Help with load development .308 blr
 

I have a BLR81 in .308. I am trying to develop a load for it today. I have loaded up 2 types of powder and was not able to get an acceptable grouping at the range today.
Rifle bore clean, Full length brass, CCI 200 primers, O.A.L. 2.750", Sierra 165gr spitzers and IMR 4320 with load specification directly from Hodgdon site.
Same as above except my second powder choice that I had on hand H4895. Again from Hodgdon web site I started with min to max.
H4895 was much better than IMR 4320,
The best group with H4895 was at 42.0 gr and 42.5gr with a 3 shot group 2 were ok and the third would fly.
Which direction should I go from here? A different powder? Which one? Seat the bullet deeper in the case? By how much? Try different bullet? Again which ones? I am out of 165's now so I am open to suggestions.
The scope is a Leupold M8 6x36 recently checked over by Korth. Everything nice and tight. No signs of excessive pressure on the primer either.
Sorry for all the questions, but I do not have a whole bunch of experience re loading .
Thanks for the help.
I should me

How far are you seating off of the lands? Will the magazine allow a longer COL?

I don't know how far off the lands, I just played with the seating depth until it cleared the magazine pretty good and cycled well. Then off I went. I did notice I was having a hell of a time cycling the leaver at the range, I thought maybe it was just because of the cold or maybe needed a bit more oil. Very tight. I do have a bit more space in the magazine.
All brass was the same brand. "RP"

elkhunter11,
Actually I got my oal from the Hornady book as I did not have a Sierra book. For some reason i don't know why I said what i said about overall length in previous post. I must of thought of doing that:confused:

I start about .010" to .015" off the lands for cup and core bullets, if they will fit the magazine and cycle n the action. Other than that,l 165gr is a good choice for the .308win, but some rifles prefer certain bullets, and don't like others. And some rifles are more fussy than others as far as bullet weight/powder selection. I have found a great load with the first bullet/powder combination, and I have had situations where I tried five or six combinations before I found one that the rifle liked. How does the rifle shoot with factory loads?

So in other words keep playing t'ill I get it right! I might try some 4064 but not sure about bullets.

I have not tried factory as I have close to 200 once fired brass I thought I would use. Some are Rem, win,federal and Hornady. I sorted them and am now using the Rem brass.

Are you full length sizing? Small base die may clean up stiff lever. When in doubt varget is made for 308 win. Might be worth a try.

The only (old) loads I have handy for my BLR (81) are for Sierra 150 Spitzer BT which I seated with COAL of 2.81 ...with 44.0 - 44.5 gr of IMR 4064. If I were loading today, I would use the same volumes of Varget.
For cold weather, my BLR needs to have all the lube washed out of the gear, bolt, hammer with WD-40...and operated “dry”.
EDIT: Mine is fine with regular FL sizing...chamber is not tight.

Try a flat base bullet if you already haven't

What are you expecting for a “satisfactory” group? Haven’t shot mine for a while and don’t think I saved target info....but think I recall groups averaging about 1.25” @ 100M.

The"Helluva time cycling" reminds me of some loads that were jamming onto the rifling on my Sharps......and pulling the bullet out of the case when I was trying to eject the loaded round.

308
 

I have found 308's are not too fussy re powder with a good bullet, levers and semis need fulll length sizing at the minimum (or small base as was mentioned in a previous post) for easy loading. My blr liked bullets seated as far out as i could and still fit in the mag and they were still 25 thou off the lands which is way further that i have found for best accuracy. Factory overall lengths feed in pretty well any rifle but typically wont give you best accuracy in most cases but you do need to back off loads the closer you get to the lands as pressure builds faster.

This^ OR if the loads are going into the chamber nicely and you have difficulty removing the fired brass (as in sticky/tight bolt) you have an over pressure situation. Or maybe it's a combo of the 2 - You're actually seating the bullet on the lands, maybe even tight on the lands, and this will cause a high pressure situation as well.

Another thing, are you measuring your case total length? If they're too long, the neck bottoms out in your chamber under pressure and results in the neck clamping down of the bullet causing an extreme overpressure.

A different matter - where some of your inaccuracy might be coming from, when you're using used brass, always weigh the brass after all your trimming, cleaning, resizing is done. I've seen it where there can be 20-40 grain difference in weight from one lot to the next. What that ends up doing, is it changes the internal volume of the case which affects accuracy. In a 308 case, IIRC I usually end up with no more than 2 or 3 grains difference.

And always de-burr the flash hole. Some have said that de-burring the flash hole can be the simplest and largest gain-in-accuracy step you can do.

Update.
Well I decided to pick up a box of federal blue box factory ammo in order to see if they created the same sticky ejection issues . I also changed my reload brass from Remington to Federal brass . I trimmed the cases to exactly what the factory ammo brass was and also seated the bullets to what the factory ammo was. I loaded up 5 rounds with 42g of H4895 and also 5 rounds of 42.5g .
Factory ammo worked perfectly and the reloads did good as well except for 2 rounds that stuck ever so lightly.

My BLR has a tight chamber and hates Federal brass. Sticky on closing but not on opening.

Federal brass is a poor choice. Try Winchester, Privi, Sellier and Bellot or Lapua. Privi is the hardest, then Winchester then Lapua. The hard brass will cycle much better.

At 42.5 grains of 4895 and a 165 grain bullet you should be nowhere near a high pressure load unless you are jammed into the lands. Make sure you are .02 to .04 off the lands. Also, back off 2 grains, put in CCI 250 primers and work back up. If the 4895 won't shoot too well try Varget. I would also suggest you develop a load for 130 grain Barnes bullet. You will get better speed, better penetration and have a bullet that will do from coyote to Moose.

Reloader 15 and 165 grain bullets. Awesome load.

Hi Sitting Bull.
Have you free floated the barrel?
Also if you have a barrel band you can either remove it and leave it off or take enough metal off of the inside so there is no contact with the barrel.
I've done this on mine and reduced the group size from 1.5" to 7/8".

If your reloads are stiff going in, maybe your die is not reforming the shoulders back enough and your creating too tight of a headspace. During the shot, the brass will expand to match your chamber under pressure and then shrink after the shot, giving easy extraction (as long as your pressures are happy). Try adjusting your die so your brass will chamber perfect. Also make sure the brass is clean of any sizing lube or dirt.

Try switching out the 165 grain bullet for a 150 and try Federal primers, the H4895 should work.

Having worked with a few BLRs. If you are getting two rounds with in 1/2" and a third making the group 11/2" you've likely found as good as it gets. They aren't a bedded bolt gun.

I've used BLRs with this type of accuracy to kill deer out to 400yds.

Given the rifles design and awful trigger if you get near an 1" 3 shot accuracy it's a keeper.

And you need small base sizing dies for the BLR.

Thanks guys, I will be picking up a small base die tonight from a fellow member. We will load up and head to the range in the next couple days. I'll keep you posted.

any Blr I ever had that I reloaded for did not like super hot loads, accuracy , went kapoot, every time, then I had problem with extracting the brass , because of a tight chamber

Good luck

Sorry to bump this old discussion but how did things settle out with your small base dies and loads?