More Testing with Reloder 15 in 308

Today’s post continues off the last one. Click this link to see it. 308 T/C Compass 168g Hornady Match with IMR4895 and Reloder 15. I determined in the last post the charge of 43.3g of RL-15 was the one I wanted to explore a little more. This group produced a .774″ group at 100 yards using the 168g Hornady Match bullets.

For today’s post I loaded up 30 rounds with this charge. The first 5 rounds I ran through the MagnetoSpeed Chronograph. As you know, I annealed the brass and purchased a new Homgeek Scale that measures to the hundredth of a grain. These results tell me the scale is working fine.

I only ran 5 rounds through the chrono, but I included a second chart with the last shot deleted. These were awesome numbers. Now something to consider, when I ran the 43.7g charge of Varget through the chrono, it had an average of 2655fps. So I definitely have found a node or sweet spot in velocity that this rifle likes. Also as most of you know Varget and Reloder 15 have very similar burn rates. I did shoot these shots at a steel target at 100 yards producing a 3/4″ group, with no POI change.

100 yard group measuring 3/4″

I backed this group up with another great one at 200 yards measuring 7/8″.

The 300 yard group opened up just a bit at 3 3/4″, just over 1 MOA

With almost no cool down time, I kept going shooting rounds 16-20 at 400 yards, producing a 7″ group.

At this point it was apparent that the heat was taking it’s toll on accuracy. The barrel was to hot to touch, so I gave it 5 minutes or so to cool down and shot another group at 400 yards. The barrel was still pretty warm but improved to a 5 3/4″ group.

Overall I was pleased with this outing. It was cool to discover today’s velocity was almost identical to my last load of Varget. It is very apparent that this is a hunting rifle. It’s designed to do it’s business in the first few shots. I have discovered if I can see the mirage from the heat of the barrel through the scope it’s to hot to shoot. However I do find it very enjoyable pushing this rifle to it limits and seeing what it can do. I think next time I do a test like this I will start at the 400 yard target first and see how that does as far as accuracy. Another thing I’ll mention is the muzzle brake is very functional, however it jumps just slightly to the left after each shot. It was enough I couldn’t see my impacts at 400yds. I have the ports absolutely level as I could make them. I may try clocking it just slightly to counter act the jump to the left. That’s really my only complaint with how it shoots. The trigger is definitely acceptable as long as I don’t shoot a better one in between rounds like I found out last time.

Farming season is in full swing, so my shooting may slow down just a bit. I was fortunate today that no one was on the block. I will have to play it by ear for the next month or so. Look for Accurate 2230 next. Thanks for reading and have a great day!!!