getting started with a Savage BVSS in .308

[jime444]

Picked up a Savage 12BVSS in .308, 1in10 twist, low round count, under 100 or so. Known gun, I've seen it shoot, 0.5moa groups several times at 100 yds with jacketed bullets.
Would love to shoot it with the local benchrest cast bullet group and like it to be reasonably competitive; hopefully 1-1.25 moa. A few questions, if I may:
1. what bullet? 311299 or 314299 or?
2. Alloy?
3. neck tension?
4. I'd like to shoot it with 2400, 16-18gr. any other powders/load that will work?

Any info you can share would be great.
Thanks in advance.
Jim

[old woody]

I too would like to see the answers to your questions as I have a similar rifle. My limited efforts were disappointing !!

[Texas by God]

jime444- Welcome to the forum. You will find hundreds of years of combined experience here. And nice folks willing to share it.

[Tom W.]

I had the single shot model. I couldn't get it to shoot cast, although it was probably my fault. 1000 yards with a 16x and Sierra Match Kings was not much of a problem.

[tomme boy]

The barrels on these are really rough. I had one that tore patches till I had around 500rnds through it of jacketed to smooth it up.

[Texas by God]

I haven't tried it in the .308, but the Lee C309fp cast from water quenched wheel weights on top of IMR 3031 shoots well in my 10" twist 30-30 rifle.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G930A using Tapatalk

[waco]

You might try this boolit. It was designed for the .308 throat. http://noebulletmolds.com/NV/product...oducts_id=1177
I have the plain base version and it cuts holes at 100 yards in my Rem. 788 in .308 with 10.5gr of Redot.
ACCOWW plus 1% Sn would work. Lots of powders will work well to put you in the 1600-2000fps range.
I'd shoot for around 16-1800.
I use an RCBS .310" neck expander die for my .308's
Waco

[waco]

[tomme boy]

Waco. That was designed to shoot accurately to 2200fps in a 10 twist. I was able to push it to 2400 before it really went haywire. Someone with more knowledge than me and a more careful caster could push it harder.

Another one that shoots really well in 308 is this one I had made. It was made for the 308win also. Runfiverun loves it in his A10. http://www.accuratemolds.com/bullet_...=31-165A-D.png

[waco]

That Accurate mold is on my short list.....

[jime444]

any more bullet suggestions? NOE or Accurate molds?

[waco]

I have heard that the original Saeco 315 or either copy( NOE or Accurate) is a great boolit to try. It's on my list.
http://noebulletmolds.com/NV/product...roducts_id=473

[jime444]

Help!!!!!! Well, that was a disaster with the Savage BVSS....... Couldn't keep them on the target at 100 yds....and the rifle leaded up after 4-5 shots near the muzzle......Tried the NOE hunter, sized .310 in WW plus 2%tin and 16-18gr of 2400.........cases neck sized with a .311 die. not impressed at all. I guess I'll take a chamber/throat/leade cast and send it to someone who can help me.........Man, that was disappointing............especially after all that work.

[waco]

How did you sort your boolits?
Was all your brass fully prepped?
What dies are you using?
Were the boolits seated to engage the rifling or was there a "jump"? If so, how much?
Was this a GC or PB boolit?
If GC, were the GC's seated squarely on the boolit?
It seems odd you had that bad of results....
I would also maybe try sizing to .311"
I'm sure others will chime in with more suggestions.

[jime444]

here's the details: brass prepped: Remington brass, FL sized to just chamber (used a headspace mic to verify consistency), all trimmed to maximum length 2.015, Lee expander plug .311 and just enough bell mouth to load the bullet by hand.
bullets: CWW plus 2%tin; all weighed +/-0.3 gr. gator gas check, run thru .310 sizer of Lyman 450 plus gas check tool.......
powder, weighed charges of 2400; 16-18 gr +/- 0.1, no chrono used.
dies: RCBS seating die, backed off for now crimp; bullets seated into the lands, touching+, engraving lands. no crimp. runout was less than .003in.

that sucked..........I'd rather throw rocks......it's cheaper. very disappointing, thought I'd be much better than that...... Spent 1/2 hour gett'n (mining) the lead out.......the only funny thing noted was bullet nose distorted a bit (.001-.002, got thicker) during sizing. Is my alloy too soft? or, do I need to get a lot harder, like #2 or even linotype metal? or, something even more drastic.......

[Jr.]

As suggested before, the savage barrels need a "break in" before they smooth out. There are many different procedures out there but basically you just need to run enough jacketed rounds through it to glaze the barrel and make it smooth out a little bit.

[Larry Gibson]

What lube?

You might WQ the bullets immediately after cutting the sprue to harden them. Also suggest H4895 powder starting at 25 gr and work up to 29 gr. Use a Dacron filler.

Also NS the cases.

[jime444]

lube was beeswax/alox blend, similar to SPG, should work fine at 1400-1600 fps.....coudnt believe I got leading with a tight bullet at those velocities.........maybe I'll try firelapping the bore to help smooth it up.........am I too soft? what are you guys using for bullet hardness?

[robg]

Lee 160 or 180 boolit works for me over 18 gr 2400 lla lubed and hornady gas check. gas Check in neck of case crimped in fcd .

[Larry Gibson]

I wouldn't firelap the bore. Leading at the muzzle is an indication the bullet isn't carrying enough lube or the lube is deficient. The NOE Hunter bullet should have sufficient lube capacity so that leaves the lube you're using isn't up to the task.

I suggest switching to a lube of proven performance for the job at hand. I suggest Lar's White Label 2500+ or the NRA 50/50 formula.