Thread: Load to replicate Hornady 308 factory 150gn SST ammo

So I went to the range last night with the youngster and his very nice Browning XBolt Superlite. Shot 3 factory Hornady 150gn SST for an average of 2860 fps on my chrono. Very tight little group at 50m without really being focused on shooting groups. I also made up 4 x 200gn cast with 10gn of a certain Shotgun powder. These Chrono'd at 1160fps but no holes in paper at all- took the last one up to 15 mtrs and it went thru the bull sideways with a good thumb length tear. A bit of quick research established this rifle only comes in 1:12 twist. So will try with some 151gn casts and see how those go. In the meantime some 2206H loads coming up to see how close we can get to factory.

Originally Posted by Jhon

So I went to the range last night with the youngster and his very nice Browning XBolt Superlite. Shot 3 factory Hornady 150gn SST for an average of 2860 fps on my chrono. Very tight little group at 50m without really being focused on shooting groups. I also made up 4 x 200gn cast with 10gn of a certain Shotgun powder. These Chrono'd at 1160fps but no holes in paper at all- took the last one up to 15 mtrs and it went thru the bull sideways with a good thumb length tear. A bit of quick research established this rifle only comes in 1:12 twist. So will try with some 151gn casts and see how those go. In the meantime some 2206H loads coming up to see how close we can get to factory.

The 151gr casts will be fine, they shoot well in my 1:12 twist 308 and 30-30.

Originally Posted by Jhon

So I went to the range last night with the youngster and his very nice Browning XBolt Superlite. Shot 3 factory Hornady 150gn SST for an average of 2860 fps on my chrono. Very tight little group at 50m without really being focused on shooting groups. I also made up 4 x 200gn cast with 10gn of a certain Shotgun powder. These Chrono'd at 1160fps but no holes in paper at all- took the last one up to 15 mtrs and it went thru the bull sideways with a good thumb length tear. A bit of quick research established this rifle only comes in 1:12 twist. So will try with some 151gn casts and see how those go. In the meantime some 2206H loads coming up to see how close we can get to factory.

Greetings Jhon,
2,860 fps for 150 grain in a .308 with an 18 inch barrel? Sounds very high to me unless it is some of the Hornady Light Magnum in which case you won't be able to match it with canister powders. Perhaps that was a typo.
Regards Grandpamac.

Originally Posted by grandpamac

Greetings Jhon,
2,860 fps for 150 grain in a .308 with an 18 inch barrel? Sounds very high to me unless it is some of the Hornady Light Magnum in which case you won't be able to match it with canister powders. Perhaps that was a typo.
Regards Grandpamac.

Well I guess my chrono could be suspect but I don't think so. It has never given results that have caused me to doubt it before. And no, its not a typo, and no, its not an 18in barrel its a factory 16in. I'd be happy to test my chrono alongside someone else's but I don't know anyone with one handy.

And if it is crook, it will also read crook for any handloads. So it won't really matter because it will be a comparison of relativity which really is what we are after. If the real world number is a couple of hundred less I'm not sure the deer will notice.

Originally Posted by Jhon

Well I guess my chrono could be suspect but I don't think so. It has never given results that have caused me to doubt it before. And no, its not a typo, and no, its not an 18in barrel its a factory 16in. I'd be happy to test my chrono alongside someone else's but I don't know anyone with one handy.

And if it is crook, it will also read crook for any handloads. So it won't really matter because it will be a comparison of relativity which really is what we are after. If the real world number is a couple of hundred less I'm not sure the deer will notice.

Greetings @Jhon,
Your chrono coukd be right if your friends ammo is the Superformance type which claims 3,000 fps in a 24 inch barrel. Otherwise bright sunlight can cause reading errors, often high. In any case as the rifle has a 16 inch barrel the best data to use is that umder the pistol section on the Hodgdon Load Data website. This is for a 15 inch barrel. H4895 is AR2206H, Varget is AR2208 and Benchmark 8208 is IMR8208XBR. I'm assuming you will be using Hornady cases which have a weight and hence capacity close to the Winchester cases that Hodgdon used in the data. Usung the data you should be able to work up to about 2,700 fps in your barrel. Hornady cases weigh around 165 grains or a little more without primer. Heavier cases will give a both more velocity and pressure. If you are chronographing try for an overcast day which should give more reliable readings.
Regards Grandpamac.

Originally Posted by grandpamac

Greetings @Jhon,
Your chrono coukd be right if your friends ammo is the Superformance type which claims 3,000 fps in a 24 inch barrel. Otherwise bright sunlight can cause reading errors, often high. In any case as the rifle has a 16 inch barrel the best data to use is that umder the pistol section on the Hodgdon Load Data website. This is for a 15 inch barrel. H4895 is AR2206H, Varget is AR2208 and Benchmark 8208 is IMR8208XBR. I'm assuming you will be using Hornady cases which have a weight and hence capacity close to the Winchester cases that Hodgdon used in the data. Usung the data you should be able to work up to about 2,700 fps in your barrel. Hornady cases weigh around 165 grains or a little more without primer. Heavier cases will give a both more velocity and pressure. If you are chronographing try for an overcast day which should give more reliable readings.
Regards Grandpamac.

They were chronographed late arvo near 5pm in light cloud on a dullish day. If the light gets too low my device returns errors when it sees the bullet with one of the sensors but not the other. In bright sunlight I use the supplied opaque white hoods for the sensors and only get declared errors if I shoot too high which I try to avoid as the bullet passes a tad too close to the hoods.

And I checked- the factory ammo is the Hornady Superperformance 150gn SST. I will be reloading his Hornady cases

Thanks for the other info, very useful!