2012 Author Report Share Posted January 2, 2012 Here we go, time to make my fingers hurt. It seems the older I get the more my fingers seem to hurt from working brass. Now that everything is lubed, resized, trimmed, deburred, and chamfered. its time to prime and charge.[img width=810 height=607]http://i257.photobucket.com/albums/hh225/Polaris624/DSCN4688.jpg[img width=810 height=607]http://i257.photobucket.com/albums/hh225/Polaris624/DSCN4691.jpg60 rounds 5 of each bullet, with 2 charges of each powder. 42, and 44 gr of H4895, and 43 and 45 of Varget.[img width=810 height=607]http://i257.photobucket.com/albums/hh225/Polaris624/DSCN4693.jpgMy little corner of the house, the wife gets the entire house and I get a small corner of the garage. [img width=810 height=607]http://i257.photobucket.com/albums/hh225/Polaris624/DSCN4694.jpgI will post the results next weekend. ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unforgiven Posted January 3, 2012 Report Share Posted January 3, 2012 Way to go brother Skeeter, nice setup <thumbsup> Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BR-549 Posted January 3, 2012 Report Share Posted January 3, 2012 Have you ever gotten powder on your donut? <lmao> Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unforgiven Posted January 3, 2012 Report Share Posted January 3, 2012 Like those hollow points,what'ca got there brother Skeeter? <dontknow> Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skeeter Posted January 4, 2012 Author Report Share Posted January 4, 2012 Have you ever gotten powder on your donut? <lmao>haha, breakfast of champions! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skeeter Posted January 4, 2012 Author Report Share Posted January 4, 2012 Like those hollow points,what'ca got there brother Skeeter? <dontknow>Those are Sierra Gameking bullets, the other non tipped are Barnes TSX. I hope to find the right combo for this barrel, it dosent seem to like the TSX. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skeeter Posted January 7, 2012 Author Report Share Posted January 7, 2012 Results from the load testing. These strings were all fired from sand bags on a bench with 6 mph winds and 65 degree temp. Rifle: DPMS style clone, 20 inch polygonal rifled barrel, .308 cal. Honady SST 165gr.43gr Varget, std dev 1.29, mean velocity 2561, extreme spread 3fps, group size .73moa45gr Varget, std dev 24.72, mean velocity 2728, extreme spread 52fps, group size 1.01moa42gr H4895, std dev 6.39, mean velocity 2624, extreme spread 15fps, group size 1.11moa44gr H4895, std dev 4.97, mean velocity 2742, extreme spread 11fps, group size 1.24moa Nosler Accubond 165gr.43gr Varget, std dev 11.89, mean velocity 2555, extreme spread 27fps, group size 1.51moa45gr Varget, std dev 10.87, mean velocity 2689, extreme spread 26fps, group size 1.17moa42gr H4895, std dev 4.57, mean velocity 2641, extreme spread 10fps, group size 1.67moa44gr H4895, std dev 4.93, mean velocity 2734, extreme spread 11fps, group size 1.45moaSierra Gameking 165gr.43gr Varget, std dev 2.21, mean velocity 2537, extreme spread 5fps, group size 1.1845gr Varget, std dev 14.00, mean velocity 2650, extreme spread 33fps, group size 1.7142gr H4895, std dev 36.20, mean velocity 2619, extreme spread 78fps, group size 2.9444gr H4896, std dev 7.25, mean velocity 2735, extreme spread 17fps, group size 1.42 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skeeter Posted January 7, 2012 Author Report Share Posted January 7, 2012 The 45 gr varget with the Hornady string would have been about the same or slightly better then the 43gr string if it werent for a round that went low and dropped in velocity so much. There was a Sierra load that went freaky bad too, guess thats the human element in hand loading. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unforgiven Posted January 7, 2012 Report Share Posted January 7, 2012 You did good and had fun can't beat that brother Sheeter.Shoot on bro. <thumbsup> Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
survivalshop Posted January 8, 2012 Report Share Posted January 8, 2012 Looks like SST , 42-44 grs. stands out , ES is also good , of course the group size, also . A different COL or different primer , could change the others or another powder . That's the beauty of reloading .I have been pushing SST 's for a while now . The bullet is just a performer ,even in other weights.Nice job. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skeeter Posted January 8, 2012 Author Report Share Posted January 8, 2012 Yes its clear the sst was the better performer, however I was looking to get better performance then what I'm getting overall.Am I wrong in expecting a little better accuracy from a semi-auto rifle?I wonder if a round of Tubbs Final Finish would tighten things up a bit? I have a nib kit I purchased some time back that I never used. Just not sure it will do much for this polygonal rifling. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
survivalshop Posted January 9, 2012 Report Share Posted January 9, 2012 Yes its clear the sst was the better performer, however I was looking to get better performance then what I'm getting overall.Am I wrong in expecting a little better accuracy from a semi-auto rifle? yes / no, Are these your first test loads ? I wonder if a round of Tubbs Final Finish would tighten things up a bit? I have a nib kit I purchased some time back that I never used. Just not sure it will do much for this polygonal rifling. Not sure about the type of rifling , but I have never needed any thing like the Tubbs system or maybe I have & not known it . If the barrel is a match barrel , it shouldn't need any thing , but shooting . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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