Savage Edge .308 range report

[NSP64]

I bought a Savage Edge in .308 an loaded some 180gr lee 303 boolits sized to .308 WDWW lubed with LLA/moly blend without GC.(dont have any yet). Loaded over 25gr H4895 (2000fps est. Shot the chrony last month and havent bought a new one yet). Group averaged 1.5" @ 50 yrds. Not bad for first shots.

[Moonie]

Did you get leading? I've loaded the Lee 170gr .308 boolits but shot them much slower (around 1,100fps) as I do not have any checks as I'm planning on paperpatching them.

[NSP64]

No leading (i was suprised) I have a lee 160 gr that I have cast and the patch paper is drying. I will size these and try them next weekend. I need to get a new chrony:oops:

I have some alum chex comming from Colt .45 also

I was thinking of shooting them faster

[NSP64]

Went to the range with the Savage Edge in .308 Win. I have loaded the Lee 312 180 2R boolit of WDWW slobered in LLA/Moly over 11gr of unique without GC and got this 4 shot group @ 50yrds the other day (7/18/10)
NO LEADING !!!!! This is going to be the load for this rifle. The nose pushes into the muzzle and barely engraves the lead.
23876Boolit in muzzle

23877Lite engraving

23878As cast in front of some alum GC's I bought from Colt .45

23879 The proof is in the puddin

I size them to .309 then give a good coat of LLA/Moly. Once dry I fill the lube grooves with LLA/Moly then let dry.
I use an expander for 7x39 that gives a hard-to-push- in-with-finger neck tension then roll crimp.
This weekend I will go to 100yrds.
Gotta get a new Chrony!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Ben]

It will be interesting to see what the bullet does with a gas check.

[NSP64]

Tryed em with a GC. No good:cry:
Switched over to the Lee 309 160 1r boolit sized .309 and made up some new loads with gas checks and went to the range 7/31
24160
group are as follows
1) 160gr WDWW GC LLA over IMR 4227 22.0gr COAL 2.485 POA top #8 Vel est. 1800fps
2) 160gr WDWW GC LLA over 22.0gr IMR 4227 COAL 2.588 POA top#9 Vel est. 1800fps
3) 160gr WDWW GC LLA over 26.0 gr IMR 4895 COAL 2.588 POA X Vel est. 1800fps
4) 160 gr WDWW GC Speed Green over 26.0gr IMR 4895 COAL 2.588 POA top #7 Vel est. 1800fps
5) 160gr WDWW GC LLA over 10.0gr Unique COAL 2.588 POA Bottom #9 Vel est. 1350fps
6) 180gr WDWW GC LLA over 28.0gr IMR 4895 COAL 2.733 POA left #7 Vel est. 1800fps. can't explain the flyer up off of left shoulder unless Boolit had a void (I didn't weigh the boolits:veryconfu).

All in all not a bad day Range was 50yrds from bench Temp 84* humidity 65% no wind
GC's were aluminum ones I bought from Colt 45. They didn't fit so I Leemented the mold a hair till they stayed on.

[Ben]

I don't know what the thickness of your AL g/c were, but I've tried .009 AL and .010 Copper gas checks on about 5 different .30 cal molds of mine. I never got any decent accuracy until I went to .014 thickness Ameri - Max AL for my check material. Then I started to get the accuracy that I was expecting. Your mileage may vary.

Ben

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v494/haysb/PICT0004-18.jpg

[Larry Gibson]

I bought a Savage Edge in .308 an loaded some 180gr lee 303 boolits sized to .308 WDWW lubed with LLA/moly blend without GC.(dont have any yet). Loaded over 25gr H4895 (2000fps est. Shot the chrony last month and havent bought a new one yet). Group averaged 1.5" @ 50 yrds. Not bad for first shots.

In a .308W that load of 25 gr H4895 under that bullet will be in the 1700 fps range (not estimated). Still, not bad for the first few shots. That is a very good bullet if the nose enters the throat without the bullet seating too deeply. If so try starting at 28 gr H4895 with a 1/2 - 3/4 gr dacron filler and work up in 1/2 gr increments to 31 -32 gr of H4895. I'll bet 1 - 1 1/2" five shot groups will be found at 100 yards.

Larry Gibson

[Larry Gibson]

Ben

Where are you finding the .014 thickness Ameri - Max AL at? All I can ever find is .010 thickness at the local hardware stores.

Larry Gibson

[Rico1950]

I may be off base here but, the problem with the thinner gcs is the total of the od.
.310 - .284" (.30 cal. gc shank) = .026" That's .013" material
.308 - .284" " " " " = .024" " .012" "

[Larry Gibson]

Rico1950

That is basically correct but it only gives a slip fit. If we want the GCs to stay on then they must be a little thicker to give some tension on the GC shank of the bullet. It is a real pain when the GCs staying the sizing die instead of coming out with the bullet...or falling off after a pass through a Lee sizer....let alone falling off inside a case......

Larry Gibson

[Ben]

Larry :

Take a look at this :

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=51777&page=2&highlight=Amerimax

[Larry Gibson]

Ben

Thanks a lot, I ordered a roll. I've been using .014 brass stock and its been working great but costs 3 times as much.

Larry Gibson

[Ben]

Ben

Thanks a lot, I ordered a roll. I've been using .014 brass stock and its been working great but costs 3 times as much.

Larry Gibson

That's great Larry :


I've been using the Ameri-Max .014 for several months now ( Mugs put me onto the Ameri-Max)

Zero problems here on my end of things. I'm actually shooting tighter groups with these than I do with Hornady .30 cal g/c's.

Ben

[Ben]

Rico1950 :

No you are not off base at all. People are trying to put a .004 " thickness g/c on a g/c shank that requires .014 - .016 to fill and seal the bore properly.

And we wonder why they ( the thin ones ) are falling off the bullet ?

The .30 cal ones that I'm making from .014 Amerimax AL don't fall off !

[Rico1950]

Ben,
Exactly, .010 Cu won't cut it. In a tight bore you may get by with .012"!