I put my Victor .308 through some ammunition tests today. It did great with 147gr FMJ and 4064, terrible with 150gr FMJ from 3 brands and a handload with IMR 4895, and great with two different well-made 165gr rounds using both 4064 and IMR 4895, all at 2.800. Good lord that's a picky rifle. 3 grains of bullet weight makes a difference, then it loves heavy rounds.
Holy picky Saint!
- Thread starter benstt
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TEXASforLIFE
Ronin
Too be expected like any other gun! Well rifles anyway? Pistols I haven't had any picky ammo issues with.
HansGruber
Ronin
I wonder if the FMJ's might be different style bullets—one spitzer, one boattail
KillerFord1977
SAINT
I run 165+ grain thru mine exclusively for game animals and never had issue with any brand.
I will say i dont own any 147 gr, so never tried it
Nope, the reloaded 147s and 150s are both boattails. I can't speak to the factory rounds. Maybe it is the gas, as Bassbob suggested. I'll have to investigate that.
TEXASforLIFE
Ronin
Are you implying that spitzers won't, but not limited to boattails?
HansGruber
Ronin
I'm saying that they are different bullet profiles, and the rifle may prefer one over the other…however, it would seem they are both the same profile, so…
youngolddude
Professional
Excuse me, but what is 2.800? What is it that it doesn't like? Does it spit them out like Tom Hanks does caviar in the movie Big?
Sometimes different bullet weights (different taper profile) have issues with the magazine follower not the rifle.
Have you tried a different brand of mag?
Just like .300blk can be used in 5.56 mags the subsonic (heavier bullet) has a higher chance of misfeed issues in a standard 5.56 mag but it's not always the case depending on the mag because of follower profile where the .300blk mags have a different follower that accommodates the heavier bullet.
Try the Lancer L7 mag it has great reviews and people have said it works reliably with heavier ammo types I the 175gr range.
Have you tried a different brand of mag?
Just like .300blk can be used in 5.56 mags the subsonic (heavier bullet) has a higher chance of misfeed issues in a standard 5.56 mag but it's not always the case depending on the mag because of follower profile where the .300blk mags have a different follower that accommodates the heavier bullet.
Try the Lancer L7 mag it has great reviews and people have said it works reliably with heavier ammo types I the 175gr range.
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That's the cartridge overall length. Standard for a .308 Win.
Interesting, I'll look into that. It is weird to me it shoots well with 147s and 165s, but sucks with 150s. Just a finicky rifle, I guess.
The Magpul mag follower is optimized to work with the most common bullet sizes and when you're out of that range issues can pop up.
This may not be the case in your situation but I've heard of it being the follower before and I've looked into it myself as I have 2 AR-308 rifles that I put together and read up a lot on the potential issues of the AR-308 platform so I could avoid them if possible.
Talyn
SAINT
Bullets (designs) can have different bearing surface lengths eventhough bullet weights are the same.
This can have a measureable influence on velocity, and accuracy depending on the amount of bullet surface that interfaces with the bore twist rate in order to properly stabilize the bullet.
precisionrifleblog.com
While one would think a manfacturer makes all barrels the same, slight/minuscule differences can occur during the manufacturing process resulting in/an individual barrel(s) preffering one bullet design vs. another.
Therefore, all barrels are individuals as are all rifles.
This can have a measureable influence on velocity, and accuracy depending on the amount of bullet surface that interfaces with the bore twist rate in order to properly stabilize the bullet.
Berger Bullets Bearing Surface Variation
One of my friends recently told me they sort bullets by both weight and length of their bearing surf...
While one would think a manfacturer makes all barrels the same, slight/minuscule differences can occur during the manufacturing process resulting in/an individual barrel(s) preffering one bullet design vs. another.
Therefore, all barrels are individuals as are all rifles.
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TEXASforLIFE
Ronin
Most 2.800" is the the cartridge over all length (coal or c.o.a.l.) for a 308win and 7.62x51nato cartridges. With the added m118 throat and 175gr for longer range capabilities 2.830" was added to bolt action sniper versions. 2.800" is what most ar10 mag length can be limited to. Magpul has a gen3 version for 2.830" length cartridges for the use of and for handloads capabilities of using longer coal. This can be used for 260rem and 6.5creed cartridges for the heavier bullets. It will give an advantage to the 260rem over the 6.5creed.
youngolddude
Professional
I understand OAL, I just didn't understand a number without anything else. Thanks for sharing.