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Gent's,

I'm quite new to reloading but I've been shooting my own brew .308 rounds in F/TR out to 1000 Yards with reasonable success.

To date I've been using Lapua brass, Varget powder & Federal A-Max heads, after a fellow competitor queried my use of "That plastic tipped rubbish" I've been looking at Berger etc as I've run out of A-Max any way. My problem is I don't know which is best suited for my needs (i.e. BT, FB, Hybrid & VLD).

I have been using 155 gn heads to date & I'll use that as a starting point for a new load but the bullet shape is a choice I'm not qualified to make. sign01

Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated for a 30" barrel with a 1:11 twist,.

Thanks in advance,

Mick.

1:11 barrel, Berger 185 Juggernauts would work well. Also you could shoot the 155 Hybrid or the 155.5 - really it is just a matter of finding what works for you.

Fore the record I HATE the 190 SMK's.

155gr Lapua Scenar ought to work well too.

Have a look at page 76 written by Laurie Holland. That should help you a little.

http://content.yudu.com/A1v5pf/tsjan201 ... ferrerUrl=

I think the world of the 155 Lapua and if you carry on and batch and point them they are superb

Stuck wrote: after a fellow competitor queried my use of "That plastic tipped rubbish"

Mmm.... Perhaps your fellow competitor is not as knowlegable as he thinks he is.... (vvanker smilie!)

ovenpaa wrote:I think the world of the 155 Lapua and if you carry on and batch and point them they are superb

Thanks all,

Does anyone have any good links to what Ovenpaa is talking about please?

I've not come across "batch" & "point" before.

1. "Point" or "Pointing"
This is a reloading process whereby you uniform and close (aka point) the round hole at the meplat of a target bullet.

The hole is left in the bullet production process
a. A uniform lead core is dropped in a cupped jacket
b. The jacket cup is closed by a nose forming die
c. A small ejector pin is pressed into lead core to eject the newly formed bullet

Depending on the quality of the jackets, processing speed, quality and age of dies, grime and grit and the general QC of the process you will end with variation sin the meplat. These variations will cause the effective BC of the bullets in a box to vary from the "average" for the box
Some will be have better BC than average( hit higher) on target and some poorer BC (hit lower on target)

Pointing dies are available from Hoover, Whidden and Shooting Shed.

I have NO hesitation in recommending the Shooting Shed system. It produces a very fine and uniform point that has in my test proven to be beter than the other systems.

The Net Effect of the SS Bullet Point System (SS-BPS) you generally can expect are in 3 area's
For a given launch velocity and at 1000 yards you will get:
1. +- 1 moa improvement in elevations
2. +- 0.4 moa improvement in wind drift
3. 30% reduction in overall group size / dispersion of verticals.

This is due to the SS-BPS generating not only an improved point but also a more uniform one.

Batch means sorting your bullets into batches of similar bullets. They might all look the same and say 155 or 185 grain on the box however they are far from equal when you look closely. You can make things more equal by weighing your bullets individually and sorting them into groups, a 0.1 grain segregation is a good start and you may end up with three piles of bullets. Also you can measure the length of the bullets. There is no point in measuring from the Meplat (Pointy end) to the base as there will be huge differences due to the finish of the bullet so what you can do is measure from the Ogive (Curved front part of the bullet) to the base of the bullet, this helps no end with some makes of bullets and will transform your down range results. This technique is very popular with some F/TR shooters and a particular model of bullet.

You can make a reasonable job of these with a digital scale and a Sinclair .308 comparator.

Pointing is a case of closing the end of the meplat down to make it more pointed, commercial systems include Hoover and Whidden and are worth maybe .6 to .7MOA elevation at 1000 yards.

There are many more ways of batching and measuring bullets as well however the above give good results, the first two for very little investment other than time.

BATCHING refers in my world to :
1. Sorting by Bearing surface (either base to ogive OR rear / bottail ogive to nose ogive)
2. Sorting by weight
3. Sorting by pointing system

As for bullets
I cannot comment on the A-Max but for what its worth the following is from bullets I have tested extensively at distances of 600 to 1000 in practice and competition

1. LAPUA 155 Scenar (ovenpaa and I differ on this)
I dont use them anymore - if you want to you have to
1. MUST point them (batch to batch variation is horrendous)
2. Sort by Bearing Surface (variation range 0.000 to 0.015)
3. Sort by Weight (+- 2.4 grain variations)
4. BC is still inferior to Berger and Sierra 2156
ENS Rating Up to 600 can compete with Berger options - 800 to 1000 they get roggered by Berger and Sierra options.

Sierra 2156
Very good cost effective bullet - great for up to 600
1. Hard to point - very sharp
2. you MUST Bearing surface sort and (variation range 0.000 to 0.025)
3. Weight sort them (+- 2.0 grain variations)
Great for up to 600 - for practice excellent bullet for cost effective training at 1000 yards
ENS Rating

Berger 155.5
Out the box - most uniform bullet - great for up to 1000
1. Should be pointed - does improve uniformity and BC
2. you CAN Bearing surface sort and (variation range 0.000 to 0.06) BEST out of box
3. Weight sort them (+- 0.5 grain variations)
G1 BC is 0.464 range
ENS Rating

Berger 155 Hybrid
Out the box - best BC bullet - great for up to 1000
1. Should be pointed - does improve uniformity and BC
2. you SHOULD Bearing surface sort and (variation range 0.000 to 0.09)
3. Weight sort them (+- 0.7 grain variations)
G1 BC is 0.484 range - Pointed goes to +- 0.500 G1
ENS Rating
NOTE that I am very partial / biased on this one - it is my lucky bullet! party2

Berger 185 Juggernaught
Out the box - best BC bullet - great for up to 1000
1. Pointing does improve uniformity
2. you MUST Bearing surface sort and (variation range 0.000 to 0.012)
3. Weight sort them (+- 1.27 grain variations)
4. More felt recoil and must be driven hard to equal 155's
ENS Rating
Did not live up to expectations - paper versus real world