I have a 308 Win. that has a 22" shilen barrel with a 1 in 10 twist built built around a Sako action and for some reason or another with factory Federal premium 165 gr. btsp @ 100 yards it has one elongated hole and I try reloading with the same bullet I cant seem to get a group smaller than an inch. Im looking for some suggestions.

Folks seem to be happy with Varget. Worth a try...

Since you asked!Today's results with .308

150 gr. FP Bulk Mid Way, Hot Cor (30-30 bullet) 43.5 gr. 2230-C, 2.725", 2590 fps. 5 shot 1/4" group at 50 yds.

150 gr. FN Win. 43.5 gr. 2230-C oal= 2.655" 2645 fps. 10 shot 3/4" group at 50 yds.

This is nice inexpnsive paper punching. roger

Old age is a high price to pay for maturity!!! Some never pay and some pay and never reap the reward. Wisdom comes with age! Sometimes age comes alone..

Do you mean 3 shots forming one elongated hole? We need a bit more info. It's not uncommon for a rifle/barrel/bullet/powder combination to perform differently from rifle to rifle, regardless of who makes the ammo or how it's labeled. That's why so mnay shooters start handloading so they can fine tune their ammo to their rifles.
bartsche, why are you shooting groups @ 50yds? It tells you very little about the load or accuracy potential of the rifle, unles you are maybe shooting w/ open sights?

Varget works great in my 7mm08 which is the same case with various bullet weights.

Welcome to the forum.

An inch group with a sporter at 100 yds is good.

Give us some more details about the rifle, scope and your bench technique.

Shots that walk can be the rifle and not the load.

Thanks guys for the insite. The scope is a 2.5-8 leopold mounted on burris signature rings. With the factory ammo I mentioned I get a group just under a half inch. Using the same bullet as Fedral uses minus the cannalure I cant seem to get a group smaller than an inch. So far Ive tried BLC-2 and IMR4895 The Varget might not be a bad idea. not sure what you mean by bench technique, and the shots form one hole

You should try IMR4350 or one of its clones. It will do you right.

Larry

When you say clone do you mean powders with the same burn rate. You will have to exuse me for my lack of knowlege I'm fairly new at this.

There are several companys that make 4350 or should I say have 4350. Accurate Arms, Hodgons, Imr, and maybe one more. You can go to www.reloadbench.com and get the burn rate of all the powders. Which ever brand you choose go by their loading manual.
Lots of Luck
Larry

Your rifle is shooting quite well now as I said.

Try varying the seating depths with the best load.

This site has some loads. www.reloadersnest.com

This may sound silly but your rifle obviously likes Federal factory ammo! You're one step ahead of the game because you know what your rifle is at least capable of. My suggestion is to first chronograph the factory loads and find a powder that safely duplicates the velocity, if possible. If you're absolutely sure that your bullets are the same as used in the factory rounds, seat them to the same depth. The crimp is problematic if one has a cannelure and the other doesn't. For what it's worth I've had excellent results with various 165 gr bullets in my .308 with Varget and CCI BR primers. The shot-to-shot velocity variation has been extremely low, often 10 fps or less. Good luck.

quote:

Originally posted by fredj338:
bartsche, why are you shooting groups @ 50yds? It tells you very little about the load or accuracy potential of the rifle, unles you are maybe shooting w/ open sights?

At my time in life my knees think going back and forth at 100 yds. is a Marathon.I get my kicks at 50. A slightly older friend of mine who is forced to use a cane does 25yds. and enjoys himself.He just bought 3 Stevens , a .223,a .243, and a 7-08. He uses them to shoot the centers out of his targets at 25 yds. and just sits there and giggles.

In the world of totaly serious shooting your point is well taken. roger

First off, WELCOME to the zoo 1in10!!
Next this is a fantastic place for info (all forums) and the price can't be beat!!

I agree with Savage99:

quote:

Your rifle is shooting quite well now as I said.

Try varying the seating depths with the best load.

Something else to try is changing the primer!

Remember though !!!SAFETY FIRST!!! REDUCE YOUR LOAD AND WORK BACK UP WHEN CHANGING ANY COMPONENENT!!

Smedley

PS 1in10 you may adjust your powder by a couple of tenths too!!

This is all great advise. Maybe now I will develop a load that will shoot straight. Do a lot of you use a chronograph, is it worth investing in one?

IMR 4064 42.5 grs Fed 210M and a 165 Nosler BT

You will like it!

I only set my crono up when I'm developing loads. Its good to know what the actual velocity is so you can figure the bullet drop at a given distance.
Larry

quote:

Originally posted by 1in10:
This is all great advise. Maybe now I will develop a load that will shoot straight. Do a lot of you use a chronograph, is it worth investing in one?

A chronograph is invaluable to the handloader, so too are a few good loading books for cross-references. I would also suggest something like QuickLoad if you are technically savvy, or are an experienced reloader, but the others come first.

1in10, good luck with your load development. One question, I don't think you mentioned, are your crimping your loads? If so that can cause issues on a loads performance, with or without crimping into the cannelure. I think many folks around here will tell you they don't crimp loads for accurate bolt action rifle loads.

A chornograph is a great tool as buckshot states, and is actually fun too! It is neat to see the velocity spreads, and what actual velocities are as well, I call mine the 'lie detector' a lot of guys around our range have been humble-ized when the real velocity of their rigs were discovered.

I will say that I have quickload, and I'm not completely tecnically naive, (engineering minor Ga. Tech) and I think quickload in particular is a pain in the ass to run. It is NOT intuitive, and the operating info is poorly written--maybe something is lost in translation between the German author and my English! At any rate some of the load data programs out there are fun, but it is really pretty straight forward to just keep some good (and current) manuals on hand, and work up your load.

I will say that I find varying seating depth is as significant as anything else I tinker with in finding a great shooting load.

Good Luck--Don