.308 Winchester More brass testing

[swampratt]

At it again.
Going to shoot/reload 4 different head stamped cases until they all fail.
So i have Varget measured into a 454 Casull case This gives me 42.1-42.5gr of powder as I tested it on a beam scale.

But only using the 454 case no scales.
Brass is Winchester , Remington, Federal and Lapua. Primers are CCI200 and bullets are a very long bearing surface Sierra 165 game king HPBT.

Seated to 2.675" All cases are full length sized on a Lee 4 hole Turret press with lee dies.
Here is a target that all 4 different cases were shot at at 100 yards. This is the 9th time firing them.

Notice 30-30 and 357 holes on the target. 357 cast lead hand loads from a 6" German revolver and 30-30 Marlin lever with store Remington ammo.
The .308 group was shot by a guy there at the range that wanted to get a .308, so I let him shoot mine.
Under 1" center to center.. It was the Federal or Remington case that made the group large.

He thought he had missed the target on a couple shots. 3 holes really close together.. Not a bad load if I do say so myself.
Very primitive way to load. No case cleaning except for a neck brushing and 0000 steel wool taken to the carbon on the neck.

 

[Calamity Jake]

I expect the necks to split before anything else fails.

Keep us informed.

 

[DFX]

Had fun shooting with you today. The best measurement I could get of that group with your load was .538 outside to outside.
I just neck sized 90 brass and will load half with Varget and half with 4064. Going to try and beat that .538 group.

 

[swampratt]

That is a great group!
SoOOO low tech it almost hurts to know it actually works.
You shot a bug hole with it as did Tyler and I also did it.. yours looks better than ours though.. could be the much much more stead rest..
I will need to make a rest like yours. I really like it.
Had fun shooting with you today.

Dipped powder charge 42.1-42.5 gr varget and 4 different head stamped cases.. no tumbling or cleaning except outside with 0000 steel wool and a bore brush ran through the necks.

Low tech!..
It was fun watching you shoot that group

That was the 14th time those cases were fired and the winchester case had a case head separation going on. Awesome.
You have a really good shooting gun and the person behind it did an excellent job to if I do say so myself.

 

[dennishoddy]

Had fun shooting with you today. The best measurement I could get of that group with your load was .538 outside to outside.
I just neck sized 90 brass and will load half with Varget and half with 4064. Going to try and beat that .538 group.
View attachment 49409

Heck of a group! 100 yds?

 

[DFX]

95 yds. We used the short range to try and stay in the shade.

Decided to use up the last of the Varget. I'm loading these at 42.3grains.
168 Sierra MK., CCI 200 LRP.

 

[swampratt]

DFX what exactly is that .308 you shot that group with..I know it is a 700 but what have you done to it if anything?

 

[swampratt]

Some numbers for you to chew on.
All the cases have been fired 14 times now.
I trimmed all cases to 1.995" after the 9th firing.. these were trimmed before sizing.
F-C case grew to 2.000" after 14th firing.
R-P case grew to 2.000".
Lapua case ... to 1.996".
Winchester.... to 2.012"

Winchester cases performed very well in the accuracy department for me.
This load is not too picky on cases.

Something else I found was not all case brands will size the same on this Lee 4 hole turret press. I will need to test that on my single stage cast iron press.

I measured shoulder set back and the winchester case is different than the other 3 Like the brass is in fact softer.
Winchester brass in my .308 always shot better(more accurate) than all other brands I used except Lapua.
This included Hornady, Federal, Remington, Lake City and Lake City Match.

Could be the softness of the brass absorbs the initial shock of the first-most ignition of the powder..Thinking the softer case possibly expands more during this time and allows the bullet to stay lined up better on initial take off.

Twist your brain around that for a minute.
When I shot for groups, during initial testing for these 4 cases keeping each headstamp in their own group on the paper the winchester group was tightest.
That brass grew much more on each firing also. as stated above.

Here is a picture of the initial test target. Now notice the federal POI shifted to the right. Really did not shift but about 1/4" as this paper was wrapped around a 5 gallon plastic bucket. I was not really trying my darndest to shoot awesome groups but I did stay on target within 1/8"to 1/4". as the trigger was slowly squeezed

 

[swampratt]

Another note is when I set the die in the 4 hole turret press I set it to touch the shell holder and turned it until all slack was removed from the aluminum turret.
Then I gave it another 1/4 turn.. When I checked how much I was setting the shoulder back on the Lapua case I found i was actually pulling it forward .003".

If I turned it in less than 1/4 more I set the shoulder back .003" Then split that to 1/8 less the FC brass shoulder was set back .003"
I think I need to do this with a stouter press as that aluminum insert has a bit too much give or something.

It does still turn out decent ammo. But for ultimate brass fail test i think all shoulders should be set back 0000 to .001".

BUT the last 5 shots with pulling the Lapua shoulder forward .003" resulted in only .001" case growth.. yes they were stiff to close the bolt on.

Like I need another test. Pull shoulder forward .003" for less case growth and longer case life.. who wants to test that.

 

[DFX]

Rifle s a Rem M700P LE version. It has the 40X trigger at 2.5lbs and a HS Precision stock.
I added the HS Precision detachable bottom metal and 2 mags.
I shot a several groups that match that one last summer with IMR 4064.
But until I bought powder, primers and bullets in bulk was I able to repeat it over and over.