Originally Posted by Brad
The whole factory High Energy argument is essentially a red herring. I've chron'd the 180 NP HE stuff in two 308's (22" bbl) and both shot it right at 2,700 fps. Accuracy in both rifles sucked.

My own 308 Win, 180 NP handloads go 2,665 fps and run below 3/4". A 7-08 will run a 160 NP around 2,650... as Mark remarked, there's nothing one does the other can't do equally well.


I've used the Fed HE in three or four 308's and the velocity was as advertised (~2,740) but the accuracy was about the same as your experience. As an aside, the HE velocity is approachable with a few powders I've tried (Big Game and VV N550 for example) in pressure tested loads.