Is faster always better, and how fast is to fast.

[Sergeant Hartman]

Well another lovely day and a sneaky range visit. And was looking at the speed, and had this question pop up. I need to get the actual data, but it's 2800 fps in a 308 shooting a 155gr profile hopping along to fast to kill my barrel? Or 27xx pushing a 168gr projectile. With these high speeds the sd was under 10 and es ws really good as well. Grouping was quite good. But then I ran a mystery reload (a mate did up for me) with what I think is sierra matchking tipped projectiles and at 25xx fps they were really good grouping.

I am just worried I'll burn my barrel rather quickly at these speeds. What do ppl think

Actually I was shoting the 155s faster than the 140gr 6.5 manbun. Btw in need to look at the ppu brass.

[SCJ429]

The pressure created by your 308 is quite mild compared with high intensity cartridges such as a WSM and you should get in excess of 4000 rounds through your barrel. You could polish the throat of your barrel with some bore polish to prevent erosion. I do this to my barrels.

[SCJ429]

I use JB bore bright.

[marksman]

I dont think you have anything to worry about
what SCJ429 said is right and polishing the throat every couple of hundred rounds is a good way to extend the life of your barrel
I do it with autosol, only the throat and about 3 inches of the bore
my 308 runs 150's at 2900fps and I would not like to think how many rounds it has had through it
I'm not surprised the smk's grouped well that's what they are made to do

[bladeracer]

Well another lovely day and a sneaky range visit. And was looking at the speed, and had this question pop up. I need to get the actual data, but it's 2800 fps in a 308 shooting a 155gr profile hopping along to fast to kill my barrel? Or 27xx pushing a 168gr projectile. With these high speeds the sd was under 10 and es ws really good as well. Grouping was quite good. But then I ran a mystery reload (a mate did up for me) with what I think is sierra matchking tipped projectiles and at 25xx fps they were really good grouping.

I am just worried I'll burn my barrel rather quickly at these speeds. What do ppl think

Actually I was shoting the 155s faster than the 140gr 6.5 manbun. Btw in need to look at the ppu brass.

If you need to run them at that speed for optimum accuracy then do it. I prefer to try to find accuracy somewhere short of factory velocities if I can. Some rifle/bullet/powder cocktails thrive on pressure. I don't worry about chasing velocity.

[Sergeant Hartman]

Is that with the patch or cotton buds. Any tips on what you do. I am a bit slow lol

[duncan61]

2800fps is perfect for centrefire rifles over 3400fps is starting to get quick.Just my opinion.My 7mm Rem does the 168gn target bullets at 2750fps and the 100gn hunting rounds at about 3250fps people are obsessed with speed just my 2cents after 30 years of reloading

[duncan61]

I load 22.2 gn of 2208 in my ,222 Ruger for about 2800fps and rabbits roos and foxes die on the spot.After 4-5 shots the barrel is slightly warm.Longevity is a big deal to me.again just my personal way.I have had shooters under my wing that get a .243 and feel they need 100gn pills to do the job.70-80gn pills have the same result,I have found American shotgun ammo to have a lot of bang compared to European shot shells for the same result

[SCJ429]

I wrap a patch around an old worn out copper brush, the patch should be a firm fit in the bore. I then short stroke the throat area about 20 times. Then remove the paste with a patch on your normal jag, soaked in Ballistol. Use a chamber mop to get any paste the got on the chamber. Autosol works well if you have some already.

If your barrel is a bad copper fouler then doing this after every shoot may improve your bore and settle the fouling

[SCJ429]

I have a friend who shoots Berger 155.5 Fullbore, from memory he uses 47 grain of 2208 to get 3050 fps. He uses a 28 inch barrel and I think a 1:10 twist. His barrel life is three times better than I get from a 6mmBR.

[SCJ429]

Faster is better if you are trying to keep your projectile out of the transonic zone at longer ranges so you can hit your target with some accuracy. The poor little 308 needs to be pushed pretty hard to get the pill out to 1000 at speeds over 1300 fps.

[Sergeant Hartman]

Thanks for the awesome info, you guys rock.

I. Like 308 due to its longer barrel life, so I was worried if running 2700/2800 from the 20" barrel is pushing it to far. But appears not. There aren't any pressure signs that I can see (>46gr of 2208 or 2206h) another ppl have seen them and didn't see any signs.

[Sergeant Hartman]

Well I was going over the chronograph data. Cuz I like numbers.

Found that going from my prev best load I had bone on my old scales and 10 SD and 23 ES. To my test 2 sets of 4 rounds each where I kept same weight but slightly more and les to the OAL. My SD dropped to actually 1 and 2 and ES was 4 and 6 respectively. Looks like my new scales were on point..... if only I could shoot that accurate (yes I know sd and es don't define the accuracy of the load)