.308 PSS/SPS-V ammo shopping list for the noob

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Hi,
I have an Remington 700 SPS Varmint (26" heavy barrel in .308) which I will use only at the 300yd range for the next 6 months. For this, I just ordered a reloading press and a few tools, but I find it really hard to tell which ammo/powder/primers should I buy (especially since most of them come in 100+ batches).
I would really appreciate some advice from you guys, if you shoot the same type of gun and you had a really good experience with a particular type of handloading supplies.
Thank you,
Bob

 

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Re: .308 PSS/SPS-V ammo shopping list for the noob

I found on the .308 Loads page a few loads that look promising for my rifle. Too bad that many of the posts specify only muzzle speeds and not 'accuracy'. My understanding was that the speed is only important for the range of the bullet, not necessarily for accuracy.

So I found this one, courtesy of Barney88PDC:
<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Remington .308Win 700P 26" 1:12
Brass: Winchester
Primer: Winchester Large Rifle (WLR)
Bullet: 168gn Sierra Match King
Powder: 45.5gr Varget
OAL: 2.82
Getting Great results. I did a ladder test from 42.0 all the way to 45.8 and 45.5 is the "magic" load. I tried two OAL loading one being 0.010 off the lands and a second at magazine length. Both showed great results. So now I am just loading to 2.82 to have the ability to load from the magazine. </div></div>

Oh, and another one courtesy of Red_SC:
<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body">
I just worked up a Varget load that seems to be doing pretty well.

Federal standard brass
175 SMK
44.3 gr Varget
CCI BR2 primer
Loaded to mag length ~2.80 OAL

These are two 5 round groups, I'm shooting a factory PSS. Both were 5 round groups prone at 100 yards, the right group was right handed and the left group was left handed. I'm not quite sure why the left handed group was tighter. I've shot this load to 1K, it's still well under MOA at that range.
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It looks like light loads (110-125 gr) are not popular here...

Thanks,
Bob

 

[TonyAngel]

Re: .308 PSS/SPS-V ammo shopping list for the noob

Although I'm new to .308, I've been shooting .223 for a while and heavy is the way to go for distance shooting. The exception to this seems to be the Scenar 155gr bullets. They have a really high ballistic coefficient and purportedly buck the wind as well as, if not better than, the heavier bullets and will stay supersonic longer.

I've had really good luck using Reloader 15 and Varget in both .223 and .308, although some prefer the IMR powders.