Native Hunter
Well-Known Member
This is a load I worked out for my FNAR 308. The same load will shoot about 3/4 of an inch in my TC Icon bolt gun. Nice to have one load that works in 2 different guns.
FNAR Semi Auto 308 Handload
- Thread starter Native Hunter
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Native Hunter
Well-Known Member
The Chrony showed 2,800 fps in the FNAR and 2,900 in the TC Icon. That makes sense because the Icon has a 24 inch barrel, and the FN has a 20. I just worked the load out last year and was still hunting with my 300 Win Mag, so haven't shot any deer with the 308 yet.
But I loaded that same (150 Hornady SST) bullet for my son's 30-06 and he lung shot a deer at about 120 yards with it last year. The exit hole looked about like what I would expect - not like a Nosler BT would, but still a good wide channel.
This year I will likely be using one of the 308s to deer hunt with just for a change. We are a rifle loving family and like switching things around and playing with them. My father probably has 15 different rifles that he loads for and uses. But we shoot more coyotes and groundhogs than we do deer. Generally two or three deer are all we want for eating, and since we don't have overpopulation issues, that's all the deer we will harvest.
Native Hunter
Well-Known Member
Yes, I thought so too.
If you look at the Nosler reloading manual they were getting 2,830 fps with the same grains of IMR 4064 and a 150 grain bullet. The highest velocity they list for any powder was with Reloader 15 at 2,958 fps.
With 48 grains of 4064 they were getting 2,920. I am 2 grains below that, but I have my bullets seated closer to the lands, which puts me toward max pressure with less powder. So what I was seeing on the Chrony looked about right to me compared to that loading manual.
I tried 2 or 3 other powders but got my best accuracy with 4064.
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Never had any problems with bullets coming loose in any of my ar loads. I'll crimp sometimes to see if I can get a little better accuracy out of a gun. I did have to small base size some .308 lake city brass when I resized them to .260 for a new ar-10 build. I'd go with small base on any new barrel as brass can differ so much between manufacturers.
Native Hunter
Well-Known Member
I'm not crimping and the dies I'm using are regular RCBS. I've not noticed any bullets moving but will watch for that.
