How much difference will there be between a good load and a bad load in a hunting rifle? I have a Rem M7 in .308 that will shoot under 3/4 moa with Federal match ammo and the same with my match ammo loaded with the 178 Amax and Varget. But...Im building a hunting load with the 150/165 SSTs and 165 Deep shoks over Varget but I am going nuts with the results I am getting. The groups average between 2-3 inches and do not show any consistency. I have worked the loads up in .5 grain increments and played with the overall length with absolutely no change in group size. Bedding is solid with no flex, action screws are set at 60 pounds, scope is proven and the bases are solid....

Thanks for any help on this.

good load..

bullets go downrange, make good groups...

bad load...

steel rain, powder burns..... gas handling...

jeffe

Todd--welcome to the fun (and sometimes aggrevating) world of reloading. It's time to try a different bullet. It's times like this when it's really fun to work with a friend and split a box of bullets just in case your gun does not like them. Don't know what you plan on hunting but if you need a premium bullet it's time to try a partition or swift a-frame. If hunting deer or thin skinned just try some regular hornady (completely different profile than sst's) or sierras. AGain always nice to share 20 bullets of this or that with a buddy.

Kraky is right. You already know the gun will shoot, you just need to find a good hunting bullet that it likes. It's not at all unusual for a very accurate rifle to shoot poorly with particular bullets, so keep looking. Some shoot much better with flat base than boattails, or vice versa.

Also, no need to go straight to premium bullets. I get very good hunting accuracy out of the plain vanilla Hornady and Sierra bullets, as well as Nosler Partitions.

Hmm..I guess thats what I was thinking also. I know every rifle is different but I have had such goog luck with the Varget in .308 I was hesitant to change. Not trying to start the Matchking arguement but I am only hunting deer, should I go with the 178 Amax and be done with it? Hornady does say its ok for deer sized game.

You may have a barrel whose twist, or throat are not compatible to smaller or or particular bullets. Some rifles simply won't shoot certain bullets. It happens quite frequently with flat base bullets vs. boattails. Many won't shoot the latter, which is why some manufacturers make both styles. If it's that finicky with that bullet then try a different one.

Todd C
This load has shot very good in every 308 rifle I have tried it in, from bolt to semi-auto to single shot. Sierra 165gr. HPBT or the 165 Nosler Partition or Nosler Ballistic Tip, 39.5gr of IMR 3031, CCI or Federal Match primer, Federal or Military brass.
When I used 150gr. bullets I used 42gr. of IMR 3031.
I have shot quite a few mod 7,s, all have done very well.

Reloading is fun isn't it? I was given a box of Hornady premium 308 loads (165 grn BT's) and shot the whole box one day while I was playing with a couple of chronographs. At the end of the testing I went up to the target and I had a .86" group for 20 rounds! It took me almost two years to find a handload that would group better than those Hornady factory loads and I wound up using the same 165 grn boattail.

[ 08-21-2003, 02:40: Message edited by: Fjold ]

Barrels are strange at times. Sometimes they either hate or love a particular bullet or powder. Might take and make up a few loads about 2gr below max and use all be various bullets of the desired weight that you can find or beg. Five rounds with each bullet. Ought to be able to come up with 4 or 5 different say 165's. Try these. It may like Hornady over Sierra or Nosler. Maybe Speers? Which bullet does it like. Then take that one bullet and vary the charges up and down. If that powder still does not perform use the best bullet and borrow some other powders from friends and load moderate charges and try again. Instead of Varget you may need 4895, 4064, 2460, TAC, Re15, 760, who knows? I have a 308 that shoots patterns with 3031 and 4895 and one hole groups with 4064. When you find the bullet and powder it likes, then vary the charge to finalize. Like I said, I've had barrels that loved one powder and shot with almost any bullet and others that liked one bullet and various powders. Its all part of the game.

Like the other posters said, time to try a different bullet.
Try the Sierra Gameking and the Nosler Ballistic tip. One of them will shoot well in your rifle.
Both are good deer bullets.
The Varget should be OK, you already know it works well in one of your loads.

Like previously mentioned, I would be very surprised if the Sierra 165 HPBT GameKing did not shoot very well in your rifle. That bullet shoots .5 MOA or less in both of my 308's. I tried Varget, but Vithavouri N550 worked much better. I am sure the Nosler 165 BT would be a good bullet as well.

Shoot Safe, Shoot Straight......RiverRat