I recently bought a 308 Savage M12 FTR and decided to try Berger 175 gr Target VLD bullets. I followed Bergers suggestion and starting at .120 off the lands and working in I found that I got my best groups right at or jammed .005" into the lands. All of this was done with virgin Lapua brass, CCI BR2 primers, and 42 gr of Varget.
My next step was to try different powder amounts. Here's what I got compared to what QL said I would get:
Charge - 42.3 gr. - QL mv prediction - 2657 fps - Chrono - 2693 fps - 1.35% difference
Charge - 42.5 gr - " - 2668 fps - Chrono - 2714 fps - 1.72% difference
Charge - 42.7 gr - " - 2679 fps - Chrono - 2717 fps - 1.42% difference
Chronograph used was a MagnetoSpeed V2.
The best group @ 100 yds was with 42.3 gr but when I moved out to 300 yds the 42.7 gr load really shined. 4 rnds inside of a 1" circle. But there's a problem. I noticed a shiny ring around the case head running from the outer edge of the primer pocket to just about half way up the lettering. There's no pressure signs on the primer itself, no extractor mark, no other signs at all. This mark is on all of the cases but it's brightest on the ones loaded to 42.7. Is this a sign of high pressure or is it a "Savage bolt thing"? I also have a Remy 700 5R that I've loaded with as much as 43.5 gr of varget with no "ring" but of course there was no jamming the bullet into the lands.
Today while playing around with QL I read the pop up instructions for the "Shot start Pressure" option and found out that if the bullet is loaded to touch the lands your supposed to add 7200 to the default number of 3625 for a total of 10,825. Using that number QL predicts that my mv with be 2723 fps for my 42.7 load. That is 0.22% difference. But it also says that my pressure will be 59,872 psi.
This is my first time loading into the lands and I'm relatively new to reloading rifle ammo. Until I got hooked on "F" class I shot mostly pistol. So, I guess I'm asking for opinions, help, suggestions,... etc. In both my reloading and my QL interpretations.
My next step was to try different powder amounts. Here's what I got compared to what QL said I would get:
Charge - 42.3 gr. - QL mv prediction - 2657 fps - Chrono - 2693 fps - 1.35% difference
Charge - 42.5 gr - " - 2668 fps - Chrono - 2714 fps - 1.72% difference
Charge - 42.7 gr - " - 2679 fps - Chrono - 2717 fps - 1.42% difference
Chronograph used was a MagnetoSpeed V2.
The best group @ 100 yds was with 42.3 gr but when I moved out to 300 yds the 42.7 gr load really shined. 4 rnds inside of a 1" circle. But there's a problem. I noticed a shiny ring around the case head running from the outer edge of the primer pocket to just about half way up the lettering. There's no pressure signs on the primer itself, no extractor mark, no other signs at all. This mark is on all of the cases but it's brightest on the ones loaded to 42.7. Is this a sign of high pressure or is it a "Savage bolt thing"? I also have a Remy 700 5R that I've loaded with as much as 43.5 gr of varget with no "ring" but of course there was no jamming the bullet into the lands.
Today while playing around with QL I read the pop up instructions for the "Shot start Pressure" option and found out that if the bullet is loaded to touch the lands your supposed to add 7200 to the default number of 3625 for a total of 10,825. Using that number QL predicts that my mv with be 2723 fps for my 42.7 load. That is 0.22% difference. But it also says that my pressure will be 59,872 psi.
This is my first time loading into the lands and I'm relatively new to reloading rifle ammo. Until I got hooked on "F" class I shot mostly pistol. So, I guess I'm asking for opinions, help, suggestions,... etc. In both my reloading and my QL interpretations.
