The .308 Winchester for Long Range

[secondtry]

No BT's all the way, much better bullet IME thenbthe accubond.

I have used both and been happy with both. I came to BTs late in the game, having been scared off by the early horror stories, some which in Aus were exaggerated BS.

I am rather careful about which species I use BTs on, but am definitely a fan. I agree with Vaughan on the 30 cal 125 BT. It has worked well for me at around 2800/2900. It's hardly a long range bullet though

[secondtry]

Varget does great in a 24” or longer barrel but doesn’t do as well in a 20” barrel according to a lot of folks. I have plenty of Varget and may try it if I don’t get the performance I expect with H4895. We’ll see how it goes.

Interested in this Bob. Are we referring to velocity or accuracy ?

You haven't mentioned 2000 MR in this context, and I presume that is because of vertical stringing becoming apparent at longer ranges.

The velocity potential of 2000 MR seems to offer some potential for 300 ish yard hunting loads, if not for LR work.

[SPEEDY]

I am rather careful about which species I use BTs on, but am definitely a fan. I agree with Vaughan on the 30 cal 125 BT. It has worked well for me at around 2800/2900. It's hardly a long range bullet though

I'm suprised thats all the speed you are getting, I get 2800fps from a 168gn nosler, you should get at least 3100fps.

[Vaughan]

I agree with Vaughan on the 30 cal 125 BT. It has worked well for me at around 2800/2900. It's hardly a long range bullet though

I'd have to agree with that... I don't have the skill or training some of these boys have so don't push hunting shots much beyond 300m. I do shoot my BR over 500 at the range and that is a mile of fun, and not especially difficult - but of course you don't get the shakes when it is paper or clays you are aiming at... I pass up shots on roes nearly every year because they are out of my range, which is why this thread piqued my interest. Always good to try something new

[Vaughan]

I am rather careful about which species I use BTs on, but am definitely a fan. I agree with Vaughan on the 30 cal 125 BT. It has worked well for me at around 2800/2900. It's hardly a long range bullet though

I'm suprised thats all the speed you are getting, I get 2800fps from a 168gn nosler, you should get at least 3100fps.

I use 49gr of Varget and the measured MV from my R93 standard bbl is somewhere in the range of 950m/s. I don't remember exactly and the data is on my old laptop but it was something like that.

[SPEEDY]

Yes so that loads just over 4100fps, so the 2900fps us fairly slow.

[Vaughan]

Yes so that loads just over 4100fps, so the 2900fps us fairly slow.

3100fps, yes. It might have been a smidge less, but around that.

[7x57]

Varget does great in a 24” or longer barrel but doesn’t do as well in a 20” barrel according to a lot of folks. I have plenty of Varget and may try it if I don’t get the performance I expect with H4895. We’ll see how it goes.

Interested in this Bob. Are we referring to velocity or accuracy ?

You haven't mentioned 2000 MR in this context, and I presume that is because of vertical stringing becoming apparent at longer ranges.

The velocity potential of 2000 MR seems to offer some potential for 300 ish yard hunting loads, if not for LR work.

I am interested in this as well. We have a 20" .308 and it is extremely accurate with 2208 but a tad slow. I have used 2206H in other calibres but not the 30 cal.

[SPEEDY]

2206H shits all over AR2208 IMO, I used it till I switched to BM8208, I think its and even better powder.

[secondtry]

I am rather careful about which species I use BTs on, but am definitely a fan. I agree with Vaughan on the 30 cal 125 BT. It has worked well for me at around 2800/2900. It's hardly a long range bullet though

I'm suprised thats all the speed you are getting, I get 2800fps from a 168gn nosler, you should get at least 3100fps.

Deliberately loaded to that speed with the old 2206 or 2207. Not looking to max velocity in this case

[stokesrj]

The reason that Varget underperforms in this application is that a 20” barrel is unable to burn the full charge. Longer barrels are much more capable in this regard. The Palma load uses Varget to drive the 155 or 156 Palma bullet to 3,050-3,100 FPS from a 30” barrel. That load in a 20” is a flame thrower and looses more than 200 FPS.

[SPEEDY]

In the 260rem I found Benchmark 2 awesome with light bullets.
43.5gn got a100gn Nosler BT doing 3200fps from a 20" tube, great load that one.

I wonder if the same might be true of the 125gn BT from a 308win?

[7x57]

The reason that Varget underperforms in this application is that a 20” barrel is unable to burn the full charge. Longer barrels are much more capable in this regard. The Palma load uses Varget to drive the 155 or 156 Palma bullet to 3,050-3,100 FPS from a 30” barrel. That load in a 20” is a flame thrower and looses more than 200 FPS.

Appreciate your reply Robert. Will work a load up using 2206H.

[secondtry]

The reason that Varget underperforms in this application is that a 20” barrel is unable to burn the full charge. Longer barrels are much more capable in this regard. The Palma load uses Varget to drive the 155 or 156 Palma bullet to 3,050-3,100 FPS from a 30” barrel. That load in a 20” is a flame thrower and looses more than 200 FPS.

Thanks Bob. I thought that might be it, but I am surprised that Varget is so bad in 20".

Probably explains why some 22"/23" barrels like H4895 and some like Varget. Those very common lengths might be right around where the two powders start to cross over.

If the temptation to reload for the 308 Stutzen overpowers me, I will use 2206H, or some of the 2206 which I still have. And, as has been discussed, 8208 appears suitable for shorter barrels. In these applications, it seems that most people who are using Varget or H4895 are happy enough not to give 8208 a try.

I did some quick trials with 8208 in a 23" 308 which normally runs Varget/150s and the results seemed to be sufficiently similar that I didn't bother starting the whole load development process again with 8208.

[stokesrj]

I’m contemplating going full bench rest Maniac in this endeavor, Wilson in line bushing and seating dies, HS arbor press, flash hole uniformer, primer pocket uniformer and case neck iron and turn. My past experience leads me to believe that I can tune a .5 MOA rifle into a .4MoA rifle for an extra thousand bucks