Ian
Notorious member
Info is scarce on this so I made some for the internet. All disclaimers apply, don't be a dummy and if you blow up your stuff or get a baffle strike or have a Secondary Explosive Event (SEE) it's your own asphalt.
.308 Winchester, Savage 111 LH with Savage factory 20" hog rifle barrel swapped to it.
WCC-08 brass, match-prepped, necks turned, trimmed, inside VLD chamfer. NO mods to flash hole diameter.
ACE 235 grain plain-based bullets (similar to NOE 311-230) cast of 2 COWW/1 SOWW/1 soft scrap, air cooled, sized .3098", lubed with SL-68.1.
Alliant Red Dot, no filler.
Federal 210 Magnum large rifle primers.
About .003" neck tension (too much, actually), cases belled just enough to prevent shaving. Bullets seated in Forster Benchrest sliding collet die to 2.260", this puts the front band into the throat's freebore with about .020" from hard contact. NO crimp.
Range was calm, clear, very dry, and temperature about 70°F. Elevation 1600 feet, not that it matters.
7.1 grains gave me an average muzzle velocity (MagnetoSpeed) of 1030 fps for five rounds.
6.5 grains of Red Dot gave me 975 fps average.
I only tested at 15 yards because I was in a hurry, but open sights gave me 1/2" groups of three without my Form 1 suppressor installed and and literally put them all through the same hole WITH the suppressor. Also, got some stringy lube boogers on the target without the suppressor, and some black greasy dust around the groups on the paper with the suppressor. I'm switching to SL-71 next test to see if the paraffin addition doesn't make the lube fling off better. Suppressed, the 6.5 grain load sounds exactly like firing a roll cap pistol, if you take away the bullet impact noise. I shot a steel plate at 50 yards with one shot and the steel report was crazy loud compared to the report of the rifle.
Cases were fully obturated and clean except a tiny bit of soot on the necks. Primers did NOT set back but brass was pretty snug in the chamber to begin with. I had no hang-fires whatsoever and very consistent chrono numbers, BUT I didn't test powder location within the cases. All my loads were fired with the rifle horizontal and powder settled horizontally in the cases before chambering them. I intend to do more testing in this regard to see what effect powder location has on the velocity and if any ignition concerns arise. I expect powder placement will have a significant effect on accuracy and pressure.
.308 Winchester, Savage 111 LH with Savage factory 20" hog rifle barrel swapped to it.
WCC-08 brass, match-prepped, necks turned, trimmed, inside VLD chamfer. NO mods to flash hole diameter.
ACE 235 grain plain-based bullets (similar to NOE 311-230) cast of 2 COWW/1 SOWW/1 soft scrap, air cooled, sized .3098", lubed with SL-68.1.
Alliant Red Dot, no filler.
Federal 210 Magnum large rifle primers.
About .003" neck tension (too much, actually), cases belled just enough to prevent shaving. Bullets seated in Forster Benchrest sliding collet die to 2.260", this puts the front band into the throat's freebore with about .020" from hard contact. NO crimp.
Range was calm, clear, very dry, and temperature about 70°F. Elevation 1600 feet, not that it matters.
7.1 grains gave me an average muzzle velocity (MagnetoSpeed) of 1030 fps for five rounds.
6.5 grains of Red Dot gave me 975 fps average.
I only tested at 15 yards because I was in a hurry, but open sights gave me 1/2" groups of three without my Form 1 suppressor installed and and literally put them all through the same hole WITH the suppressor. Also, got some stringy lube boogers on the target without the suppressor, and some black greasy dust around the groups on the paper with the suppressor. I'm switching to SL-71 next test to see if the paraffin addition doesn't make the lube fling off better. Suppressed, the 6.5 grain load sounds exactly like firing a roll cap pistol, if you take away the bullet impact noise. I shot a steel plate at 50 yards with one shot and the steel report was crazy loud compared to the report of the rifle.
Cases were fully obturated and clean except a tiny bit of soot on the necks. Primers did NOT set back but brass was pretty snug in the chamber to begin with. I had no hang-fires whatsoever and very consistent chrono numbers, BUT I didn't test powder location within the cases. All my loads were fired with the rifle horizontal and powder settled horizontally in the cases before chambering them. I intend to do more testing in this regard to see what effect powder location has on the velocity and if any ignition concerns arise. I expect powder placement will have a significant effect on accuracy and pressure.