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308 Heavy Adams & Bennett Mauser Range Test


Sailormilan2

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I have finally had the chance(meaning, I got a vehicle I can go to the range in) and have been testing my heavy barreled Mauser rifle. I rebarreled a Yugo action with a heavy Adams & Bennet barrel in 308 and have been trying to work up a load for it.

I have been trying to make up something similar to the military M118 load that I can use in my M14s and my Mauser. Unfortunately without any luck. My first attempt was using a 165 gr Nosler Balistic tip hunting bullet over 42.7 gr of IMR4064, in a Winchester case, using a Winchester Large Rifle Primer, and loaded to 2.81. About the best I have been able to do is about 3 - 4" at 100 yds. I have never had a 30 cal rifle that wouldn't shoot well with IMR4064, and have never had a bad A&B barrel.

So, I have been sweating a bit, thinking either I had not installed the barrel right, or it was not a good barrel. Though, for some reason, it seemed to shoot some resized 7.62 Russian rounds pretty well. Resized from .311" to .308". These are longer than normal for their weight, since they have a steel core. I loaded them out to 2.92" intermediate Mauser has lots of room) over 43.0 gr of IMR 4064, and shot a decent, though not great group. Better than the Nosler bullets.

Finally I broke down and got out some factory Nosler Custom Competion rounds I had purchased for this reason. 4 shots went into less than an inch. 1 shot out of cold clean barrel was about 2" away. Guess it is back to the drawing board with my reloads.

 

308Target_zpsd4495a91.jpg

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For bullet weight up to 165 in the 308. I have had the best luck with Winchester 748 and Hodgden's BLC-2. Previously I used IMR 3031 and another I just can't recall. It has been apx 20 years. I highly suspect 748 and BLC-2 being the same as data is nearly identical. I don't recall the charge but do remember using 5% below max as recommended by a gun rag author if using US GI brass. I usually round off my rifle charges. If 5% below max worked out to for example 45.4. I'd load it at an even 45.0. I used the same load in both mil-surp and commercial brass and didn't see any difference on paper. If I had a Crony at the time chances are good there would have been a difference. I was using Winchester primers and various bullets in the 147-165 range keeping the load 5% below max. I'm guessing but I think it was IMR 4350 that worked best with 180's.

 

The same load resized with a RCBS small base die ran perfectly smooth in my friend's M1-A and his legally owned M-60. The slightly reduced load with the small base die also extracted cleanly from my normally stubborn Savage 99. I used the same load with a standard resizing die in a Remington ADL and my brother's Winchester 70. Your results may vary but I do recall a snug bullet crimp improving the shot to shot accuracy. I parted company with the Remmy before trying neck sizing only. If you're going to be shooting your handloads in the same bolt action rifle. Give neck sizing only a try and compare to full length. I can't say with any experience in 308 but neck sizing remarkably improved my shot groups in 30/06.

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  • 4 weeks later...

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