308 range limit?

T

tpende

Guest
two days ago i was playing with some different seat depths, and i managed to put 4 outta 5 shots in about 1/2 inch with one flyer, from 200. i used 168VLDs, .035 off the lands and 41 grains of H335. so i got to wondering

what do you guys think the maximum viable range (4" or better 5 shot group) of a .308 with 20" barrel would be?
 
I think, I read in Precision Shooting that in 1962. The NRA Matches at Camp Perry, reduced the 10 ring from 4" to 2". That was the 1000yd slow fire target. Because the shooters were using .308 Garands. And they had too many ties. And had a hard time figuring out the winner.
 
The limit is reached when your bullet goes trans sonic (reaches the speed at which it starts to go below the speed of sound. This will be the limiting range for your 20" barrel, not the accuracy issue.

I put your load date into QuickLoad without knowing your actual OAL or brand of bullet (I used a Berget 168 VLD for computations) and came up with an estimate of a muzzle velocity of about 2508 fps. Using QuickTarget, your velocity would be reduced to about 1173 fps at 1000 yards

Here is a link to figuring that speed: http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/sound/souspe.html

Hope this helps.

George
 
My 308 will stay with in 1 angle of deer out to 450 yards,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

the wind is my friend,,,,,,,,,,,

DD
 
2 years ago we killed pds at 1000-1300 yds with a factory 308 mod. 70 stealth with a 26" barrel, 168 sierras going I think don't remember the load for sure 2600 fps.
 
For the original question... between 600 & 800yds, if you're on top of your game and have the wind nailed.
 
Butch Lambert said:
I don't know what length barrel was used but a 308 set the 5 shot 600yds. record of .384 I believe this past year.
Butch
Click to expand...
Butch, it was .389 but who'se counting. That was the standard 308 remer the old benchrest shooters used for years. Bill Minium of MTM chambered it. It was shot with 155g Lapua bullets. I was about 4 feet from the paper when those 5 went through. I guess John Lewis will hold that record for a while.
 
real word

My shooting mentor was a UDT/Seal for 2 tours in the mid 60's and "was not in Cambodia!" He mentioned one time that another sniper had a hit at 800+ with a 308. He lowered his voice and said "that's a long way with a 308". He went on to explain that if they had a "high priority target" they wanted to be under 700 yards. I believe he carried a 300 Win mag.
Not benchrest information but the question was about viable range for the 308.
 
A good friend of mine is a FBI sniper. He shoots a 308. Interesting in that he said the average shot for them was 62 yards. Always shoot for the head and try to take out the brain stem. Instant death with no reactive movement. Meaning that if the perp has his hand on a trigger there is no movement of the trigger finger. This is kind of weird in a way as he used to be our youth minister at our church. Got interested in police work. Changed his line of work. Absolutely one of the nicest guys you would ever want to meet, unless you are a bad guy. He also carries a "street sweeper" in the trunk of his car.
Donald
 
zippy06 said:
I think, I read in Precision Shooting that in 1962. The NRA Matches at Camp Perry, reduced the 10 ring from 4" to 2". That was the 1000yd slow fire target. Because the shooters were using .308 Garands. And they had too many ties. And had a hard time figuring out the winner.
Click to expand...

Zippy, Can you give me a reference to this article, I'd like to read it.

TIA.:)
 
Might save some time here; the 1,000 yard NRA target doesn't have anything close to a 2" X-ring. I'd have to look it up to be exact, but it's closer to 10", basically one MOA. The NRA HP targets run just about one MOA all the way out, roughly 2.5" for the 200 & 300 yard targets, about 6" for the 600 yard target and 10" for the 1,000. I believe that what he's referring to here is the NRA switching from the old 5V target to the decimal targets ("10 ring" target with a center X-ring). Totally different targets, and you'll see where the scores changed drastically once the new target was adopted. There was a possible 250 points across the NMC course on the old 5V targets, as opposed to 500 or 800 on the newer decimal targets. The old 5V was a LOT more forgiving, and did result in many more ties. The decimal targets solved that and has used ever since. Hope that helps clear this up a bit?

Kevin Thomas
Berger Bullets
 
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