I have a rem 700 aac-sd .308 with a 20" 1:10" twist barrel. It sits on a aics chassis and has really enjoyed 43.2 gr varget and 44.2 varget along with win 760 and rl-15 all with federal primers, lapua brass, and 175gr sierra matchkings...I spent countless shooting sessions finding these loads and was hoping y'all could help me get close with a hunting load. I have 180gr noslers and 168 Berger vlds that I was able to find at our small town reloading shop. I have varget, h4895, h335, benchmark, blc(2) imr 3031, and a few others .... Where should I head when looking for a hunting load I can shoot out as far as I accurately and ethically can
Suggest a load...
- Thread starter thechristianbear2001
- Start date
I've got the AAC SD and BEFORE I FIRED IT I measured my throat. The damn 168 vld **FELL OUT OF THE HORNADY MODIFIED CASE***. Couldn't get to lands. Then I tried the 178 amax and because of the bearing surface being closer to the tip was able to get a reading.
A lot of folks don't shoot the Amax for hunting .... But let me tell you , they will kill the hell out of deer. So if it were me, I'd try working up a load with Varget first but BLC2 is a fantastic powder also. H4895 as well.
But if your heart is set on the 168 vld, try 43 to 44 grains of varget. It's probably going to be a long OAL and possibly a single shot but the VLD's are GREAT and will hit em hard and cut em to shreads.
And if you really want to get a little more speed for your 20" bbl, I recommend power pro 2000 mr with the 178. It'll find you about 100 fps more speed, and is a GREAT powder got the 175's and up.
A lot of folks don't shoot the Amax for hunting .... But let me tell you , they will kill the hell out of deer. So if it were me, I'd try working up a load with Varget first but BLC2 is a fantastic powder also. H4895 as well.
But if your heart is set on the 168 vld, try 43 to 44 grains of varget. It's probably going to be a long OAL and possibly a single shot but the VLD's are GREAT and will hit em hard and cut em to shreads.
And if you really want to get a little more speed for your 20" bbl, I recommend power pro 2000 mr with the 178. It'll find you about 100 fps more speed, and is a GREAT powder got the 175's and up.
I use IMR 4064 for my 308 with similar barrel profile. 42.8 gr works well for 168 and 175 gr SMK BTHP and 43.9 gr for Berger 185 gr VLDs. Hope that helps, since you didn't mention IMR 4064.
my heart isn't set on anything, just happens to be the bullets I found at the reloading shop…. I hear you advice and greatly appreciate it
I have the same rifle, and found that I needed to load Berger bullets very long to get good results. On advice I received here, I tried some 178 Amax, and they run great at mag-friendly lengths. 43.5gr of Varget seems to be a sweet spot.
I load 168 Bergers both in classic and VLD to mag lenth with 43.4 of RE15 and its a little on the slow side at 2475fps but will shoots well under 1/2MOA at 100 yards and I have had good results on hogs out to 425 yards.
i have the same rifle, i'm running a max load of Varget behind a 178 gr. A-Max in BHA brass, works real well on deer....
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