308 win reloads with Lapua brass.

[swampratt]

I went out yesterday and shot my guns and cut firewood.

Finally got to try out this Lapua .308 brass i just got from midway.
I FLS and brushed the necks inside the brass then loaded 43gr of varget on top of federal 210M match primers.

I got just a little compression..
I then loaded 43.2gr and got lot of compression.

The bullet is a Sierra 165 game king HPBT (hollow point boat tail)

I shot the gun off the hood of my 47 dodge truck the rest used was a 40lb bag of deer corn.. as i forgot my homemade bags.

The 4 shot group with 43gr of varget was .727" center to center at 211 yards.
I think i need a scope with a smaller recticle. Current scope almost covers the square.. or maybe i need a bigger square..The ones with the black marks by them are 43gr
The coldbore shot has a + by it as do 2 others those are .308 cases made from 270 brass with 43gr varget.
Now i need to size and load again now that the brass has been fired... see if it will stay decent.
It was 37 f when shooting and a tad foggy at that range.

 

[Revived]

Good shooting - well within minute of deer... Give the 175gr MatchKings a try to further tighten that up... 43grs of varget and a 175's are tough to beat for accuracy in 308 and one of my favorite loads... Just a "heads-up" - double check your scale - .2grs shouldn't make that much of a difference in compression... especially with 165's - you should have enough room - easy... how deep are you seating the bullets?

 

[swampratt]

Thanks

I can hear and feel very slight crunching at 43gr at 43.2 which is about 8 sticks more powder it is heavily compressed
I vibrated to get 43 so it is full.. I do not like to do that ..but i had to try my old accuracy load in this brass.

My scale is a 505 beam, modified very easy to read .1gr it moves the extended pointer about .030"

This bullet is .010" off the lands.. it is a hunting bullet also...and i have 1100 of them.
The 175a max i tried would not stay grouped tight at long ranges .

I will take the 3/4" at 200 yards all day long for this hunting rig.
Next i may try a different scope..one with fine reticle.

 

[Mitch H.]

I'm sure you know this, but the volume of Lapua brass is less than Winchester. I use a 4% load reduction as a general rule.

 

[swampratt]

Yes sir i do, good point to bring up..
My old accuracy load with my first lot of varget was 43gr.
My current 8lb jug and winchester brass is 44gr of varget for the accuracy load.
Average speed with 43gr is 2630 fps in this Lapua brass. This is in a savage 10FP with 24" barrel
I used 43gr in my old LC brass, that has a reduced volume also.
The 43.2gr load averaged 2640 fps in this Lapua brass.

I checked case volume with this Lapua vs my winchester and it came in exactly 1gr less .

The 270 brass converted to .308 brass averaged 2681 fps with the same load of 43gr

The volume will change now that it has been fired..but such a small amount..
I will bump the fired shoulder back .001" or a bit less and do some more shooting. Do not know when though.
I will see if i still get crunching at 43gr.