Savage 12 F T/R .308 175gr SMK shooters... have questions

[NoahbodyImportant]

Using the Hornady OAL gauge and 175gr SMK touching the lands, I get a ogive measurement of 2.250. Does this sound right?

Do you seat jammed to the lands, .010, .020, .0.30, more or less?

I have tried and still trying different seating depths using 43gr of Varget and LC brass. Im looking for that last bit of accuracy.

Using the ogive measurement of 2.250 and jumping .045 gives me an ogive measurement of 2.205 and an approximate OAL of 2.805. (had a few primers not go off, not sure if bad primers--overall not too bad)

Using the ogive measurement of 2.250 and jumping .035 gives me an ogive measurement of 2.215 and an approximate OAL of 2.815. (had a few primers not go off, not sure if bad primers--overall not too bad)

Using the ogive measurement of 2.250 and jumping .050 gives me an ogive measurement of 2.200 and an approximate OAL of 2.800. (is this too much of a jump? -- how important is staying close to 2.800 if not using a magazine?)

Using the ogive measurement of 2.250 and jumping .020 gives me an ogive measurement of 2.230 and an approximate OAL of 2.830. (my next load to test)

Thought or suggestions?

Thank you

[tiny68]

Your load of 43.0 gr of Varget is a good starting place. I would suggest starting with a 0.020" jump and start working up in 0.3 gr increments until you get the best group. Once you get the best group with charge, start playing with the jump and jam. It doesn't what works in our gun when you are fine tuning your loads. Each barrel has a mine of its own. My particular is 44.5 gr RE-15, Fed 210M, 175 SMK in Lapua brass. I use 44.0 gr of Varget, I prefer RE-15. I run with a 3.005 OAL and I still have a 0.015" jump. Experience a way and have fun doing.

Luck, Tim

[darkker]

I almost ALWAYS use a .03125" Jump and find the results perfectly acceptable. For my 1,000 yard MOA load I use a .015625" jump.
MY 10FP that means around a 2.8", but I'm not home to tell you. Every rifle is different, and the 175 SMK in my gun seems to be quite insensitive to jump.

Hope you have better results with Varget than I did. FWIW I moved to Win 748

[Deerhunter 28]

Ogive on SMK will vary
Sort bullets


PSE EVO 57 Lbs.
Blacked out

[memilanuk]

darkker,

Seating depth to five digits... cute. Most of the known world seems to get acceptable results with Varget. Win748/BLC2 work great through a powder thrower though.

Noah,

Take the 43.0gn starting point, load up some foulers and then three each @ -15, -20, -25, -30. Let the rifle tell you what seating depth it likes - I'd wager somewhere between -20 to -30. Once you have a seating depth it likes (mag length and book listed OAL don't matter when single-loading) start working up the charge weights in a controlled fashion. Go up in 0.3gn increments as described by Tim, possibly going back over a promising looking series with 0.2gn increments.

Deerhunter,

They don't vary enough to matter for basic beginning load development like this. For LR precision, yes. 100yds... no.

[darkker]

darkker,

Seating depth to five digits... cute. Most of the known world seems to get acceptable results with Varget. Win748/BLC2 work great through a powder thrower though.

Sorry I did the math, maybe this is better:
My rifle personally likes about half the jump suggested by Lee, his suggestion is 1/32".

"Most of the known world" also thought that the world was flat not too long ago, and monsters were off the edge.
If you like it, good for you! Which is why I wished him better luck than I had.
I find Varget to be a bit dodgy near the upper end of it's operating pressure. It does some strange things, and I couldn't achieve MOA @ my 1,000 yard gong.
I have not found that to be the case with 748. It is perfectly happy with any load, and has a range of charges that will hold MOA for me at that distance.
I left BL-C(2) behind, because over the past several years they have had some absolutely WICKED lot variations. I find it annoying to have to begin from scratch every time a new 8# jug is opened.

The OP said he was looking for "Thought or Suggestions" for "that last bit of accuracy". He never said anything about beginning load development, or 100 yards.

[memilanuk]

Sorry I did the math, maybe this is better:
My rifle personally likes about half the jump suggested by Lee, his suggestion is 1/32".

Most people just use a set of calipers rather than screw around with fraction... or the math.


"Most of the known world" also thought that the world was flat not too long ago, and monsters were off the edge.
If you like it, good for you! Which is why I wished him better luck than I had. I find Varget to be a bit dodgy near the upper end of it's operating pressure. It does some strange things, and I couldn't achieve MOA @ my 1,000 yard gong.

Having gone thru... oh about seventy pounds of it in the last five or six years... and knowing most of the US FTR team... most of whom use VARGET, and almost none of which run 'mild' loads... I'd say you had something else weird going on, possibly not related to Varget.


The OP said he was looking for "Thought or Suggestions" for "that last bit of accuracy". He never said anything about beginning load development, or 100 yards.

IMO... if someone is still dithering about basic seating depth as evidenced in the first post in this thread, then they best be working out the kinks @ 100-300yds first and not worrying about sorting bullets.

[NoahbodyImportant]

Correct, this is not for 100 yards or my first load development. It first started when I was not sure of the ogive measurement as every time I did it, I came up with different numbers. I had no idea how far from the lands I actually was. Recently, I had somebody else use my tools and came up with a consistent ogive measurement. I must have not used constant pressure or something. My actual ogive measurement is 2.250.

I have been shooting F-Open at 600 yards this season. Out of 3 of the last 4 matches, I have shot master classification scores. I have had some unexplained 9s and trying to figure it out.

This weekend I seated some rounds touching the lands at 2.250 using 43.0gr of Varget. 43g of Varget has been my solid powder load this year. This worked out fairly well.

Yesterday, I worked up some loads, increasing by .2, from 43.0 to 44.0. My best result at 600 yards was with 43.8g of Varget, seated to the lands of 2.250, OAL at 2.850. The 5 shot group was 2 1/2 inches. I will try this load at the next match.

[jim_k]

If you're in the South, Win 748 will be very sensitive to the heat, but shoots well when cool. All those other comments are correct. All I want to mention is that seating exactly on the lands is best avoided, since any variation in seating depth will make the rounds either into the lands or off the lands, and that will never work. Seat about 5 thou into the lands, or 5 thou off the lands, as the closest distance to the lands. And, frankly, probably a better starting point is 10 thou off, then try different jumps. My most accurate stuff has been off the lands a mile or so, using Berger VLD's, in a 6.5 x 55. I wouldn't bother jamming into the lands, even though I have never noticed any pressure issues jamming bullets. Still, no point doing it that I can see.
Jim

[Dennis]

OP, 43.5grns of Varget, WLR primers, .002 to .010 off the lands with 175smk's does the trick on my rifle. SMK's in my rifles never liked touching or being in the lands, FYI