Need some help loading for a new rifle that is stuck in Fort Benning (owner in Afganistan)

[ArmyJerry]

A good friends son is in Afganistan (Ranger) right now, before he left I took him to a range here and let him shoot his heart out all day long with my loads and 5 r Savage. Well , he got hooked on accuracy, he emailed me and asked me if I could load some bullets for him if he sent the components to my house. Needless to say I said yes of course, I got a package of lapua and 175 smks, 500 of each, at my door this week. He has a new 700 SPS Tactical up in Benning. My plan is to load up all of to typical Max COL or the rifle using Varget, IMR 4895 and IMR 4064. When he gets back home in Dec he will bring the rifle down here to Fla and we will spend a day at the range, dialing it in. I plan to bring my Lee hand press to the range and crank down the COL while shooting each string for optimal groupings in each powder. Once we are done for teh day he can spend teh rest of his leave time with his family and I will load all 500 cases for him to take back to Benning with him.

As I don't have a SPS in hand I need to know the typical max COL for these rifles, want to get as close to the lands as possible and adjust down when I have the rifle in hand. Also any favorite load suggestions for this rifle with the above powders and components. I have my stand-bys for my 5 R that will work well but if there is a favorite load for this rifle in general, I would like to hear it, trying to maximize the kids happy time back home.

 

[scudzuki]

You will never get anywhere near the lands in a Remington factory .308 chamber.
I've been chasing the best COL for .308 reloads for my AAC-SD using 168 and 175 SMKs.
Started loading at max AICS mag length (2.88, anything longer and the rounds jam in the mags) and playing with different powders. At 2.88" they are nowhere near the lands; the COL would have to be over 2.95" to touch the lands in my rifle.

For $hits & giggles I bought some FGMM 168s and they shoot great out of the AAC-SD, and they're only 2.800 long, so it seems true what they say, that the SMKs like a jump to the lands. With FGMM they are jumping over .150" with good results, so chasing the lands may not get you much.

Joe

 

[black max]

I'm at 2.929 to the lands. No way to do it unless you are single feeding rounds. My rifle likes 44 grains of varget with the 168's seated to 2.85 and 43.5 with the 175's seated to the same length.

 

[Dan Newberry]

It's true, just forget about loading close to the lands. But the good news is that distance to the lands really doesn't matter; if it did, Federal Gold Medal match wouldn't shoot so well.

Use a total cartridge OAL of 2.800", which will mag feed from the rifle.

Using Lapua brass and the 175 SMK's...

Load 42.1 grains of IMR 4895.

Load 43.1 grains of IMR 4064, and that same amount of Varget (43.1 grains).

These loads are not over max, and will be perfectly safe in the Remington.

The 4064 and Varget loads should shoot very much the same... the 4895 load should be very close as well.

Dan

 

[ArmyJerry]

Funny enough the 43.1 gr of Varget is my 5R load, thanks for you help and guidance gents.

 

[WildBill3/75]

That's very generous of you.
RLTW!

 

[ArmyJerry]

These loads should be good for a 20 inch barrel?

 

[Dan Newberry]

These loads should be good for a 20 inch barrel?

Yes, you should get around 2550 to 2575 fps from the 20" barrel. Plenty of speed to get you on to 1000 yards.

 

[ArmyJerry]

Great Dan, again, thanks.