First OCW, Unable to Determine What to do Next

[JBM_DC]

First off here are the results of my test. Trying to determine where I should be looking for my load.

.308 Lapua Brass
Varget
Winchester LRP
175 SMK









To me it looks like I should be loading 44.7 or 44.8. Any thoughts?

 

[joemusso]

Are you doing any brass prep?
what dies?

what are you shooting off of. rest, bags, pron with bipod ect?

 

[BLDTYLRY]

44.8 and 45.0 have very similar POI. Next load should be 44.9, then play with seating depth.

 

[JBM_DC]

Should have posted some more information. These groups were shot from a bipod and rear bag. The barrel had equal cooling time between firings. I only resized the brass to ensure a uniform case mouth. After the first 3 firings I will begin annealing and uniforming the primer pockets. Using lee dies from the yellow box.

Also COAL will most likely stay at 2.80 and is being fed from an AICS short action magazine. Not sure I want to seat further in.

 

[shoot4fun]

Seat them around 2.84" COAL (just short enough to fit the AICS mag) and use 44.7 gr. Varget. I have better results across the board with FGMM primers but (as primers are sometimes hard to get and expensive now) that is just a suggestion. This load has performed well in all but one rifle of the many 308s I have (or currently) own.

 

[kvwpwr]

What rifle are you shooting? The 44.4-44.8 looks good. I use 44.7gr varget seated to 2.820 in my sps varmint, almost same as shoot4fun. You may need to work on your shooting, it looks like some groups had one get away from you. Are you shooting round robin style?

 

[JBM_DC]

These were all shout round robin style from a Remington 700 SPS Varmint cut to 19" resting in an XLR Evo chassis. The barrel temp was never hot to the touch, always stayed within reasonable temps. I do need to work on my trigger squeeze a little more. The factory non adjustable trigger is a little stiff, but breaks decent enough that it has not been replaced as of yet.

 

[kvwpwr]

Load them up at 44.7 and shoot the crap out of it. Should be plenty accurate.

 

[JBM_DC]

When looking at these pics, I notice all the vertical stringing if that is the correct term. Is this a sign of inconsistent velocities or just barrel temps raising? The barrel rested with the bolt open for 2 minutes between shots to help keep the barrel close to the same temp for each shot. I was always able to hold my hand on it without burning myself. I am shooting with a 10 power scope so precise hold was a little hard to achieve.

I do not have a chronograph yet, so checking velocities is something I am unable to do. I am thinking it is more barrel temps / inconsistent POI. Without a chronograph should I load up 44.5 and 44.7 and see what groups better and stick with whichever works or just play around with 44.7 and minimal bullet seating adjustments?

 

[shoot4fun]

I'd just go with the 44.7 and play with seating depth. Maybe try shooting them off a more solid rest for more consistent results. I really think you will get best results and 44.7 grains.

 

[Disturbed]

Did you run them through a chronograph?

 

[shoot4fun]

Did you run them through a chronograph?

For purposes of OCW the chrono is not important. You're not looking for speed but best "tune" for accuracy.
If he goes with the suggested load his velocity with that length barrel should hit high 2600's and be good to 1000 yards.

 

[thrusty]

Seat them around 2.84" COAL (just short enough to fit the AICS mag) and use 44.7 gr. Varget. I have better results across the board with FGMM primers but (as primers are sometimes hard to get and expensive now) that is just a suggestion. This load has performed well in all but one rifle of the many 308s I have (or currently) own.

Exactly what I run in my AAC-SD.

 

[Disturbed]

For purposes of OCW the chrono is not important. You're not looking for speed but best "tune" for accuracy.
If he goes with the suggested load his velocity with that length barrel should hit high 2600's and be good to 1000 yards.

I was curious on what had the lowest standard deviation.

 

[shoot4fun]

Newberry's OCW is performed round robin at 100 yards. Once OCW charge weight is determined vary the length to get best accuracy. After those steps are done we go long to see how the load holds up. That is when I would look at chrono numbers.
Basically, the lowest SD may not be the best tuned load for the rifle.