308 advise

[223]

Hi Guys

Just a bit of advise please i currently shoot, 150grain sst though my 308 with 45 grains of N150 powder and a OAL of 2.820 and that produces good groups.
and produce 2610 fps out of a 20inch barrel, which powder would you use to up the speed of the bullet a bit ???

which powder and how much do you use or reccommend ???????

i know it only a 20 inch barrel so short just wondering what speed do you guy feels relistic using this bullet out of a 20 incher

ATB

Dave

 

[Milligan]

Is the velocity bothering you?
Energy is more than adequate for anything the UK has to offer.

You could explore the limits of N150 by loading longer and stoking it up in increments, but I'd imagine you'll run out of case space before hitting pressure limits.
N140 may yield a bit more oomph, then of course you could go double base for more.
You'll get another 200fps out of it, maybe more or less depending on your barrel, but it comes back to what you think you'll gain from that.

 

[223]

the reason i would like to up the speed a bit, is im shooting near to a boundary and i think the sst needs abit more speed to expaned more quicker to stop them abit quicker

if a neck shot is on/close enough etc i will take it but, not always the case .

what powder to you think to use to get to 2800 fps with this bullet ????

ATB

Dave

 

[Milligan]

There isn't much certainty on this as it does depend on what your gun will let you do before you pressure out.

You may get there with N150, just push it a bit more, keep an eye on pressure and use your chrono.
Loading longer will let you get more in the case.

If you run out of case space then N140 is a good bet for .308. You will likely notice recoil get a bit snappier though.
N540 or N550 will do a little more but not without drawbacks if you listen to some of the forums. I've only had limited experience on the N550 and it did bump velocity up significantly.

Personally, I'd change bullet to a Nosler BT hunting for faster expansion and aim for 2700fps. But I'm just anti-Hornady

P.S. Varget is also a good bet, but not cheap and not easy to get at the moment.

 

[jamross65]

Hi Dave

Have a wee read of the attached article and you will see that your 20'' barrel is in fact no disadvantage whatsoever. No need for anything longer in a stalking rifle and especially in a 308.

I had an incident last year where a 150grn SST out my Sako 20'' barrel blue up in a big Sika stag. Lungs looked like a grenade had gone off. I hardly ever shoot them in the ribs and the SST at the velocities you mention should be performing well out to 200yds anyway. The stag I am talking about was about 220yds away...

http://www.tacticaloperations.com/SWATbarrel/

 

[223]

cheers chaps i will have a play round and let you know

 

[gmart122]

N140. Very versatile and available powder. It is possible to achieve maximum speeds with N140, in excess of 2900FPS. With your barrel less but 2800FPS should be achieveable.

With a shorter barrel, looking at slightly faster powders may pay dividends rather than filling a case with slower burning powder.

To get your speed you'll need to get close to maximum book charge weight with N140 (~45gr). I find this easily achieveable in my gun, but you'll need to work it up for yours.

 

[caorach]

Don't know if this helps but I get a measured 3000fps with 150 grain bullets from my Blaser r93 which I think is about a 21 or 22 inch barrel. I'm using reloader 15 with a book max load from the alliant web site to do that. Accuracy is great but of course your rifle might be very different.
​

 

[Selous]

I used to get 2900 out of my 24 in barrel with 46g n140 and speer flat based spritzer bullets. It has since been chopped to 20 in and i haven't had chance to chrono it since. I have just started playing round with H4895 a bit which is a bit faster than N140 and the 130 grain TSX seemed to fly into a very small hole.

 

[limulus]

44gr N140 gives me 2850 with 150gr btsp interlocks

 

[big ears]

Hi I use N140 with 150gr sst out of a 20 inch barrel. It has two sweet spots 43.5 and 46.5 gr. 43.5 gives me about 2500 and 46.5 about 2750. For hunting I use the higher load but have heard on this site that if a close shot is taken with an sst driven fast it could be explosive and not kill. Not had that issue myself but time will tell.

 

[223]

i think i will just stick with the 45 grains of N150 @ 2611 fps it works and it 1/2 inch @100y yards

i need to tell myself stop tatting , stop tatting dave stop tatting you silly man ahhhhhhhhhhhh

 

[old man]

Just stop tatting Dave!

Just stop tatting Dave!