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I thought I'd share a little about my range experience this morning with my FWT. I was comparing two handloads. One consisted of a 165 gr Speer SPBT, W748, WLR primer, new full length sized Hornady case, and 2.81" COL. The other load consisted of a 150 gr Sierra SBT, IMR 4064, WLR primer, full length sized once fired Win case, and 2.80" COL. I shot four three shot groups with each load from a bench rest at 100 yards, with a little barrel cooling time between each group. Range conditions were excellent with a very mild breeze fron right to left.

The summary of results is that both loads performed well with 4 group averages of 1 1/4". The best group of the eight was one of the Speers, which went into 5/8". These loads are being developed for mule deer hunting this fall. I will be sharpening my focus on loads featuring the Speer bullet as I continue preparations for fall.

Jim

Good Results Jim...

My next rifle will be a 7.62x51mm...but will be an AR platform.

The .308 is a fine cartridge in my experience. Inherently accurate, adequately powerful, efficient - it is hard to find much to criticize about it. Best wishes in finding a good AR style rifle for it.

I am going to continue hand load development for mine. It shoots fine now, but I believe there is room for improvement.

Jim

Keep at it...then I'll buy my ammo from you !!

I have shot a lot over the years, and love many bigger calibers, but Uncle Sammy got me hooked on the 308 in the M-14 platform. It is a round readily available and low recoil.

Yeah, one reason I moved out of .270 and 30-06 was recoil. My right shoulder is a little messed up and whether actual or perceived, recoil from my .308s (the Featherweight and a Kimber Hunter), is more bearable than what I experienced previously, especially over extended range sessions. I enjoy informal target shooting, field position practice, and hand-loading. I can have fun longer at the range and squeeze more loads from a pound of powder with the .308 when compared to the .270/30-06. I also like the shorter action length of the 308s.

Sorry, Shooter13, it would be tough for me to hand-load for a semi. I'd worry myself silly. "A man's got to know his limitations!"

Jim

Just kiddin' Jim...!!

Already have a stockpile of 7.62x51mm growing...

Have any Featherweight shooters noticed a tendency in their rifles to shoot one bullet weight better than another?

My 200 yard range session yesterday took place in less than ideal breezy conditions, but it seemed my rifle was favoring 150 grain bullets over 165 grain bullets. Groups from the bench were distinctly better with the 150s, in spite of the wind. Curiously, and this may simply have been due to vagaries in wind speed, the 150s I was shooting (Sierra SBTs) seemed to be blown about less than the 165 grain Speer SPBTs.

Jim

My Featherweight is an early "claw extractor" model .308 from the early 1990's made at New Haven and seems picky about what it's fed. That's after I dug out that ball of snot Winchester bedded it with and did a proper glass bedding on it with a pressure point near the end of the stock.

I believe you're on the right track with IMR4064. I've so far gotten the best accuracy with that powder in my .308's, partnering it with Sierra 150gr. sbt bullets, Winchester brass, and Remington primers. I haven't tried enough load development with 165gr. and 180gr. bullets to give good judgment on them other than I haven't found a sweet load yet for those weights.

Winchester has traditionally cut a 1:12" twist in their barrels where some others use a 1:10" twist. In my "varmint/target" .308 I used a custom order barrel from Hart using a fat #7-25" barrel with a 1:11" twist on a Remington 700 short action. That rifle will shoot anything I feed it into small clusters. The M-70 with it's thin barrel is much more picky.

I suspect velocity is the reason you're getting better groups with the Sierra 150sbt at 200yds over the heaver Speer 165gr. bullets. That may change at longer distance. I've had good results with the Sierra 150sbt on white tails under 100yds. where the boat tail does nothing for accuracy at that range. Hornady sent me 1,000 150gr. plain base bullets with the purchase of a LNL-AP press years ago and I'll be using them in the future for any deer hunting I do after load development. I'll probably start with IMR4064, W-W748, H-Varget, and H-CFE223 in that order. If it makes any difference, I moly coat my .30 bullets in a tumbler.

Thank you for sharing your experiences, krag96. The 1990s Featherweight I had in .270 shot mid-weight 140s quite well. As load development continues for my .308, I will be content with it favoring 150s if that ends up being the case. I will be working with IMR 4064, Varget, and W748, along with boat-tail spitzers from a couple different manufacturers as I get things dialed in. I like what I am seeing with the Sierra 150 SBT so far...

Jim

I think you're on the road to happy deer hunting with that bullet and powder combination.

Been a while since I posted to this thread. I will continue to do so now and then so readers might know a little about what to expect from a similar rifle. I tested three handloads from the a 100 yard bench today. Cases for all loads were full-length sized and trImmed. Primers were WLRs. Hunting style bullets were all 165 gr soft point boat-tail spitzers from Hornady, Sierra, and Speer. Powders were W748 and IMR 4064. Long story short, a three shot group of the Speer loaded with IMR 4064 (2.80" COL) went into 7/16". Mighty fancy shooting for a guy with very average skill from the bench.
Jim

Thanks for the update...

Load development may be complete for now with this fine rifle. A couple weeks ago I fired the group described in my post of September 29, 2017, and I am sticking with it. I checked my scope settings yesterday at 100 yards from the bench and am dialed in at 3" high, which gives me a +/- 3 1/2" MPBR from the muzzle out to 290 yards, which has now been range verified. I practiced at 300 and 400 and obtained good results. 400 yard shooting requires 18" of hold-over, unless I use scope adjustments, which I dislike doing in the field. I will be focused on 400 yard practice for the next couple weeks as I continue preparations for hunting season.

Jim

Sounds like a plan Jim...

If you can afford a Shepherd scope, they're fantastic with the best ranging scope on the market. Some of the Older at least Burris scopes have a system to estimate range, but it's slow.

Thank you for the suggestion, krag96. I use a Leupold VX-3 3.5-10x40mm on the Model 70. I keep things simple and rugged on a hunting rig, and my Leupold scopes have never let me down.

I do my best to avoid shots beyond the MPBR of my rifles, and have every intention of doing so on this next hunt. The 400 yard practice is great for sight picture, breath control, shot calling, and trigger squeeze skills. I intend to be prepared for a shot out to 1/4 mile, but have no intention of taking such a shot unless there are no practical alternatives.

Jim