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SAKO TRG22 .308 - Ammonition

S

stefano67ch

Private
Full Member
Minuteman
Jun 14, 2013
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Switzerland
www.swisslongrange.ch
Hallo, i have onre Sako TRG22 .308 with Nightforce NXS 5.5-22 x 56. Is my new and first .308 caliber.
Can you help me and give me information about the best ammonition to use with this kind of rifle ?

Thank you in advance.

Stefano
 
Applied Ballistics 175gr Berger OTM shoots great in my TRG .308. Actually, it's tough to find ammo that does not shoot well in the TRG.
 
I would check the RUAG Swiss P line, they make a target/match load that should be fairly easy to come by in your area.
 
I think many would agree that trgs are known to shoot many types of ammo very well.
 
stefano67ch said:
Hallo, i have onre Sako TRG22 .308 with Nightforce NXS 5.5-22 x 56. Is my new and first .308 caliber.
Can you help me and give me information about the best ammonition to use with this kind of rifle ?

Thank you in advance.

Stefano
Click to expand...

Hi Stephano
Congratulations, you have a good rifle.
As a few other shooters mentioned, TRG 22 .308 will shoot well several kind of ammo. Mine likes FED GMM the best, in 168, 175 and I also had good results with 7.62x51. Black Hills were next best. I used the FED 168 GMM for a long time with excellent results but when I started to shoot further out, let's say passed 700 yards, I switched to the 175 GMM. I shot these on regular basis at 1000 yards (works well) and even went to a mile (only because I wanted to see what would happen) with 25% hit ratio (5 hits out of 20 rounds sent, out of both a TRG 22 and a 700 PSS). I now reload and do not shoot factory ammo much anymore but I know for a fact that the Factory GMM will always deliver; they are accurate and reliable, good stuff.
Optics: I usually have a S&B PMII X25 on the Sako, I also used a NF 5.5-22x50. Both are great optics but I personally like the S&B PMII a bit better.
Ultimately, each rifle may like something different a bit better but the TRG 22 is a very consistent, accurate and reliable rifle.
Try a bunch of different ammo and compare results.
Have fun and good shooting.
Ombre noire
 
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Black Hills 180 grain Accubond load is a hammer out of mine and it'll put a whipping on Kansas whitetail.
 
foto.JPG

My SAKO TRG22 .308 with Nightforce NXS 5.5-22x56 Scope
 
stefano67ch said:
Thank you so much everybody, at end of June go to shooting 1km and i will try.
Click to expand...

Hi stephano
1 km is within reach, no doubts, just use something heavier than 168 gr; a 175 will be OK.
I do not know your experience level, so forgive me if I mention the obvious but it may help you a bit.
I would assume you already have DOPE (data of previous engagement) from 25 meters to at least 900 meters before going to 1 km; if not, I would recommend doing so. If you are making the jump, let's say from 200 meters to 1000, it is doable, it will just take you more rounds to figure out the proper elevation and possible windage; in that case, I would recommend having a friend with you, acting as a spotter, it will make your life a bit easier.
If you are going by yourself, make sure that you keep your rifle lined up with your target at all time, immediately after your shot, in order to see the report of your POI (point of impact), it helps if your target is located in a sandy area, the dust cloud will make it easier for you to see the report, therefore giving you good indications for elevation/windage corrections.
I would also recommend shooting at a metal target and, if you have some of those, turn up the volume on your electronic ears, it helps, gives you an (almost) instant audible report when you hit the target and I must say, it is a very cool sound ;)
Let us know how it goes.
Good luck and good shooting.
Ombre noire
 
When I had one, I tried the 175gr Federal Gold Medal and it LOVED them. It also shot the Hornady 178gr Amax Superformance ammo very well also. However, even with me handloading specifically for that rifle, I never was able to load anything, or even FIND any ammo that shot better than the Federal Gold Medal, especially the 175gr. Good luck and congrat's on a FINE rifle!
 
Mine likes everything, including Hornady TAP 110gr V-Max if yo can believe that.
 
stefano67ch said:
And about this kind f ammonition ?

Federal 168gr or 175gr
Lapua 175gr.
Fiocchi 175gr.
Hornady 178gr.

In August i will partecipat to Gallinago 2013, is a Sniper competition.
Click to expand...

Hi Stephano
For Factory ammo, I only used the Federal out of these and they work very well.
For reloads, the Federal 168 and 175 SMK bullets are very good, also had great results with Hornady AMAX 178, as well as with the Berger 175 LTR.
Do you reload?
 
