kagiyama-san please stabilize my projectiles!!!
Test barrel 1 - 18" Criterion CORE .223 Wylde, 1:8 twist - 10 shot groups minimum
Test barrel 2 - 20" LaRue .223 Wylde, 1:8 twist - 10 shot groups minimum
| Name | Case OAL | COAL | Projectile | Powder | Charge | Primer | Brass | Avg. Velocity | SD | Notes |
| MK262 Clone #1 | 1.740" | 2.260" | 77gr Sierra MatchKing HPBT | Ramshot TAC | 24.0 gr | CCI #450 Small Rifle Magnum | Once/Twice fired mixed brass, neck annealed | 2760 fps - 20" | 31.22 (Throw), 15.23 (Elec) | Averages 1.25-1.5 MOA, velocity fairly consistent. |
| MK262 Clone #2 | 1.740" | 2.260" | 77gr Sierra MatchKing HPBT | Accurate 2520 | 24.3 gr | CCI #450 Small Rifle Magnum | Once/Twice fired mixed brass, neck annealed | 2703 fps - 20" | 44.42 (Throw), 22.82 (Elec) | Disappointingly inconsistent accuracy- ranges from 0.7 MOA 10rd groups to 2.4 MOA. Temperature unstable, finnicky, meters bad. Leave this on the shelf. |
| Insecurity Warrior 64gr Bonded | 1.740" | 2.200" | 64gr Nosler SB Bonded | Ramshot TAC | 24.3gr | CCI #400 SR | Once/Twice fired mixed brass, neck annealed | 2771 fps - 20" | 57.88 (Elec) | Not great accuracy but supposedly normal for projo- best group was 2 MOA with ladder test. Higher powder charges got it up to ~3020 fps, but at cost of accuracy going to 3 MOA. Factory ammo from Nosler clocks 2700 fps, but the FBI 62gr is around 3000. Velocity does matter here as being down 8-9 inches of barrel will absolutely tank the speed. Going to try this again with the 12.5 later. |
| M193 Clone | 1.740" | 2.260" | Hornady 55gr HPBT w/ cannelure | Hodgdon CFE 223 | 27.4gr | CCI #400 SR | Once/Twice fired mixed brass, neck annealed | 3001 fps (QL) | (missing data ╥﹏╥) |
A generic load for 55gr M193-spec rounds- the projectile manufacturer matters as poorly copper-jacketed rounds won't frag. Stopped loading these due to poor return on time investment- it's zero extra effort to load more boutique ammunition. Could easily be used for 52/50gr Power Points. |
Test barrel - 18" LaRue .308 Win, 1:8 twist - 10 shot groups minimum
DISCLAIMER: RELOADING .308 WIN FOR AN AUTOLOADING RIFLE IS ABSOLUTE HELL, CHAMBER TOLERANCES BETWEEN 7.62 NATO AND .308 MEAN YOUR BRASS GETS MOLESTED EVERY FIRING AND MOST M80 BALL BRASS IS EXTREMELY THICK. TRYING TO GET ACCURATE RESULTS THAT FEED RELIABLY WITH OFB WILL MAKE YOU TURN THE MUZZLE ON YOUR MOUTH. BE WARNED
| Name | Case OAL | COAL | Projectile | Powder | Charge | Primer | Brass | Avg. Velocity | SD | Notes |
| 168gr General Purpose | 1.955 | 2.800 | Hornady 168gr BTHP Match | BL-C2, Ramshot TAC, Varget | 42-45gr | CCI No. 34 NATO LR | Once-fired Lake City M80 Brass | Never enough | All over the place | I hate hate hate HATE working on these loads. Nothing produces better than ~2-3 MOA accuracy and half the cases jam. Need to overcam the press when resizing. NEVER BUY AN AR-10 WITHOUT A FORWARD ASSIST IF YOU INTEND ON RELOADING FOR IT!!!!! |
| 168gr GPR ~1 MOA ideal | 1.955 | 2.800 | Hornady 168gr BTHP Match | Varget | 43gr ladder, 44.3 +/- 1gr BL-C2 | CCI No. 34 NATO LR | Once-fired Lake City M80 Brass | TBD | TBD | Most gun forums indicate that Varget's basically the only powder worth a shit for .308 and my results with basically everything else seem to point towards that being true. Buy once cry once. Looks like I've got around 20lbs of powdered tears sitting in my garage now. The cost per round (ignoring labor haha lol) is 33c projectile, 34c powder, 12c primer, so around 80 cents ea. About half the price of Hornady's factory BTHP ammo. |
| 175gr Lead-Free Hunting Load | 2.005 | 2.810 | Lehigh 175gr xXxConTroLLED_Ch@0SxXx | Hodgdon CFE 223 | 41.5 | CCI Large Rifle #200 | Once-fired Lake City brass | 2337 FPS (QL) | TBD | Intended for use with my AR-10, but really don't have any suitable "hunting gun" so I'm probably just going to re-make this load for my Tikka T3i. |
| "Mexican Match" 168gr | 2.005 | 2.810 | Sierra MatchKing 168gr HPBT | M80 pulldown | M80 pulldown | M80 pulldown | M80 pulldown | Untested | Untested | Back in the 60's precision ammo was hard to come by. For National Match shooting competitions people would often pull M80 bullets from loaded cartridges and run the brass through a neck resizer then seat MatchKing 168gr projectiles in- this reportedly improved the accuracy of the rounds by up to 50% and improves the terminal performance of the round. For ~36 cents extra on loaded ammo, you could reasonably overhaul your surplus rounds to something more potent and consistent - however, in my recent testing of "Mex Match" ammo vs. regular M80 seated to identical depth, there was zero appreciable accuracy difference. This isn't entirely useless though as MatchKings will perform better terminally than ball. |
Test barrel - 24.3" Tikka T3x Lite .300 Win Mag, 1:10 twist - 10 shot groups minimum
| Name | Case OAL | COAL | Projectile | Powder | Charge | Primer | Brass | Avg. Velocity | SD | Notes |
| SAPI Obliterator 55gr | 2.620 | TBD | 55gr Lehigh Controlled Chaos (Copper monolithic), .308 sabot | Ramshot TAC | 67-71gr | CCI Large Rifle #200 | Factory Winchester Nickel-Plated | ~4200-4700 fps | TBD | Intended to be used with my Browning BAR MKII Safari at sub-50yd ranges. Will try to 3D print a 20rd box magazine and detachable system for this. It's basically the new .30-06 y'know |
| 168gr High-Velocity | 2.620 | 3.340 | Hornady 168gr BTHP Match | Alliant MAGPRO | 75/.5/76/.5/77/.5/78gr ladder | CCI Large Rifle #200 | Factory Winchester Nickel-Plated | Max 2793 FPS (QL) | TBD | Meant for inexpensive shooting (got the magpro on sale) and rifle break-in. Probably just going to be used in the BAR MKII. |
| 175gr CC Hunting | 2.620 | 3.340 | Lehigh 175gr xXxConTroLLED_Ch@0SxXx | Hodgdon H1000 | 78/.3/.6/79/.3/.6/80gr ladder | CCI Large Rifle Magnum #250 | ADG Premium Brass | Max 2787 FPS (QL) | TBD | Good ol' deer gun, yup |