308 Win. a good choice?

[Steelbanger]

I'm kicking around the idea to buy a precision rifle to use strictly for serious cast bullet shooting. There are quite a few choices available from Savage, Remington, and Ruger. I am leaning toward the Ruger because I have had a fondness for the M77's since they were first introduced back in the 70's. Intended use would be 95% bench shooting with the remaining 5% dedicated to chuck hunting although I haven't killed a chuck in years.
Seems there should be much enjoyment with a heavy barreled 308 shooting cast. Besides, I have a Leupold 10X sitting unused that needs to get back to work.

Your thoughts please. Thank you.

[Ben]

My good friend Denis just bought a new Howa 308 Win. , hvy barrel for $400.

The Howa's seems to have a very good reputation as being real shooters for the amount of money that you're paying.

I own a custom hvy barrel, stainless barrel , fluted .308 Win., on a VZ-24 , Mauser 98 action. It is a shooter also.

Might be worth looking into ?

Ben

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v494/haysb/VZ%2024%20Flutted/PICT0007.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v494/haysb/VZ%2024%20Flutted/IMG_1075.jpg

[koehn,jim]

Personally i use a 25-06 for bench shooting,excellent accuracy and great with cast. It would depend on the distance you shoot at and if you want to do sil targets or paper. I am limited to 300 yards at the local range, so 308 is overkill. I also like the challenge of the smaller caliber.

[sundog]

If this is going to be a cast boolit launcher, my preference would be for a heavy barrel model with a twist slower than 10, maybe with pillar bedding or a bedding block. Take it out of the box and go shoot. Unlike Koehn, I do not feel that the .308 is over kill at all, even at 100 yards. It's a really fun cartridge to play with at any range - especially with real boolits.

[NHlever]

Personally i use a 25-06 for bench shooting,excellent accuracy and great with cast. It would depend on the distance you shoot at and if you want to do sil targets or paper. I am limited to 300 yards at the local range, so 308 is overkill. I also like the challenge of the smaller caliber.

That is interesting. I've been looking at the 25-06 data lately myself. I have a light .257 Roberts that I've had fun with, and have thought about one of the Ruger No.1 A's that are currently available in that caliber. I was worried that the 25-06 would just have too much case capacity to work well. I don't want to hijack this thread, but I would be interested in anything you can add via a PM, or here. I do know where there is a very nice 25-06 for sale, and I have the Lyman 257312, and 257420 molds, and lots of boolits from them already cast. I also have the 70 something Loverin mold, but can't remember the number off hand. I expect that one of the heavier boolits would work better?

By the way, I have been having lots of fun with my Remington 700 SPS too! It is a good shooter for not having a really heavy barrel. My .223 SPS has been a really pleasant surprise too. Lots of fun with very little powder, or lead. I've been getting good groups, and surprisingly good case sealing with as little as 3 grains of Red Dot behind the "new" Lyman 225415 55 grain boolit. Groups 1" and under are no problem at 50 yards, and it was fun shooting wild apples out of the tree by the 100 yard butt with it last fall.

[felix]

Yep a 308 at 12-14 twist would be fun. Also, just to be a little different, a 308 necked up to 323 with a 16 twister using the RCBS 170 grainer. ... felix

[Steelbanger]

Seems like every model I looked at on line has the 10" twist. I have molds from 130 to 190 grain but plan on shooting the heavier cast bullets.

[Larry Gibson]

Seems like every model I looked at on line has the 10" twist. I have molds from 130 to 190 grain but plan on shooting the heavier cast bullets.

That's why if you want one for cast only then building what you want instead of making do would be the best option. The 14" twist is excellent with cast bullets of at least 180 gr weight. That twist is generally refered to as a "Palma" twist. I get excellent accuracy in mine with the right bullets upwards of 2600+ fps without any leading or fouling. A 16" twist might also be considered if bullets of 160 gr or less are considered.

Felix's idea of a 32-308 with a 16" twist is intriging to say the least.

There are some used factory rifles with 12" twists (the original twst for the .308W) around that would be better than the 10" twist. I've been shooting cast in .308Ws for years with 10, 11, 12 and 14" twists. The 14" twist is by far the best and the 12" twist is the best for factory barrels. BTW; Palma barrels also come in 13" twists which probably isn't bad either. The nice thing about the slower twists is the easy of accuracy with medium and heavier bullets with the medium and slower burning powders. Higher velocities with excellent accuracy into the 2100 - 2600 fps range are not difficult to accomplish. That is difficult with 10" twists. If 50 and 100 yard shooting is all that is planned then the twist probably doesn't mater. However when going to 200 yards and beyond higher velocity with accuracy means less sight adjustment and error and less wind drift.

Larry Gibson

[gnoahhh]

I would think that if an out-of-the-box factory rifle in .30 cal is the goal for shooting lead, then one could do a lot worse than a .308. Too bad there aren't any heavy barreled factory bolt guns or single shots chambered in .30/30 or .308x1 1/2. The closest I ever came to something like that was a M54 Winchester in .30/30. Would that it were still being made!

[Kraschenbirn]

My McGowan-barreled M700 is a 10" twist and I've obtained pretty decent results with Lyman 311466 (162 gr w/gc), old reliable Lyman 311291 (175 gr w/gc), and the Lee 309-200-1R (198 gr w/gc). As a comparison, rifle consistently prints sub-MOA with Sierra 168 MKs and will hold between 1 1/2 and 2 moa out past 200M with my cast loads.

Bill

[DragoonDrake]

Savage has the 12 Palma that is a 1-13 twist. I will admit though that mine does not shoot cast all that well.
Adam

[oldhickory]

The better barrel makers will sell you a barrel bored and rifled to your specs. My only 700 Remington has a Hart #7 SS barrel, .30 1:11 twist, 25" long and chambered for .308. Not cheap, but it's exactly what I wanted.

[Lefty]

The CBA sponsors bench rest competition for Production rifles. The competitors in this game use HB 308s almost exclusively. At last years nationals all of the entrants but 1 shot HB Savages. Discounting for the herd instinct, the evidence is still compelling that Savage is building very accurate rifles right now.