308 using 208 gr A-Max

[svxwilson]

I am looking to see if anyone else has tried these out? I bought a box last night I couldn't find the 178 or 168 Amax bullets. I will be shooting them out of a M&P10 with a 1/10 twist, and a BRO with a 1/11 twist.

 

[Razor74]

I have used them in my 300wm with great results, they also work very good in 300BLK. You should be ok with the 1/10 twist, but I'm not sure if 1/11 will be fast enough to fully stabilize the 208gr. The A-Max is a truly awesome bullet in the right barrel. If your barrel is 20" or more you should be ok. Good Luck!

 

[fbody93]

1/10 twist is good to go. My buddy has a 1/12 twist in his Rem 700 and they keyhole. I like them as a subsonic load in .308 running a suppressor.

 

[kis2]

let me know how this goes man, I've been tempted by those 208's. Im worried that I won't have enough case capacity to get enough powder and push them fast enough. that said, my 178's move at nearly 2700, so I can afford to lose some velocity for BC.

good luck!

 

[BigtimeAub]

I used them in my F T/R bolt gun. Loved them. Was using Alliant PowerPro 2000 MR (slower burn ball powder for longer barrels) to push them, but I was also running a 30" tube in 1/10. I was seeing consistent sub-MOA groupings at all distances, usually in the .75 neighborhood. They have a great BC. The chrono said that I was getting right around 2820fps (still don't know if I believe it but my ballistic app and dope match right up with that mv). I've never ran them in a shorter tube, or even a gas gun, but I'd definitely give them a go.

 

[kis2]

That's smokin fast, what caliber BigtimeAub?

I used them in my F T/R bolt gun. Loved them. Was using Alliant PowerPro 2000 MR (slower burn ball powder for longer barrels) to push them, but I was also running a 30" tube in 1/10. I was seeing consistent sub-MOA groupings at all distances, usually in the .75 neighborhood. They have a great BC. The chrono said that I was getting right around 2820fps (still don't know if I believe it but my ballistic app and dope match right up with that mv). I've never ran them in a shorter tube, or even a gas gun, but I'd definitely give them a go.

 

[Razor74]

I was getting 2700fps in 300wm. 75gr H1000 out of a 24" 5R 1/10 twist barrel. I could have gone up to 77gr of powder to get more fps, but in my rifle I was getting the best grouping at 75gr about .50 moa.

 

[svxwilson]

let me know how this goes man, I've been tempted by those 208's. Im worried that I won't have enough case capacity to get enough powder and push them fast enough. that said, my 178's move at nearly 2700, so I can afford to lose some velocity for BC.

good luck!

I shot 4 of the hand loads I worked up through my chrony today. 2160 fps was the slowest 2168 fps was the fastest. It was with Winchester 9 1/2 primers, once shot lapua brass, and 37.5 grains of varget. The hornady manual said they got 2200 fps with a 1/12 22" bolt gun. So I was happy to only get 40 fps under that with a 1/11 18" barrel. Temp was low 70's elevation 3500-4000.
I will most likely go shoot the rest of the loads I have worked up through 40gr of varget in a few days here. I will repost my results. There was compression of powder starting at 38gr. So at 40 gr it was getting significant.

 

[kis2]

I appreciate that info. That velocity makes for a tough decision! thats about supersonic out to 1k at sea level, JBM says a drop of something like 48.7moa. my 178's right now start 500fps faster than that and end up only 50fps, dropping 37.3moa. and I'd likely be a bit faster with the 208's out of my 26" bolt gun.

hhhhhmmmmmm....I should probably just try to stay content where I'm at! fun stuff.

thanks again, look forward to the update

I shot 4 of the hand loads I worked up through my chrony today. 2160 fps was the slowest 2168 fps was the fastest. It was with Winchester 9 1/2 primers, once shot lapua brass, and 37.5 grains of varget. The hornady manual said they got 2200 fps with a 1/12 22" bolt gun. So I was happy to only get 40 fps under that with a 1/11 18" barrel. Temp was low 70's elevation 3500-4000.
I will most likely go shoot the rest of the loads I have worked up through 40gr of varget in a few days here. I will repost my results. There was compression of powder starting at 38gr. So at 40 gr it was getting significant.

 

[BigtimeAub]

That's smokin fast, what caliber BigtimeAub?

It was in .308. It was a really, really hot load. Blew a few primers and that was all, but I found a lower node to work with so I back it down a good bit.

 

[kis2]

holy cow! even out of 30 inches, that is crazy! what is your lower node at?

It was in .308. It was a really, really hot load. Blew a few primers and that was all, but I found a lower node to work with so I back it down a good bit.

 

[BigtimeAub]

holy cow! even out of 30 inches, that is crazy! what is your lower node at?

Honestly, I don't remember. It's a been a while and I only used that load for one comp. The higher node was 47.1 t0 47.5gr and my load was at 47.3. When I backed it down, I remember coming down almost 2 full grains. I shot a morning session with the higher load, took lunch and worked down to a lower load, shot the afternoon session and never shot the rifle again. Some things came up and I was forced to sell the rifle to be able to pay the bills. Selling that rifle hurt too. It would knock the dust off the hair on a gnat's ass consistently. My .75 MOA noted above was with me behind the stick. Someone that actually knew what they were doing most likely could have done much better with it.