Longer range bullet for AI .308 26" barrel 1-12 twist.

[JCalleja91]

Nice one. Thanks again.

[Richiew]

10 minutes ago, JCalleja91 said:

Nice thanks. 

What about for 800-900? I hoping to give PRS a try this year and from what I can tell that's the max distance they have targets at.

Slow and heavy work best for the long stuff . 2600 fps from 175-185s is going to be good. Twist rates on the boxes all good for the AI 

[Richiew]

I was struggling at eskdalemuir with the targets at 900 + . And at 1014 yards very difficult in the wind to gauge hits , needed 10.4 mils up so the bullets are dropping in quite steeply . The 155 Sierra TMKS worked well but were  very near to magazine length at 2.9” overall length. These were first hit shots on a 2 pint milk bottle at 700 yards . Federal factory ammo is usually Sierra bullets but also very hard to find. Enjoy the weekend, cheers 

[No i deer]

2 hours ago, Richiew said:

I was struggling at eskdalemuir with the targets at 900 + . And at 1014 yards very difficult in the wind to gauge hits , needed 10.4 mils up so the bullets are dropping in quite steeply . The 155 Sierra TMKS worked well but were  very near to magazine length at 2.9” overall length. These were first hit shots on a 2 pint milk bottle at 700 yards . Federal factory ammo is usually Sierra bullets but also very hard to find. Enjoy the weekend, cheers 

Get yourself a 300wsm or a 7mm rsaum

[Richiew]

Would love a 7 mm . They seem to be the best of both worlds good bc and long long bullets bucking the wind . 30 prc ?? . Lots to look into for the future . Cheers 

[Richiew]

What about the 7-300 ????

[No i deer]

A 300 win mag with the right twist.

Personally I like the 7mm's in the form of a saum or a 7mm 270 but you'd need a magnum bolt face...

I too have a 284 with a 26 inch barrel I use for 1000yds snapshooting which has the same bolt face as a 308 but its a long action which is your main prob being you have a short action. 

I guess you could single feed 

[No i deer]

Whatever you go for make sure you have a good stock of the bullets you want first.

[Richiew]

Got a good supply of juggs so a 300 win mag could be the way forward . We will see . Cheers 

[Brillo]

I’ve only now discovered this query. I suggest trying the Lapua 175 Scenar L.

They are available and pushed with Viht N150 are superbly accurate.

[Laurie]

3 hours ago, Brillo said:

I’ve only now discovered this query. I suggest trying the Lapua 175 Scenar L.

They are available and pushed with Viht N150 are superbly accurate.

 

They are superbly made bullets and do shoot very well in most barrels. Sadly though, considering they are a much more recent design, they are to all intents and purposes ballistically identical to the previous generation 175gn SMK. Bryan Litz gives them average G7 BCs of 0.243 and 0.247, so close that the difference could be accounted for in his test methodology accuracy parameters.

Altcar based Team 101RC, largely if not entirely comprising GB FTR team members, received Lapua sponsorship some years ago in the form of help with Lapua / Viht components and used this bullet extensively. My understanding speaking to one of the team is that performance was superb up to 800 yards, started to maybe just falter at 900 and, up against those shooting Bergers, were uncompetitive at 1,000 yards. That was in full FTR spec rifles with 30-inch or longer barrels and what would be muscular loads in small primer brass, so the 26-inch barrel AI would suffer beyond 800 maximum with the combination. Which I exactly what I found with the 175 SMK in a shorter-barrel rifle ten or so years ago.

At that time, pre-185 Juggernaut, the best available option was the 190gn Sierra MK with a stiff load of Viht N550. Sadly, given today's supply situation, we may not have moved on far from that option. And yes, before anyone queries it, the 190 SMK and 185 Juggernaut both shoot very well in 12-inch twists, even though they're theoretically marginally under-rotated according to the current more demanding stabilisation criteria.

[Brillo]

A superb analysis as usual Laurie.

A fellow F TR shooter and ex Team GB shooter had a great deal of success with this bullet through his 1:11 32” barrel. Even out to 1000 yards it grouped exceedingly well.

 I wasn’t able to achieve the same performance, but it was enough for me to try that bullet in my AW. Up to 600 yards the results were very satisfactory

I have no doubt the 26” barrel wouldn’t have the legs to compete at distances beyond 800 yards. 

[VarmLR]

 I found the venerable 190 smk was superb (non comp use) at 1000 yds in a 1/11 twist 24 inch barrel and bettered my success with the 175gr version, despite the lowly 2540 fps MV!

[Aris]

4 hours ago, Uvth45 said:

I run the 155 Lapua ones n my AL AW 26" barrel that has the original 1:12 twist English barrel setup and it works well. I can also hit at 1000 without a problem.

Got any load data you can share?

On 8/14/2022 at 8:43 PM, VarmLR said:

 I found the venerable 190 smk was superb (non comp use) at 1000 yds in a 1/11 twist 24 inch barrel and bettered my success with the 175gr version, despite the lowly 2540 fps MV!

What sort of load and powder?   I note that Vhit have load data for both N140 and N150.

[Ralpharama]

My Sabatti STR is similar spec and using Hornady 178gr ELD-Ms I have had really good grouping. I haven't shot to 100yards with it as I have a .300WM for that, but according to Strelok the bullets are still supersonic at 1000yards suggesting that it should be OK at 1000. Using RS52 powder

Using 208gr ELD-Ms in my .300WM it is grouping really well at 1000yards and is still supersonic at 1400yards. The 195gr TMKs I used previously went transonic at 1250ish. Using RS70 powder

[Coops]

If you can get them, the Berger 155.5 fullbore are really excellent.