long leade 308

[nova1194]

I picked up a model 11 long range hunter in 308 yesterday, measured the throat thinking I would take it out and do some testing starting with the current load I have been using in my 10FP barrel for the last few years, no dice. My current load using 46grains of Varget and 150 grain sierra game king would be jumping .060. To get the bullet where it needs to be to start testing, which I usually start at .020 off the lands and go from there, would only leave .250 or so in the neck.
Are all of the newer LRP and LRH rifles throated like this for heavier bullets? If so anybody have any issues with loads that have only .250 of bullet in the neck?
Its a hunting rifle, not competition, have had great success over the last several years with the 150gr game king and accubonds on mule deer and elk inside of 350 yards and wanted to stick with that weight range if possible.

Thanks,
Mike

[big honkin jeep]

I think every Savage I have has a rather short distance to the lands.
I like to start testing loads jammed and have never had a problem easily achieving that with 110 based Savages no matter the caliber using average for bore bullets.

[Robinhood]

It has been my experience that .060 is about right on the money. Sierra says load them to 2.750. Start there. I bet you will be happy.

[nova1194]

All of my other savages are rather short to the lands as well, my 10 FP barrel is 2.778 to the lands, this one is 2.840 with the same bullet. Guess we will give it a try and see wha happens. I called a friend of mine who also has a newer production rifle and his is the same as my new one, guess they have opened up the throat dimension at some point in the last few years.
I will start out at 2.800 and go up and down from there.
Gave me a chance to give it a good look over, was kind of disapointed in the accustock, hitting the barrel hard on the right side at the tip of the fore end, grabbed a dowel and did a little sanding, much better now. made a few test loads, hope to get out one night this week.


Thanks,
Mike

[bigedp51]

I notice rifles chambered in .223 and .308 have longer throats, I assumed that this was because of the possibility of shooting military and foreign surplus ammo.

Many rifle chambers today have room for the cartridge plus the company lawyer.

[celltech]

My Axis .223 measures out .007" longer than my Xcal .223 Wylde barrel and a full .1" longer than my stock 12FV.

[CFJunkie]

I think that Savage changed their specs for chamber depth about 5 years ago.
I bought a 10 FP .308 in 2007 that had a deep chamber that was 0.080 longer than SAAMI 2.800 when it was new.

It was accurate out of the box.

After about 6500 rounds, 0.090 erosion resulted in a chamber that was 0.170 deep.
When I increased O.A.L. to accommodate it, I started to experience some inconsistency in neck tension with the bullets seated out so long.
In 2013, I had Savage replace the barrel and it came back from the factory with a chamber that was 0.006 short of SAAMI and the replacement barrel was more accurate than the original.

At about the same time, I bought a new 10 FCP-K .308 and it also had a chamber just short of SAAMI by about 0.002. It also was very accurate.
Both rifle barrels now have over 3800 rounds down range and are shooting great, actually better than ever because the nut behind the trigger is more stable.

Since 2014, I've bought 3 Savages in different calibers (2 in 6.5 Creedmoor & one in .22-250) with chambers that were very close to SAAMI for their calibers and all were very accurate out of the box.
I concluded that some time prior to 2013, Savage made the decision to set up their barrels with chambers closer to SAAMI recommendations, perhaps to increase accuracy.

I suspect that you might have an older Savage that was manufactured before they changed their approach to setting up chambers.

[Stumpkiller]

My M11 in .260 Rem (I think it's a post 2013 but would be close) lets me set the longer 140 gr. & up bullets out to 0.10" past the SAAMI 2.800" COL spec. if necessary. Happily the magazines and feed geometry also have room to accommodate the length.

I'm at 2.272" to the lands, which is 0.0061" longer than SAAMI minimum. Gives me a good flexibility with the older style tangent/non-secant Sierra GameKing and Nosler bullets without too much intrusion into the case. 1:8" twist as well. The 6.5 Creedmoor ain't got nuttin on me. ;-)

Thank's Savage!

[mnbogboy2]

I picked up a model 11 long range hunter in 308 yesterday, measured the throat thinking I would take it out and do some testing starting with the current load I have been using in my 10FP barrel for the last few years, no dice. My current load using 46grains of Varget and 150 grain sierra game king would be jumping .060. To get the bullet where it needs to be to start testing, which I usually start at .020 off the lands and go from there, would only leave .250 or so in the neck.
Are all of the newer LRP and LRH rifles throated like this for heavier bullets? If so anybody have any issues with loads that have only .250 of bullet in the neck?
Its a hunting rifle, not competition, have had great success over the last several years with the 150gr game king and accubonds on mule deer and elk inside of 350 yards and wanted to stick with that weight range if possible.

Thanks,
Mike

.250 in the neck is plenty as long as they are reasonably concentric. I've run lighter bullets in a 6.5 Swede with only .125 in the neck with no problems. Swedes had a long throat for heavier bullets also.
You will be fine, start your load work up.