Anyone loading 208gr Amax in .300 WSM?

[Falar]

I haven't seen much data on these forums about this combo. I know some think this bullet is too long and takes away too much case capacity to attain decent speeds, but somehow I have a feeling this isn't the case. I want to know if it exceeds .30-06 velocities (2800-2850, some have reported even more) or not. It would be nice to get that performance from a short action, even if brass is much more expensive compared to '06. It would be worth it to me.


Here is what got me to thinking about it, sorry for the book but you don't have to read it as just explains how I came up with this question.





I'm loading the 208gr Amax in .308 using RL17 and seeing great results after seeing MontanaMarine and kombayotch's results with this combo. This had also been thought to be "too much bullet" for the caliber for a while. I planned on my next rifle being a .30-06 (it will be pre-64 Winchester based) a while back, and will definitely still go that route using these bullets as I've seen a few users here get velocity pretty close to the 2900fps range with RL22. I've always thought the .300 WSM was a neat cartridge and I've heard that Accurate mag makes a 10rd AICS style WSM magazine that you could load out to about 2.950" in. This got me thinking about going this way because you can get FN SPR actions from CDNN for a good price and they only do short actions, .308 bolt face or WSM bolt face. Add CDI bottom metal to that and you can see where I was going with that combo.

 

[Short-bus]

Re: Anyone loading 208gr Amax in .300 WSM?

Where are people saying that the 208 amax is "too much bullet" for the .308?

I've been loading the 208's in my .308 20" for several months now and have gotten great results. I'm just under 2600fps from that short barrel, and my accuracy is great, here's 2 groups that I shot back to back when confirming my zero for deer season in 2 weeks.

One thing as a side note to the RL17 powder. When I zeroed it was starting to get dark (stupid daylight savings) and I let a friend fire a few rounds from my rifle while I observed. Biggest thing I noticed was there was NOT a lot of flash from the muzzle. Just a dim dull dark orange flame about 6" or so long and 3" or so wide in a football shape.

Branden

 

[Falar]

Re: Anyone loading 208gr Amax in .300 WSM?

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Dust_Remover</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Where are people saying that the 208 amax is "too much bullet" for the .308?

I've been loading the 208's in my .308 20" for several months now and have gotten great results. I'm just under 2600fps from that short barrel, and my accuracy is great, here's 2 groups that I shot back to back when confirming my zero for deer season in 2 weeks.

One thing as a side note to the RL17 powder. When I zeroed it was starting to get dark (stupid daylight savings) and I let a friend fire a few rounds from my rifle while I observed. Biggest thing I noticed was there was NOT a lot of flash from the muzzle. Just a dim dull dark orange flame about 6" or so long and 3" or so wide in a football shape.

Branden </div></div>

I've seen it said plenty of times over the years.

FYI, I'm on your side. I've posted up my results in the same thread as you in the Range Report/Ballistics forum.

 

[Short-bus]

Re: Anyone loading 208gr Amax in .300 WSM?

The worst part is that i'm seriously thinking of trying 240SMk's.

Branden

 

[shooter308]

Re: Anyone loading 208gr Amax in .300 WSM?

too big of a bullet I think .............190s would be the max ill ever shoot in mine.

 

[LR-WSM]

Re: Anyone loading 208gr Amax in .300 WSM?

I'm looking to head down this road shortly. After my search and looking at this thread date I'm sure there has been more testing to add to this.

I have been looking at VV N-560 in the 69 grain range running at 2950 fps on Q.L. The RL-17 would be nice if it can produce the same or better velocities under decent pressures.

 

[RTO]

Re: Anyone loading 208gr Amax in .300 WSM?

I was shooting 190 Berger VLD's out of my FN 300 WSM until last week I did a ladder test and load workup of the 208 A-Max. My 300WSM loved them and didnt seem to care what load they were as the ladder test was a 1.2" hole with 20 rounds over a 4 grain spread. I havent been able to chrono yet but 5 shot groups were .41 - .43 I just bought 500 more 208's and didnt bother ordering anymore Bergers as this is going to be my new pet load.
300 WSM
208 A-Max
Win brass
62.4 H4350
.01 from the lands
CCI Mag primers
COAL 2.9550"

Note you will need 1 - 10 twist for the 208

 

[LR-WSM]

Re: Anyone loading 208gr Amax in .300 WSM?

Just curious, why would I need 10 twist for a 300wsm when guys are running them in a 12 twist .308 with great results.

I'm looking for R.L.-17 / 208 A-max loads and performance notes for the wsm.

 

[ChrisGarrett]

Re: Anyone loading 208gr Amax in .300 WSM?

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: LR-WSM</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Just curious, why would I need 10 twist for a 300wsm when guys are running them in a 12 twist .308 with great results.

I'm looking for R.L.-17 / 208 A-max loads and performance notes for the wsm. </div></div>

The 208gr AMAX is a very long bullet and the 1:12s are probably not an ideal twist for that longer bullet.

Anything's possible, but chances are you'll be handicapped a bit, with a 1:12 twist.

Chris

 

[LR-WSM]

Re: Anyone loading 208gr Amax in .300 WSM?

I'm going to give it a shot anyhow. I have a 12 twist 28" Kreiger HV#17 on a trued Rem700 LA. I have run all of the common powders in Q.L. except for RL-17 and the newer Alliant offerings. So far, VV N-560 is ahead of the pack showing a possible 2950 fps while staying under P-max. As soon as I can locate a couple boxes of 208's I'll put some field data up on the 560, I also have access to some RL-17 which I would like to test as well. I have read here that Q.L. is way off on predictions with the 17 so I guess I'll have to start from scratch there unless I can find someone that has done some testing with my desired combo.

 

[LR-WSM]

Re: Anyone loading 208gr Amax in .300 WSM?

Well, I got my 208's in from PVI. Got my Q.L. update to 3.6 from Mr. Dillon and got a little RL-17 from a friend.

<span style="font-weight: bold">Note:</span> Q.L. is absolutely useless with this powder.

I think my light this afternoon was playing tricks on my CED M2.
I loaded 10 cartridges at 61 grns RL-17 to 2.935 COAL with a WLRM primer giving me a .002 jump. Chrono showed an average of 3048 fps out of my 28" Kreiger. Q.L. showed that this was impossible with out pressures aproaching the 100K range. There were no pressure signs no primer cratering or flattening. Shooting this load I would have guessed it to be under 60,000 psi, it felt pretty mild and gave good accuracy at 100 yards. The extreme spread however sucked beyond belief (80 fps) which is unacceptable. I am going to reload (20) of the same charge and swap out the WLRM's for either Wolf LR or CCI-Br-2's and see if this makes a difference in my shitty ES. I know it will effect my speeds but a little bump on the powder will correct that. I hope I will be able to duplicate this speed average but if not, there is still plenty of room in the case for the next node up.

 

[LR-WSM]

Re: Anyone loading 208gr Amax in .300 WSM?

Had a friend clue me into a reference from GS custom. They are using a Ba factor of .4660 instead of the default setting in Q.L. of .5375

What a difference that made in the projections. I feel that with this burn rate the program more correctly reflects the recoil impulse that I felt. Coincidentally it also drops me very close to an OBT load. I will pressure test up to 66 grains this week and post results

 

[logan1080]

Re: Anyone loading 208gr Amax in .300 WSM?

Bringing this thread back to life as I am contemplating using the 208gr in my .300wsm. Anyone have new info?