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Show # 36, Explain this rifle

Unless it was one of the other guys, I believe the podcast noted he had a TL3, Shilen Barrel, and XLR Chassis. Don’t remember hearing any special twist.

Frank did a YouTube vid on the flatlines a while back.

 
Hi,

I’m “Chris from San Francisco”. The rifle is a .308 with a 1:10 twist Shilen barrel. You can see it in the TL3 thread in the Bolt Action Rifles section. The load was mag length (2.830).

I worked up to the 44.8 IMR 4895 load @Lowlight had in his article on the Warner 160s. I didn’t measure how far they were off the lands because the geometry of the projectile means getting close to the lands takes you way past mag length and the 44.8 test group was 0.32”, so I figured why bother. I had previously taken them out to 1000 yds in AZ, where I needed three rounds to get elevation and windage, then just poured the next 47 onto the target.

I used once-fired (from my 308 AR), full-length-sized Hornady brass because I knew I wasn’t taking it back home and didn’t want to donate Lapua or Peterson brass to Frank. 44.8 of IMR 4895 is a compressed load in the Hornady case. You can hear it crunch when seating the bullets.

My numbers for the load are 2852 MV, 30 ES, and 7.3 SD (25-round sample from LabRadar). As I mentioned in another thread, I had some real zingers when I was getting DOPE out to 1k, so I think my Hornady auto charger occasionally overthrows powder, which would explain the high ES and low SD. I do use a Redding type S die, so I think neck tension should be ok.

These projectiles are $1.16 each in quantity, so it’s good they run well in a 1:10 twist. I wouldn’t want to shoot them exclusively. I have been using the offset feature of AB Mobile for the bullets, because Scenar-L 155s (not 175s as I said in the second take of the podcast after four beers) was my go-to load with that barrel.

I explained in the podcast that I wanted to start with .308 because it’s a pig, and I thought I’d learn more. I also liked Litz’s rebuff to his own “What’s wrong with the 30-caliber bulletin” white paper from a few years ago that he put in his Modern Advancements book. The Warners seemed like they met all the conditions he laid out for .308 not to suck.

The rifle is now sporting a Proof CF 6.5 Creedmoor, at least until I get back from the Team Challenge. It takes me 25 minutes to set up my vice and action wrench, remove a barrel, and then replace and set head space on a new one. It’s not as fast as an AI, but not too bad.
 
Chris - just found this post... thanks for the details. I was glads to hear I am not alone in S.F. ;) I am just starting out on a similar path i.e. .308 and want to reload for it as well. I heard you mention Tomales is your go to range. I have not made it north yet as I typically go south to metcalf which is only 100 yards but lots of nice folks down there but you have to go early before it gets busy.

Cheers