OK Ballistics - Thats D.O.P.E. - Oklahoma Gun Forum
This is a sample guest message. Register a free account today to become a member! Once signed in, you'll be able to participate on this site by adding your own topics and posts, as well as connect with other members through your own private inbox!
Tales from the Reloading Room
- Thread starter conditionzero
- Start date
Ruger American standard I can’t afford good toys lol I’m sure there are variables with the stock and where I position the front bag and the way I hold it. I’m just looking to get it an inch or under for hunting I can’t afford to several hundred bullets and pounds of powder
I'm no expert or target shooter, but you got to Find the lands, some of same model rifles got short or long leades/throat.
Size a several cases as normal, start with backing your bullet seater off to where it seats .030 or so (depending on throat leade may have to seat shorter or longer than .030) longer then what you normally seating *(Do not charge or prime these test cases)*.
Use a black sharpie and color bullet from mid to tip, chamber & close bolt gently, you may have to do this several times (with bullet seated longer or shorter) until you find where bullet first contacts lands chambered with bolt fully closed.
Once you find lands, use caliper to measure from bottom of case head to land contact point on bullet (ie book says seat oal 2.8", but you find lands at oal 2.830")
So once you've found lands, you start out loading 5 rounds each ie. at 2.825", 2.820", 2.815", 2.810" & 2.805" or any thousand inch you tweak between ie. 2.8" to 2.830".
Then go shoot those rounds (check pressure signs on cases) and measure your groups to see which oal loading grouped the best, they may stay the same as what you're getting now, but groups may tighten up or widen up.
I've got several 308s.
my lever isn't finicky, doesn't matter what oal I've loaded or brand, type or weight 150, 165 or 180 (sp, btsp, rn, fp, balistic tip etc) bullets, powder (book start to max weight) or primer (wlr or cci34) it does 1 3/4" 5 shot groups at 100yrd all day long.
The 308 I've had the longest been fired enough that the leade lands are eroaded that with its favorite long time load is now near 2 1/2" 5 shot groups, when it used to put all 5 outside to outside under 3/4" at a 100yrds. needs rebarreled, but it still a gtg woods deer & hog rifle (I say that cause they've all been 1 shot drops, if I didn't jinx myself from now on saying that).
My other bolt 308s do bit over 1" to 1 1/2", ar10 does a bit over 1 1/2" with 150 & 165, bout 2 3/4" with p&p 147gr fmjs (some were noshit 5", that 50cal can order of p&p bullets weight from iircc 140 to 153grs, ended up grouping bullets by length then weighting).
Size a several cases as normal, start with backing your bullet seater off to where it seats .030 or so (depending on throat leade may have to seat shorter or longer than .030) longer then what you normally seating *(Do not charge or prime these test cases)*.
Use a black sharpie and color bullet from mid to tip, chamber & close bolt gently, you may have to do this several times (with bullet seated longer or shorter) until you find where bullet first contacts lands chambered with bolt fully closed.
Once you find lands, use caliper to measure from bottom of case head to land contact point on bullet (ie book says seat oal 2.8", but you find lands at oal 2.830")
So once you've found lands, you start out loading 5 rounds each ie. at 2.825", 2.820", 2.815", 2.810" & 2.805" or any thousand inch you tweak between ie. 2.8" to 2.830".
Then go shoot those rounds (check pressure signs on cases) and measure your groups to see which oal loading grouped the best, they may stay the same as what you're getting now, but groups may tighten up or widen up.
I've got several 308s.
my lever isn't finicky, doesn't matter what oal I've loaded or brand, type or weight 150, 165 or 180 (sp, btsp, rn, fp, balistic tip etc) bullets, powder (book start to max weight) or primer (wlr or cci34) it does 1 3/4" 5 shot groups at 100yrd all day long.
The 308 I've had the longest been fired enough that the leade lands are eroaded that with its favorite long time load is now near 2 1/2" 5 shot groups, when it used to put all 5 outside to outside under 3/4" at a 100yrds. needs rebarreled, but it still a gtg woods deer & hog rifle (I say that cause they've all been 1 shot drops, if I didn't jinx myself from now on saying that).
My other bolt 308s do bit over 1" to 1 1/2", ar10 does a bit over 1 1/2" with 150 & 165, bout 2 3/4" with p&p 147gr fmjs (some were noshit 5", that 50cal can order of p&p bullets weight from iircc 140 to 153grs, ended up grouping bullets by length then weighting).
Yes mag size does limit what oal you can load to.
I've loaded a lot of different brand bullets & powder through the years, primers win, cci & wolf, cases are mostly win & lc, small batches of fed, rem & hornaday and even smaller batches of range pick ups.
My most accurate rifle when I do my part is my varmint 22250 is 1/2" 5 shot groups.
Majority of my deer & hog rifles are 1 1/2" avg with soft point "hunting" bullets, which here in oklahoma is good enough, even with my 7rm & 300wm I'd be hard pressed to shoot at an unwounded game much passed 300yrds.
I've loaded a lot of different brand bullets & powder through the years, primers win, cci & wolf, cases are mostly win & lc, small batches of fed, rem & hornaday and even smaller batches of range pick ups.
My most accurate rifle when I do my part is my varmint 22250 is 1/2" 5 shot groups.
Majority of my deer & hog rifles are 1 1/2" avg with soft point "hunting" bullets, which here in oklahoma is good enough, even with my 7rm & 300wm I'd be hard pressed to shoot at an unwounded game much passed 300yrds.
Last edited:
As posted above, have someone else shot the rifle and see how they do with it.
That's the trick.
As I've said, I'm a hunter/provider, not a expert or target shooter.
way back when I was younger and knew I could be a "sharpshooter" hahaha, I bought 168gr "match" sierra, speer, hornaday, nosler bullets and worked up loads in several of my rifles that grouped very well on paper out a ways when I did my part.
But their performance in flesh & bone wasn't much if any different than when I use much cheaper "hunting" bullets, I've loaded & use core lokt, power points, interlock, hot cores, nosler sp & balistic tips, vmax, spsx, game kings & lead bullets I've cast.
shot placement means everything, put a decent bullet in the right spot and game drops with a quick death, put it in wrong spot and game suffers a misserable death.
I'm fat & lazy, I've passed up shots that I felt would cause a sufferable death, that I would have taken if I was skinny & starving, it's easy to wait for a bit till game moves for better shot placement.
Last edited:
adamsredlines
Member
Epic weekend of stuff, idk if I'll have time to get it set up when I get home before the next trip, but "Dillon Customer Service" helped me land a RL1050 (will be for 5.56 and 300blk), 3k pieces of LC 5.56 brass, 4# of Varget, 4# of 4320 and a bunch of misc stuff. Will have to move my XL750 a little to make room, but man I'm pumped.
adamsredlines
Member
Geez, get your own equipment already!
