208gr pills in a barrel throated for 190s

[pepper savage 111]

Does anyone know of any reason why this wouldn't be accurate? I have an unfired 16" .308 barrel from Jim at Apache and I have a ton of 208gr bullets. I've never owned a barrel that was specifically designed for a particular weight bullet so I'm not sure how well this would work out with 208gr pills. I figure it's easier to approach the lands if I go heavier due to the increased bearing surface of the heavier bullet but I'm not 100% on the benefits/drawbacks of doing so.

[yew plucker]

Do you have a 10 twist? What velocity do you get with a .308? Or are you shooting a winmag?

[pepper savage 111]

It's an 11 twist. Not sure on velocity. I haven't built a load to chrono yet. It's going to be a 500 yard max rig with the majority if it's shooting being between 100 and 300 yards. It's standard 308 win. Not winmag

[Londerko]

The 208 will touch the lands closer than optional (bullet seated deeper = less case capacity) not sure about the twist rate if an 11 twist will stabilize it or not. Those 208s will be going pretty slow though, I bet 2300fps or less out of a 16" tube

[LongRange]

the problem will be case capacity...you should be able to get them to shoot but its going to be like lobbing bricks lol.

[yew plucker]

Lapua puts a 190 grain match bullet in some of their .308 competition loads. Those are popular in Europe. They get around 2500 fps out of them, longer barrels though. With a 16" you're gonna have a challenge getting useful velocity with that heavy a bullet.

Good Luck!

[Robinhood]

waste of lead in my opinion. The SMK 175 would work well in your app. So would the 168 and 155's. That is unless you were shooting say an elk or bear or hog, in that case it would be strong medicine.

[pepper savage 111]

This will not be a hunting rig. Will 178gr amax bullets still have enough bearing surface in the nrck if loaded to the lands?

[upSLIDEdown]

At 500 yds and in, you'll be better off with 155s or 168s. No reason at all for anything heavy at that distance. If the barrel is throated for 190s though, you'll probably be jumping them a lot.

[pepper savage 111]

That's ultimately what I'm trying to avoid.

[pepper savage 111]

If I invest in 190gr SMKs, will they stabilize in the 16.5" 11twist tube?

[FW Conch]

No disrespect meant, but you bought a "specially" barrel. You either have to deal with what you have as best you can or sell it.

I bought one of those barrels in 25". I knew what I was getting when I bought it, and I fully intend to "lob bricks". I like to shoot deer with slow, heavy pills :-). My only regret, one was sold later that had a 10 twist, but I think the 11 will be ok.

I suggest you try long for weight bullets. Barnes would be a good choice, and they should be .050" off the lands. This right there can help a lot. Nosler Accubonds are long and have a short boat tail, also a good candidate. Hopefully, pills like this will stabilize with the 11 twist?

But the world does not begin and end "getting close to the lands". I have a 30/06 that shoots it's best load .160" off the lands.

I intend to try 165/168grn pills loaded as long as I can, and see how they do. I suggest you do the same.

Or buy the barrel you really want :-).

Good Luck...Good Shooting...Jim

[pepper savage 111]

Thanks, Jim. I knew I got a specialty barrel I'm just curious if I can use the components I have or if I absolutely need to buy different bullets. This barrel is awesome and I intend to keep it but I just want to avoid taking shots in the dark(pun intended) when it comes to developing a load.

[FW Conch]

Please let us know how it works out. :-)

[pepper savage 111]

Sooo.... new development. I tested seating depth on this barrel and I'm averaging 2.206.5" ogive to head with a federal lake city xm80 cas and 178gr amax. I then measured a factory federal lake city xm80 and it came in at 2.208" ogive to head. Either I'm missing something or this barrel isn't throated for 190gr pills.

[FW Conch]

"111", it would also be helpful for us to know the COAL you came up with, since almost all manuals and recipes go by it.

And I bet the 190 it was throated for was a VLD, SMK, etc.? They have a much different ogive than the Amax.

Uh... Or is that what is loaded in the Federal Lake City xm80 ???

[pepper savage 111]

Conch- I never use COAL as I find it irrelevant when projectile performance is more sensitive to seating depth in relation to the lands. The factory federal lake city uses a 149gr fmj. The amax cartridge I tested was housed in a federal lake city case from the same lot, unfired with the bullet pulled using an RCBS kinetic puller.

[FW Conch]

OK...since I don't have pills from your lot to measure, I guess we don't have anything else to talk about ? :-)

[upSLIDEdown]

The gun is posted for sale anyway, so I'm not sure why this thread is even still going to be honest... Lol

[pepper savage 111]

I have 2 of them. The one for sale was for a friend but funds fell through. Neither has been shot yet, though.

[upSLIDEdown]

Ahhh, gotcha. Well, what are you waiting on?! Lol

[pepper savage 111]

Well, before I tested seating depth and found the readings to be similar to factory loads, I was looking for advice on if my current components would give satisfactory results. But now I'm just waiting for the weekend to see how the factory loads perform.