Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Long Range Hunting .308 Reloading question

Ok, I have a load that shoots VERY good out of my Rem 700 sps varmint. And it looks like I am going to have to change it.

I have been single feeding my rifle, But I have a coyote hunting competition in a week and a half and will be shooting the .308

Current Load
168gr A-max
over all length 2.947 (problem is it wont fit in the internal mag)
43.5 gr varget.

So my question is do you think i will over pressure seating the bullets i have loaded back .147 more? to reach an over all length of 2.800.

I am new to this whole reloading stuff so any input would appreciated

What brass are you using? In WW brass all my 700's digest 46 gr. of Varget at magazine length. I use a drop tube to put the powder in, I'm not a fan of much powder compression when seating bullets.

Winchester brass

I recently had a similar situation arise, and found that the same charge shot just fine when seated to mag length. In any case, you aren't going to have a dangerous load at hand. I'd seat a few down over the same charge, and see how they shoot.

Clayne,

Shouldn't be a problem. My standard load is 45.0 gr Varget for about everything fron 165-180 gr bullets. I haven't found the Amaxes to be too sensitive to jumping, at least in the .308.

I believe 45 grs is the max listed for 175 pills on the hodgdon data center but you might want to double check. Pretty sure you'll be OK.

CHRIS

I'll go with mathman's advice..use a drop tube if need be but a little crunch won't usually be a problem unless you're using cases with several loadings under their belt and then a touch of crimp might not hurt.Your 308 is one of the most forgiving chamberings and easiest to load just don't see you having many problems.

You have plenty of room if you are worried about jacking up the pressure by shortening the overall length.

As others have mentioned, very typical Varget loads in the .308 are 48gr for the 150s, 46 for 165s and 44-45 for the 175s.

I run 46/Varg with 168 Bergs in my Montana and I see no issues with it. Shoots very well out of the lil rig. In that SPS Varm I'd load them to fit the box and go forth rock El Bun (yote).

Side note, a 700 SPS Varm in .308 is a rig I could get to like. Course I'd do something silly like chop it to 23" though...grin

Dober

As said no issues! I load 45-grs Varget, all types of brass, 168 AMAX, SMK, etc at 2.85 OAL.

Clayne, I have been reading your posts and see that You are running a mild charge of varget. Bump it up like others have said. I run 45.5gr with 168 Amax with absolutely no problems.

Rem SPS Varmint chopped to 20" gets me a hair over 2700fps. Good enough to kill stuff and shoots groups slightly bigger than .25"-.50" consistently.

Thanks for the input, Shot 5 rounds to check for pressure signs.. It all looks good, WAY to much wind and getting dark to do any accuracy testing.

The muzzle velocity before I bumped it back was was 2675fps