I would look into learning to reload. 175 grn SMK's and 155grn lapua Scenars are wonderful projectiles for our TRG's. Tailor the load to your rifle.

Very Respectfully,
Stefan
 
Hi Stephano
Very good results with 43.5 gr of varget, federal M210, federal cases, 178 AMAX and 175 SMK bullets. Also had good results with Berger 175 LTR. Saami specs for coal, use sierra manual for case length. Nothing fancy but it clearly works. By the way, I always measure from ogive, I feel it is more consistent. I am not home now so I do not have all specific numbers but this should give you something to start with. If you do not have varget available, look for something with a similar burn rate. Here in the desert, we like varget, as it does not have too much variation with temperature. I believe RL15 is close to varget's specs.
I use redding competition dies and Rcbs electronic scale/dispenser, the rest of the equipment is Rcbs. Press is redding T7.
Basic reloading is not complicated but it would help if someone could show you how, or pick a good YouTube video on reloading.
Good luck, reloading is fun and you can get as picky as you wish, as you will learn more as it goes.
 
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I get less than 1/2 10 rnd with 168gr Federal Gold Medal looks like round hole @less than 1 half inch @ 100 yards on average and with 175gr Federal Gold Medal i get about 1/2 moa little worse than 168gr but 175gr its a must when you expect to be shooting @ 1000m ranges. For me 168gr Federal Gold Medal is best overall so far, I know how my trg eats the 175gr Federal Gold Medal and use them if i need to.
I really want to try Applied Ballistics ammunition.
But for europe buy some lapua ammo if it runs good in your rifle you you're in luck it may seem like its too expensive but you just collect all that brass untill you will start reloading lets say 500 cases you will be able to reload lapua 308 brass about 10+ times thats 5000+ rds of ammo from your initial purchase now the lapua premium price makes a lot of sense.

Also try to buy ammo that you can easily find in your area ,right now i cant find any 175gr Federal Gold Medal in my area at all and online it can be hard to find and varies in price from 100% more than i payed for it 3 years ago to twice the reasonable price . ,, anyway buy the stuff that you will be able to find regularly that's very important.
Unless you buy 5000-8000 rnds right away (once you figure out what shoots well in your rifle) you will need about 5000-8000 rounds @ 8000 you may need to get a new barrel for the trg and your ammo of choice most likely will change. (buy the ammo that you will be able to find regularly that's very important).

my ideal situation would be
I live in europe and have a funny accent, I go to the gun store they sell norma, fed, lapua and bh and...german surplus...and crap... I buy different types of ammo I buy good ammo but the Lapua 185 Grain just shoots the best , I buy 500-700 rounds right away (not a laser range finder or new bipod or new toy ) I buy ammo that shoots best from my rifle ,then I buy 2000+ of appropriate powder,primers,and bullets ,then buy reloading equipment ,at that point i have a choice reload or buy some more ammo or buy accessoires .I am free to do what I want and don't have to rely on some guy to maybe get ammo for me in a month or two or pay for it so much you know you're being ripped off but don't have a choice because you don't have any ammo left and you spend a lot of money already to get less than 1/2 rifle and you need that ammo that performs in your rifle to your expectations not the german surplus that you are being offered. Don't screw your self and buy a performance" rifle (ferrari) and having to feed it tractor oil and expect it to perform at all to how a ferrari world in its ideal conditions it just won't happen. Bottom line Find out what ammo runs best in your rifle(hopefully its lapua or norma) buy 500-1000 rounds right away. You won't regret it you can always sell it fast for the same price or more.

Message me let others know what worked best for you. Take some photos of anyone with a dsr at the competition and send it to me i need me my gunporn. thanks and good luck :)
 
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Random,
Why? Focus on the topic, it is understandable.


Stefan,
I'll go dig up my load data.

Very Respectfully,
 
I have a new TRG arriving this week and am swimming in 168 GMM so hope that works well!
 
You won't like it, boring...1/4 moa...1/2 moa...1/4 moa...1/2 moa...gets old very fast.
OK, sometime it does get better but who's counting?
 
