I found a pound of varget yesteday after a bit of looking and 100 of the hornady 150 BT interlocks for my new Ruger international .308. Anyone have a favorite load for the 18.5 inch barreled mdle 77 RSI?
Jimmy. You're shooting one of my favorite rifles.
I have three of them,every one picked up on the cheap because they would not shoot for their previous owners.. I'm not sure what they expected from a short barreled rifle with a full length stock, but I'm sure they didn't get what they wanted.
First off, mine are all the earlier tang safety models, all made in 1985 acording to the SN#s.
I look at hunting rifles a bit more realisticaly than some as I've never had the strength to carry a bench rest out I the boonies.
It took over 6 months of work to find an acceptable load for my rifle, the usual suspects not working worth a damn. The load that finally worked decently in all three rifles was 49.0 gr. of W-760,165 gr. Speer Hot-Core, Winchester brass and primer. Accuracy ran from 1.25" to 1.50" depending on which gun I was shooting. Velocity is no barn burner at 2550 FPS average from all three guns, but then W-760 is not the best powder for the .308 anyway. It just happened to work. I've passed it on to others who had .308 RSI rifles that would not shoot and it also worked for them. FWIW, I took a 200 pound Mule Deer at 250 yards with that load fom the RSI and it dropped on the spot. Distance was laser measured.
I've already sen you other posts and you already have a decent load or two. so consider this as information only. If you try it, start at least two gr. less and work up as the load is safe but max in my guns.
As an aside, the same load does 2610 FPS from a 22" barreled Winchester M70 and is MOA in that rifle.
FWIW, look at that metal muzzle cap on your rifle. I removed just a slight bit of metal from the sides and the bottom of the curve where it contacted the barrel. It made a difference in the groups reducing them to 1.0" on one rifle to 1.25" on the other two which were 1.50" guns to begin with.
As these changes made a difference, I'm thinking about looking at other loads to try. Maybe the guns will shoot other stuff better now.
I've got a batch of RL-15 I bought to use in my .35 Whelen, but seeing all the good comments about it in the .308, I guess I'll have to load up some and see what happens.
I do love my .308s.
Paul B.
