Author Topic: 45-70 and .308  (Read 640 times)

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Offline HuntAway

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45-70 and .308
« on: November 21, 2009, 07:29:00 AM »
I took LuLu (1895CB 45-70) out for drive today and we stopped at the pit. There was a couple of young soldiers out shooting so I waited for them. We chatted for a while and they let me do my shooting. It wasn't much. I had two things I wanted to do today. One was I wanted to fire the Remington 405's over a chrony to see what the factory stuff is shooting. The other was to shoot the BLR 308 with my first homemade rounds.  and chrony them as well.

First up was LuLu.  ;D Ladies always go first.  ;) I don't know what happen with the top two or the bottom one, but I settled down for the next six and managed to hold the same sight picture for them. I can't wait to start reloading for this rifle.



Of note the velocities out of LuLu were quite a bit lower than the advertised velocities from Remington.
http://www.remington.com/products/ammuni....spx?data=R4570G


The good news about the 308... Everything went bang just the way they're suppose too. Not happy with the accuracy though. I shot a tighter group with LuLu and buckhorn sights than I did with the scope mounted BLR. I had one flyer that either missed the paper and backing all together or went directly through another hole??? Still looking for that one. ::)

I was using 42 gr H-Varget and 165 gr Sierra Gameking Spitzer BoatTails. My Lee Manual 2nd Edition shows this at 2545 fps. My velocities varried from a high of 2558 to a low of 2431. 5 shot group average was 2502.8 and 2487.6. Spreads were 91 and 88.

Is this a good spread or should it be tighter? I used a balance scale from Lee but I think I'm going to get a digital scale.

All in all a success for my first loadings.

HA

PS Those young lads are heading to Afghanistan next spring. I wished them a safe tour and sincerely hope they return home safely. :-\ 


Offline stimpylu32

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Re: 45-70 and .308
« Reply #1 on: November 21, 2009, 03:21:24 PM »
No real supprise that the factory rounds were slower than what the box said , thats normal . as for the 308 loads I'd want to see a little less S D from my loads , you may need to try a different powder or bullet to get the groups your looking for .

stimpy
Deceased June 17, 2015


:D If i can,t stop it with 6 it can,t be stopped

Offline Squib

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Re: 45-70 and .308
« Reply #2 on: November 21, 2009, 03:54:43 PM »
I won't lie and tell you I get into trimming, neck annealing and all the benchrest secrets-- I've only read of and never tried any of it

I just load up and fire off new brass three times, discard it and start over with new brass (can't blow out in three loadings unless I REALLY screw up)

Anyways, Hodgdon data says: 46grs of varget for a sierra 165 for a max load, I started with 45 and it was a sharp recoil, brought it down to 44.5, then to 43 next and that shoots nice and soft, maybe too soft for good ranged shots but it's comfy to me and I'm a little girl, so 42 is probably too weak.  I shoot the 165's and that's all I've loaded so little variations in varget density show up for me quick

varget in rem cases with sierra 165's is all I've loaded actually, so while I'm not an expert, I do know that 44.5 down to 43 is a big difference in feel and being a noob rifle loader I can feel it distincly (and being a recoil aversive little girl - - I know no one else here will claim that one!!  :o )

Offline Squib

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Re: 45-70 and .308
« Reply #3 on: November 21, 2009, 03:59:12 PM »
another thing, I only shot from about twenty yards, give or take two? when sighting in for the 43grs load but the holes were overlapping so while it did shoot lower it was definitely consistent... if your pattern is out like that it's definitely too weak a charge

I use remington large rifle with me loads too, sorry I didn't tell you that last post

Offline HuntAway

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Re: 45-70 and .308
« Reply #4 on: November 21, 2009, 04:47:04 PM »
Stimpy,


Thanx for your reply. I'd  hope that the spread should be within 0-75 fps or even less if I do everything perfectly or at least half ass correctly. ::) My groups were bigger than the 45-70 with iron sights.... As this is my first loading with this powder and bullet. I'll up the load a bit and see what happens.

Squib,

Thank you for your reply. I think everyone is recoil sensitive regardless of their stature. ;) Some just won't admit it. ;D This is my first reloading experiment, the first of many I hope. ;D I'll play with this powder and bullet for a bit to see if I can't find it's sweet spot. Everything has a sweet spot, it's just a matter of having the patience to find it. ;)

HA


Offline Squib

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Re: 45-70 and .308
« Reply #5 on: November 21, 2009, 05:23:35 PM »
it's sad, I learned to shoot semi-auto really well but now that I'm learning bolt actions and other action types.. man recoil really throws off that dainty and precise technique shot to shot, and moving to crank a new round in the chamber all the time, and scopes have scope shadow....

anyways, my rifle is a remington 700 vtr, the muzzlebrake/triangular barrel type, 22" I think, 1in10twist, light rifle but there is a brake on it so I think that 43-44 should be easy in anything a bit longer and heavier without a break, or with a "real" stock instead of tupperware

oh, don't forget that using 7.62 vs actual 308 changes case capacity, I think your 42 is actually about max w/ 7.62 (military brass is thicker so it can handle the higher pressures caused by the slightly reduced capacity but it's harder on the guns using it, and primers can rupture or back out unless you're crimping the primers inside the case-I have no idea how that's done so ask someone more knowledgable than me if you try it)

man I was thinking about going to something lighter and/or using a slightly slower powder too, make more push than punch out of the recoil
along with that r3 recoil pad (makes a 300 win mag a 12ga, makes a 12ga a 308, makes a 308 ... comfy with the right loads)

OHHHH, one last thing for real this time, I got high scope mounts so I can see under my scope/between the mounts/along the barrel so I can shoot it like a shotgun up close (might not be able to call the shot placement but I'll hit something way too close to focus on with a scope if the light is good)

Offline Squib

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Re: 45-70 and .308
« Reply #6 on: November 21, 2009, 05:28:33 PM »
oops, run off tangent there (about the scope mounts)

the point was to get my face up into a different position, the stock will slide on my jaw and cheek now instead of going into my cheekbone with my head pushing down into the stock, huge difference in perceived recoil because my stockweld totally changed

alright, now I'm done  :P

Offline HuntAway

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Re: 45-70 and .308
« Reply #7 on: November 22, 2009, 04:49:00 AM »
As I said this was my first go at it. I'm really glad everything went bang and not boom. ;D Thanks for the info. I've got some brass that has to be made into some cartridges. ;D

HA

Offline BBF

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Re: 45-70 and .308
« Reply #8 on: November 22, 2009, 08:10:10 AM »


I just load up and fire off new brass three times, discard it and start over with new brass ..................

Here is a thought for you:
Don't toss out the brass. Somebody  ghere would probably be happy to have it for the postage and wrappings. How much do you have?
What is the point of Life if you can't have fun.