Need advice

[erbse]

Previously used SAKO factory rounds with 180 gr. Nosler Accubonds out of a 20” barrel with a 1:12 twist and was very happy with the accuracy and its terminal performance. The sad part is that SAKO don’t produce them any more and my remaining 14 rounds will not last forever.

I decided to start loading them myself and found out that SAKO used 41.6 gr of N140 but searching around on the Internet most recommendations are towards Varget, IMR4895 and Norma 202. What would you suggest me to use?

Will the BR primers offer an advantage over the regular CCI primers?

Thx, Robert

 

[Antelope_Sniper]

20" barrel. Thats nice. What chamber is cut into it?

 

[erbse]

Sorry, forgot to mention. Its a .308 (Steyr ProHunter)

 

[DrMike]

Welcome to the forum; it is good to have you aboard. Give us a post and tell us a little about your hunting experiences in Austria.

In answer to your post, you may have an advantage using BR primers over standard primers, but not necessarily. They should give more consistency, but not necessarily greater accuracy. Forty-one point six grains of N140 is a mild load with a 180 grain Partition; QuickLOAD projects a maximum load of ~43.5 grains of N140. However, realistically, the velocity difference is less than 100 fps. Varget is an excellent powder for the .308, and a maximum charge of 44.5 grains will yield a little more than 100 fps over a maximum charge of N140. IMR 4895 and Norma 202 each produces similar, or slightly higher velocities to that provided by Varget. Depending on the style of hunting you do and your need for longer distance, the extra velocity may or may not be critical. Since you have been using the Sako factory cartridges, I suspect that you have not felt the need for greater velocity. I would stay with VN140, since you have had success with their load. Develop your load so that you know what you have, and that will allow time to play with other powders as you have opportunity.

The Pro Hunter is a sweet little rifle.

 

[Antelope_Sniper]

Varget was designed specifically for the .308, so it's usually a good starting point. Alot of competitoins are won with the .308 and Varget.
I've had good luck with another old classic .308 powder, BL(c)-2. It's a ball powder, and it does like the Benchrest primers. H-380 also works well with the heavier bullets. The .308 is easy to load for, i suspect you will find several good load for your Sako.

 

[erbse]

Thanks for the quick reply.

The BR Primers may bring an advantage due to more consistency and the price difference is not really an issue so I will take them.

SAKO used a light load in their factory rounds which is an understandable safety issue as their ammunition might end up in various rifles with all types of bolts and lugs.

N140 is an option to copy the load as a starting point and then increase towards 43.5 - watch for pressure signs and try to find accuracy spots with the option to gain a little v0.

Varget has the potential to give me an additional 100fps (=30m/s which I would have use for) IMR 4895 and Norma 202 are in the same speed range as Varget (will consider price and availability)

Considering my short barrel and the 12” twist – will the powder actually create speed or just a nice loud firework at the muzzle? Will be interesting to find out.

We mostly hunt for chamois, deer and red deer.
Deer is usually in the range of 50 to 200m so never a problem. Chamois usually require a 300m shot on a relatively small target. Red deer can happen at any distance but with a kill zone of a shoebox size they are normally not an issue. The red deer limiting factor is the weight of the bull in relation to the energy at the distance.

I am a believer of the “one rifle is enough to shoot all” theory with a few exceptions like
– marmouts and wood grouse prefer smaller bullets
– if I want the fur a .308 is not appropriate for a fox (but to protect the wood grouse population from potential fox danger can be done with a .308)

Thank you for the compliments regarding my “sweet little” ProHunter. Since we have a lot of Mountains I don’t really want to carry a bigger and heavier artillery. The rifle is equipped with a Zeiss 3-12x Scope with the Rapid Z5 recticle. With this recticle a higher v0 means that I can use a higher magnification - which is helpful in long range shots. Currently I am limited to 8x as the bullet drops 50cm at 300m. To use the 12x magnification I would need a bullet drop of 33 cm at 300m but this would require a v0 of 3100fps – not very realistic.

Maybe I should look at the 165 gr AccuBond as an option.

 

[DrMike]

A stiff charge of Varget (2.852 grams) behind a 165 grain AB will net you a velocity of ~801 m/s, which is quite good for your Pro Hunter. A 2.981 charge of BL-C(2) will give you slightly more velocity (816), and might be another powder to consider. The same holds true for 2.851 grams of IMR 4895 (814 m/s). Norma 202 (2.754 grams) gives approximately the same velocity as does Varget. There is ample mass in the 165 AccuBond, which also has great bullet integrity, to ensure a quick kill on red deer when the bullet is placed in the vitals. I really like the Zeiss scopes (I have several Diavaris and a few Conquests). The new ones are very good indeed. I have recently been adding more Swarovski and Kahles scopes to my collection than Zeiss, but this is the result of incentives rather than selection of one over another. As you work up your loads, do keep us informed of your work.

 

[SJB358]

Take Mikes advice, he loads for many more rifle than any of us and usually has alot of range time behind multiple rifles. If he says they work, I would probably bet on it.

Varget is an awesome powder as is RL15. Both of those have worked well for me. Scotty