Some relaoding suggestions for the .308?

[TopperT]

Having very recently acquired a WONDERFUL .308 (thank you again Deerhunter#1) and finding it shoots MOA @ 100 with both factory and Lake City National Match rounds, I am going to load my first .308's and I would like to start with 130 grn Jacketed SP's.  My Lyman 48th Edition tells me to use 2.690 o/a for my finished round.....but I was wondering how other .308 reloaders seat this sized head.
 
The idea here is a Coyote rifle for VERY looooooooog distance to take next winter to Maine.  They have some LARGE Coyotes ( 65#'s) and those are the real shy ones.  I already have a 1-9 & a 1-12 .223 and they shoot fantastic but I thought about bringing the .308 also with me as a couple of the baits I sat over were out to 300  /- and a BIG Coyote is my particular goal.
 
I still will load the .308 for target, deer and bear but I just figured I'd begin with the "little guys" then work up the 150's and 165's.  Any direction or suggestion is greatly appreciated.  This will be my FIRST reloading with smokeless !!!  Up till now its all been FF and FFF.  The 45-70 I have down pat  .  Now its time to really 'learn' the art of reloading.

[SHOOTALL]

When I load a new bullet I always start with the base of the bullet and the bottom of the neck where it meets the shoulder flush. I will try this first. I will then increase OAL a bit at a time if needed to see what the best OAL is for the gun cart combo.
What works in one gun may or may not in another.
Keep in mind some long for dia bullets will seat deeper .

[revbc]

Topper,

What I do is take a full length sized case, split the neck with a dremel, insert my bullet very shallow, chamber and remove carefully, this will be your length to the rifling.  Do this a couple or four times, checking the measurement each time.  You should come out with a consistent dimension for length to rifling.

Seat .020-.040 deeper, unless your throat is real deep.  You need on a average the diameter of the bullet seated in the case, or runout gets critical.

[BBF]

You could use a fired case, lube the neck with a high viscosity product insert your choice of bullet leaving it overlenght. Load this dummy round carefully and the rifling will push the bullet back to your max lenght for this particular projectile.

[gendoc]

You could use a fired case, lube the neck with a high viscosity product insert your choice of bullet leaving it overlenght. Load this dummy round carefully and the rifling will push the bullet back to your max lenght for this particular projectile.

thatsa nuther way to doit........jus make sure you doit witha nosler 165gr bt-spitzer...#30165
thataway, you'll be amazed at the accuracy from your .308.
thats if your barrel is close kin to our 4............
powder does makea difference... all we use is imr/hodgdon  for our 30's
perfect your loads as you like and good luck !!!!

[yukondog]

I've tried it with the fired case and sometimes the bullet will seat to the rifling and then fall into the case, with revbc's idea the case neck is tighter on the bullet and will grip better, for me IMR-4064 gives the best results.

[jr 1968]

My Handi in 308 also likes IMR-4064, I get 1/2 inch. groups with sierra bullets.






jr 1968

[Jason F]

Mine shoots great with varget and sierra 165 boat tails

[petemi]

Both my .308s are sub MOA with 165 - 168 gr. BTs.  I don't use anything else for anything.  If you want long range accuracy, go with the heavier bullet.  It'll reach out there, and doesn't blow big holes in coyotes. Generally it's a pretty clean pass through.  Both revbc and BFF are right on in determining your bullet seating depth.  Good luck.

Pete

[TopperT]

Thanks guys.  I appreciate the info.  The .308 is one sweet shooting round to date and with reloading experience I plant to get similar results as you have.