308 load

[Brad Y]

Got out today to try the 155gr sierra palma bullets in my new remington 308.

Im putting factory 150gr soft points around the half inch mark, but the palmas are very dissapointing. Tried between 45 and 46.5gr of 2208 in new lapua brass, federal match primers. Throat on the barrel is loooooong and no way I can reach the lands, but I thought these sierras were supposed to be tolerant of seating depth. COAL was 2.850 from memory.

Can anyone suggest any loads that might perform a bit better? I have someone sending me some HBC's and I realise these do like to be parked up near the lands a bit more than what Im currently doing, so not sure if they will work that well.

Suggestions appreciated.

[Quinny]

It sounds like the rifle doesn't like the Sierra's. I tried the 155gr Sierras (both the 2155 and 2156 version) in my Tikka, and they worked ok, but nowhere near as good as the Dyers HBC's. I would definitely recommend giving them a go.

I used Lapua brass and 46.5gr 2208. The throat on the Tikka was way too long, I could chamber rounds up to 2.93" long, but the bullet would not seat safely at that length. I used 2.84" OAL, and was getting 1/3" groups or better pretty regularly (and I am not exactly the worlds best shot).

I would be making up a couple of different loads between 44.5 - 46.5gr, and overall length between 2.800" to 2.860". Just a couple of each load is all you need to get an idea of how they are shooting.

[Brad Y]

I should know if the rifle likes HBC's tomorrow as I have to shoot NRAA ammo tomorrow. From what I gather, this ammo is loaded with HBC's. Hopefully the postman brings me a sample of the dyer bullets next week.

[RDavies]

A lot of people are jumping the HBCs .050" with good results. Mine prefers to be jammed but most apparently dont.

[Quinny]

In my Tikka, they were jumping about 0.090" and worked well... just a matter of seeing what your rifle likes.

[Brad Y]

Well the HBC NRAA ammo shot pretty well- good enough for a 57.4 first detail and a 53.2 the next (bloody tail winds)

Will have a go at loading some HBC's up when I get back from holidays.

[Sam Walker]

G'day Brad - one thing about the Dyer HBC's that sets them apart from the bigger makers is that the .308 155gn HBC is the only bullet they make, on one machine, one set of dies that don't get changed out for runs of other calibres. That's a major reason IMHO for their consistency, I got a bit of a tour from Bob Dyer a coupla years ago when I visited him to buy 1000 of the old model bullet