A J
Well-Known Member
Over the past few months (ok, the best part of most of this year!) I've been getting my reloading kit together, reading books, watching videos on YouTube and gathering what I hoped would be the ideal components (and the confidence) to find an accurate load for my Sako 85 in .308. After making my first batch of home loads over a month ago, I finally got the chance to shoot them today.
I made up 8 batches of 5 rounds, starting at the book minimum powder charge and going up to 0.4gr over the 'accuracy load'. I was really surprised to see just how much difference a few points of a grain make to the group and I was over the moon with my final results:
Final load was as follows:
2"x2" target at 100m, 5 shot groups. I tried to keep everything as consistent as possible. One thing I found rather interesting was that my rifle loves to shoot cold. The first shot of each batch was bang on the bull, then the second shot would be about .5" low, then the rest of the group would be back up close to the first shot when the barrel was hotter.
Anyway, thanks to everyone who has helped me along the way.
I made up 8 batches of 5 rounds, starting at the book minimum powder charge and going up to 0.4gr over the 'accuracy load'. I was really surprised to see just how much difference a few points of a grain make to the group and I was over the moon with my final results:
Final load was as follows:
- Lapua brass
- CCI primer
- 150gr Sierra MK HPBT
- 43.5gr Vit N140
2"x2" target at 100m, 5 shot groups. I tried to keep everything as consistent as possible. One thing I found rather interesting was that my rifle loves to shoot cold. The first shot of each batch was bang on the bull, then the second shot would be about .5" low, then the rest of the group would be back up close to the first shot when the barrel was hotter.
Anyway, thanks to everyone who has helped me along the way.