Help me work up a load

[sammy]

This is a load I am working on. 168g. SMK and Varget 2.2 at ogive. Stock Remington 700 SPS with Timney trigger at 100 yards. Using new Lapua brass, Winchester primer. It appears to be on the right track but I am not sure where to go from here. The flyer has me concerned but I am not sure if I need to play with OAL or with charge. The first load of 41 grains was amazing all except the flyer. 44.5 grains was looking very well too with the same flyer. What do you think?

[Grunt81]

Good shooting. Have you figured out what the OAL needs to be for the ogive to touch the rifling?Did you chrono the loads? Did you wait between shots? Fliers are easier to get from a hot barrel.

That group at 41 grains is nice, but I wouldn't use it. I don't think you'd get the velocity you'd need to go out to 800 yards. If you only want to shoot within 300 yards, then load em at 41 grains and call it done. If you want to go further, I'd focus on the groups between 43.5 - 45 grains of Varget

If I were you, I'd go back to the range with 5 rounds loaded up as you did, from 43.5 - 45 grains, in increments of 0.5 grains, seated at the same exact OAL. See if your groups look the similar. Repeatable results are worth a lot more than just having a good day.

On the same range trip, I would also have another 5 rounds each from 43.5 - 45 grains, except I'd change the OAL. Do you know how far off the lands you are? I don't own a Remington, but from what I've heard, the chambers are long and the magazines are short. I don't if that applies to you, but if you knew the OAL to seat at the lands, then you can back off 0.005" to 0.010" and see if your groups tighten up even more - granted they may not fit in the magazine. If you are intent on using your magazine (if it came with one), then you should figure out the longest OAL for the rounds to fit in the magazine. Load up three at 2.900", and seat 'em shorter and shorter until they all fit.

A friend of mine has the same rifle. He seats them to mag length and gets consistent sub MOA.

[firemanjoe]

I'm running the same setup (varget, 168gr smk, remington 700 sps) I'm loading with 44.3 gr. of varget. My groups stay pretty tight even out at distance

[highpower790]

I'm running the same setup (varget, 168gr smk, remington 700 sps) I'm loading with 44.3 gr. of varget. My groups stay pretty tight even out at distance

Used my 700vs last week for a silohette match .Used 155gr palma bullets and 41gr of varget .Mild load ,easy for 200yds .Point of impact was spot on after not using the rifle for 6yrs,never took the caps off.

[Witch Hunter]

I don't trust just one group. I load 9 each of each weight and shoot 3 groups of three and average them. There is too much shooter error in one group.

[JTROKS]

Is your rifle bedded with pillars or still factory?

[Rbutler]

id say 44-45 in .2 increments. you have a node there for this OCW test. Find a load in there and then you have some room for to err on the side of powder temps.

[LynnJr]

When your working up a load vertical is the powder charge and horizontal is the shooter.
That said 44.0 is the load with the least amount of vertical to my eyes.
Load up 24 rounds at 44.0 grains and vary the seating depth in 0.005 increments in and out unless you are already at the full jam length.
When working up a load in the future always start at the maximum length. The maximum length can be hard into the lands or the maximum length you will be using from a magazine. Doing it that way you only go in one direction.

[foxtrotuniformlima]

45.0 is a fairly well established load. 44.5 has a number of fans as well.

I'd probably pick one and play with my OAL to find the length that gives the best results.

[sammy]

Is your rifle bedded with pillars or still factory?

The stock is bedded but not by me. I got it second hand and have not taken it apart.

Grunt81, I am not sure where the lands are on this rifle. When measuring the lands with the Hornday gauge (don't quote me) it was about 2.35 at the lands. When I make any rounds longer than 2.29 it will not chamber so I have been loading them short.

My next test is to shoot 10 rounds of ammo with .3 plus and minus around the 41 and 44.5 grain loads. I will report back when I shoot them.

[JMP]

With 168 SMKs and Varget, 44-44.5gr with 0.020-0.030" off the lands almost always works well.

[Grunt81]

My next test is to shoot 10 rounds of ammo with .3 plus and minus around the 41 and 44.5 grain loads. I will report back when I shoot them.

With 168 SMKs and Varget, 44-44.5gr with 0.020-0.030" off the lands almost always works well.

Sammy, if you do what you're saying you're going to do, I think you're going to be wasting your bullets and powder. Listen to what JMP is saying. A lot of people have the same rifle as you with custom work done to it.

If you want a "go to" load, 41 grains is probably not going to cut it. Use the information you've gathered from your first trip to the range.

If I were you, I'd load ten rounds each at 43.8. 44.1, and 44.4...and maybe even 44.7 if you feel like it. From my experience, nodes tend to happen across 0.8 grains or so.

Take your time squeezing off the rounds and don't let your barrel get too hot to the touch (I like to be able to hold my hand on it for 10 seconds without burning myself).

You should find a load you like. If you feel the need, pick one of those loads and fine tune in +/- 0.2 grain increments. If you further think you can squeeze out more accuracy, with the same charge, experiment with OAL in +/- 0.005".

Just my $0.02. Good luck.

[JMP]

.308, especially with 168 SMKs, should be quite easy to load for since it is so common. One of the things that I will note as I see a lot of people load developing for .308 is to have some awareness of your dies vs. your brass. Because .308 is so common, everyone and his brother makes brass for the cartridge. So, if you are using more budget dies that do not have a neck bushing, you may get too much or too little neck tension. I'd put Winchester and Lapua brass at the two extremes, and I believe there is about a 0.006" difference in diameter when you seat a bullet. The thin cases will typically like a 0.330-0.331" neck bushing and the thick cases will typically like a 0.336-0.337" neck bushing. I can't say for sure, but I'd guess that most dies would be geared toward middle of the road .308 brass. I'd guess that the most common size would be a .334" neck bushing. If you do not have a ball micrometer, you can at least get a rough estimate of your neck tension by using digital calipers on the neck before and after the bullet is seated. 0.002" neck tension is the bogey for most in a .308 Win. If you do not have bushing dies, you can adjust effective neck tension to a certain extent by altering the trim length to the extent your neck is long enough to hold a bullet steady and not too long for your rifle's headspace.

[sammy]

JMP,

You are a wealth of information. The only brass I plan on using for this rifle is Lapua. The neck thickness is .016. Which neck sizer would you recommend? I just want to make sure I get the correct part.

Grunt81, you are correct. I ran the following loads yesterday with disappointing results. It is hard to see but from top left to right here are the following loads: 10 shot groups except for the last 2 which were so disappointing I saved the remaining rounds as fowling rounds for future use.

40.7
41
41.3
44.1
44.5
44.8



Tomorrow I will start from scratch and measure the chamber.


It is a great learning experience guys.

Thanks for taking the time to help.

Sammy

[Grunt81]

Look at that. Your least vertical spread was 44.5, if I'm reading it correctly, like JMP said.

I'd stay right there and fine tune OAL. See if letting your barrel cool between shots tightens up the 10 round group.

If so, I'd say you have an 800 yard load right there.