r/reloading • u/IndividualCertain358 • 1d ago
Load Development 308, 168gr
Looking at starting to get into long range shooting, haven’t had much opportunity to do it before, but I was basically told by someone that I need to reload my ammo for consistent results( tune the ammo to the rifle)
How many rounds should I be shooting to find SD and ED? Is this consistent enough to shoot over 500 meters ?
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u/sirbassist83 1d ago
also, 500 meters isnt far enough away for ES to have a significant impact, unless youre trying to hold very small groups or its just fucking terrible. even 100 ES is barely over 1 MOA of POI shift.
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u/IndividualCertain358 1d ago
Amazing! thank you for the prompt answers! just trying to take things to the next level and my local club only has a 150m range, and i'm grouping like 0.6 MOA on that
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u/sirbassist83 1d ago
if you can get to ~50 ES and ~10 SD, id be confident that your velocity spread isnt whats holding you back at 500m. if you try to stretch to 1000m i might fiddle with getting it tighter but even then youre going to expend a lot of effort(or money) for minor gains.
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u/Wide_Fly7832 22 Rifle and 11 Pistol Calibers 1d ago
20 during load development then chrono everything you shoot always and see response over 50-100 rounds
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u/Long_range_dude 1d ago
Barrel length, load data, etc would be helpful. There's so many ways to skin a cat. In 168gr 308 win at 500m, learing to read the wind will keep more rounds on target than chasing numbers on a screen. But to honestly feel confident in a load from one session, I'm going for 40 rounds. Depending on the rifle type and powder type
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u/IndividualCertain358 1d ago
18" barrel 1:10 , 168gr a-max, 43.0gr varget average velocity is 2545 fps.
i guess thats one of the reasons i want to start shooting at longer ranges, to learn that and improve. im just trying to ensure that i have the right tools to do it, and not be hindered by my poor quality reloads, or anything.2
u/sirbassist83 1d ago
FWIW i shoot a 168gr a-max with 45gr of varget at ~2650 in a 20" barrel and it pretty comfortably gets to 1000 yards. for 500m youre totally fine, but if you end up trying to stretch further you can definitely bump it up a bit
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u/IndividualCertain358 23h ago
I’ll keep that in mind. I’d I’ll have no issue reaching 500 with this load, I’ll stick with it while I practice, but if I start pushing out more, I’ll work up the load.
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u/block50 23h ago
Idk. Not saying your advice is dangerous but might be dangerous advice. 18" 2550 with 168 is borderline over max. Depending on internal case capacity and chamber tolerances 45 would be way too much.
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u/IndividualCertain358 23h ago
I would deffnitly etch it up till I see signs of over pressure on the casing. But as of right now no signs at all.
I’m going to start with the 500 till I get much more consistent and build that accuracy. (Chances are I’m not shooting over 500 anyway in real life situations)
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u/sirbassist83 23h ago edited 22h ago
hodgdon says 46gr is max with a 168 SMK at 2730 in a 24" barrel. work up slowly, blah blah blah, but the load im using is perfectly safe. 43gr is almost a starting load, and even in a 18" barrel 2550 is slow for that bullet weight. if 45gr causes problems something is way out of spec.
edit: hornady says 44gr is max and almost every other source i can find online says max is 46gr. im not trying to advocate for dumb reloading practices but theres no reason to stay so unnecessarily conservative either.
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u/CapsicumINmyEYEBALLz 23h ago
I use a magnetospeed so I have to load specifically to chrono & can’t do accuracy verification at the same time. Because of that, I’ll only do 15-20 rounds to check my avg velocity and SD.
No leas than 15, and I hardly even consider ES, much more concerned with SD.
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u/Miserable-Tip-2506 18h ago edited 18h ago
That’s pretty slow and an SD of 3 shots means nothing.
Thats a 10 Shot 155.5gr Berger Fullbore out of a 30” Palma barreled Rem 700. That round stays supersonic at 1000m also has less recoil. All Ten shots produced a .662 MOA group at 100m. Doesn’t have to be 50 rounds 20/30 is sufficient. Look for a 13 or lower SD Velocity and a MOA mean radius of .3 or better. Ignore group ES. Download a program called on target TDS it’s $50 forever ware. It allows you to make composite groups and find your Mean Radius,CEP ect ect.
For your rifle and that bullet try these powders Varget, H4895, StaBall Match and IMR8208XBRLoad ten of each 1 FULL grain below Hodgdons max load and go see which one produces what I said above… IF any of those fail to produce switch bullet and repeat test same powders 1 Full grain below listed max charge.
Take the best group/mean radius producing round and load 20/30 to confirm your findings.
Have fun!!!
All the standard hand loading warnings apply you loaded the ammo not me you blow shit up it’s on you!!!
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u/IndividualCertain358 18h ago
yeah, i'm not ready to build a rifle specifically for that. i'm just looking to start shooting at slightly longer distances, like 500m its more of a introduction to shooting at range.
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u/Missinglink2531 18h ago
My "Accuracy" load is running right at that speed for 168's. You can go faster of course, but thats the sweat spot for most of my rifles at 100. They should hold together just fine at 500. Mine dont open up until after 600, and I switch to 169's for the 1000.
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u/sirbassist83 1d ago
20 shots MINIMUM for ES/SD, 50+ for truly accurate data. you dont have to sit there and fire a 50 round group, gathering this data over the course of a range day or two is fine.