Hello Stefano67ch, I agree with everybody and their recommendations, I also own a TRG and totally love the rifle. During our ammo supply shortage here in the U.S. I reluctantly got ahold of some Previ 168gr match ammo. I said reluctantly because I only used to shoot FGMM 168gr, but I discovered the Previ shot just as good as the Federal and saved money because it's somewhat cheaper. I also shot some Previ 165gr soft point hunting ammo and the TRG shot that super well also, you got to love these TRG's......good luck
 
I am a rookie to the precision scoped rifle scene, but I drove out to EuroOptic last Tuesday and bought a TRG 22. Jason sold me on a LRA light tactical bipod, and an ARC M10 QD-L mount, for a S&B 5-25 I have been waiting to mount. So, two days later I took it to the range.

After a few rounds to zero, I tried some M852 Match and some FGMM at 100 yds. These were the only groups I fired with those rounds. So, these results are presented in that spirit. I was pleased though! Will head out and try some Privi and M118 Match this week, as well tweaking the zero. Will start loading some 168s and 175s once I start using all the new Redding Match loading toys I have picked up!
 

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Getting psyched reading all the great reviews of the rifle. I'm picking mine up in 3 weeks and can't wait. I went with the TRG bipod and a Leupold Mk4 ERT 8.5-25. Varget is near impossible to find around here and even at the last gun show was non-existent. I have a few 100 rnds of mil-spec match ammo to break it in and hopefully find components through the winter.
 
I agree with Ombre but am now buying FGMM 175's to go along with my thousands of rounds of 168
 
Stefano,

Welcome to the Hide.

I've had great results with both Norma 168 SMK Match and Lapua 167 Scenar. Both European companies offer
a variety of heavier bullets as well and might be a little easier to find. I would think that the 168 gr. loads
should easily take you out to 800 meters as both loads are still traveling over 1360fps/411mtrsps at that distance.
 
Stefano - my reference ammo was Black Hills match 175 SMK. With handloads 43.5 gr of Varget, 175 SMK, loaded to mag length, I won two local benchrest matches (just playing) with sub 1/4-MOA groups at 300 yards. For longer ranges I loaded 185 Berger LRBT's with 48 gr of RL-17 achieving about 2730 fps. I could have loaded hotter but these gave best accuracy of 1/2-MOA verticals from 600 - 1000 yards. All these loaded to 2.92" or so. I've since rebarreled in 260 Remington, Bartlein barrel, and have not achieved as good accuracy as the factory 308 Win rifle.
 
snipe10 said:
I agree with Ombre but am now buying FGMM 175's to go along with my thousands of rounds of 168
Click to expand...

Shot 168 smk, 175 smk, 178 AMAX , TRG likes them all, depends how far you want to shoot. Did you try the 170 gr (I think) Lapua Lockbase? Heard good stuff about them.
 
Stefano, I had very excellent results with 168 and 175 grain SMK's using both IMR 4895 and Varget and Lapua brass. My TRG 22 like IMR 895 best.
 
stefano67ch said:
Hallo, i have onre Sako TRG22 .308 with Nightforce NXS 5.5-22 x 56. Is my new and first .308 caliber.
Can you help me and give me information about the best ammonition to use with this kind of rifle ?

Thank you in advance.

Stefano
Click to expand...

155 scenars going 2800fps make the TRG sing.

I load about 0.010 off the lands and groves with Lapua brass and 155 scenars, 47 grains of Varget, it's perfect. I have tried everything and this is the most accurate load out to 1000m.

175smk are nice as well but the 155 is king for this rifle, it's as if the TRG and the 155 were developed for one another.

Sako
 
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In my 26" barreled TRG, I've only used Federal Gold Medal Match (FGMM) with 168 and 175-gr SMK's, with both performing very well, and sub-MOA. The 175's work best out beyond 600-Meters.

In my 20" barreled TRG, I've tried FGMM, M118-LR, Black Hills 168-gr Match, Black Hills Gold 168-gr AMax, and Prvi 175-gr Match.
The FGMM 168-gr was the most accurate, like a Laser out to 500-Yards, and printed the smallest groups on paper at 100-Meters.
The FGMM 175-gr and M118-LR were the best out to 1200-Yards.
I wasn't very impressed with either of the Black Hills loads, which also didn't fair very well in my GAP rifles either.
The Prvi didn't perform that well in my TRG, but it's unbelievably accurate in my Remington 5R for some reason, even out to 1500-Meters.
 
Hallo, i am back from shooting at 700m, 800m and 1000m
I have try to use the RWS Elite Target 190gr. with good result.

I will try to use reloaded ammo but i will find a go combination about bullet, primer, brass, and poudre.

thank you for all your proposal. I try and i will reply back about the result.
 
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