Charles Daly Zastava barrel 308 loads

[bsterns]

Has anyone loaded for a Charles Daly 308. The barrel maker is Zastava Arms and they will be supplying Remington with these barrels this year or next. I purchased one of these barrels since it was so reasonably priced and since I had an action and stock for it.
I have put the new 22" zastava 308 barrel on a 98mauser action and have glass bedded the action and free floated the barrel. I have had a real problem getting good groupings at 100 yds. I have never had this much problem with other calibers or barrels in general. It is supposed to be a 1 in 12" twist. I have tried 150 gr. Sierra BTSP. After intial failure to get any decent groups with factory ammo and spraying bullets all over the place, I put on new scope mounts and made sure everything was tight. Afterwards I shot the factory 180 gr. Winchester ammo and the grouping was about 1 1/2 inch at 100yds. I have attempted to shoot 150 gr. Sierra BTSP with varget powder and loaded 45,46, and 47gr. loads. 45gr. gave me 4 within an inch and the fifth one was way off in left field. The 46gr. and 47gr. loads were all over the target, 3 inch + groups. The stock is seated good and the barrel channel is free all the way to the front of the receiver. The scope has been reliable in the past but now I am paranoid about it. Any load advice for this gun would be appreciated.

[Jack]

OK, make sure the actions screws on the rifle are tight- not gorilla tight, just firm.
Check all the scope mount screws and make sure they're tight, too.
So far, what you KNOW is that Winchester 180 grain factory loads shoot reasonably well, and that handloads with Sierra 150 BTSP's and Varget do not shoot well.
You might have to try a different bullet or different powder- maybe the rifle just doesn't like that combo (it's not common,but it happens)
You may have a rifle that doesn't like 150's.
It is far too early to conclude the rifle is defective.
Were it my rifle, I would try a Sierra flat base or Nosler Ballistic Tip bullet, with Varget, Reloder 15 and Accurate Arms 2520 powders. It will shoot with one of those combinations, in all likelihood.

[bsterns]

Jack, thanks. I might have the screws gorilla tight. I want to add that it is apparently a #1 barrel. It is fairly small in diameter. The 1 in 12 twist might indicate smaller bullets perhaps. I read a post earlier that someone said they used 125gr. bullets with a 308 because of a thin barrel. Any and all comments appreciated. Jack, thank you for the response. I will go get some Reloader 15. It appears to be one of the best powders for this caliber. All I have on hand now is varget and RL 19.

[Jack]

bsterns, on Mauser actions the rear action screw particularly can be TOO tight, which will tend to put some stress on the action. That's why the advice about firm rather than gorilla tight.
The 1-12 twist should handle any bullet up to 200 grains.
As far as the thin barrel being better with 125's, I have no idea what that's all about.... my thin barrel 308 shoots 165's very nicely

Reloder 15 should be a good choice. I like Reloder 19 powder quite a bit, but not in the 308- it's a bit too slow for the 308, IMO.
You might try a different bullet with your Varget, too.
Good luck, and keep us posted.

[Rocky Raab]

The 125-gr in a .308 was because of a LIGHT rifle. The gun in question (if we're talking about the same post) is a Browning MicroMedallion. A 5 1/2 pound .308 is gonna belt the bejeezus out of you with a heavier bullet.

Bsterns, the guys at Remmy would tell you that your barrel meets their specifications and there's noting wrong with it. They don't publish their "specifications" so there's no way to argue the point with them.

I'd predict that it's a barrel harmonics thing: the bullet is exiting the muzzle at different times in the barrel's vibration pattern. Slightly different velocity, slightly different powder burn rate or different bullet weight will help.

With 150-grain bullets, I'd try some slightly faster powders. A classic load with the .308 is 43.0 of 3031 (which is max - work up to it). A more modern powder is Benchmark. Right on the side of the jar, Hodgdon recommends 43.0 of it with a 155 match bullet but a 150 will work just as well.

If the 150s don't work out, step up one notch to 165s. Most 308s shoot VERY well with 165-grain bullets. Try up to 42.0 Benchmark, up to 47.0 of W748 or up to 43 of 4895. Oh, and I also second the motion to try Reloder 15. I haven't done enough work with it in my own .308 to have a pet load, but there is a lot of published data.

Finally, keep in mind that bug-hole groups are nice to brag about, but a rifle that shoots 2-inch groups will collect 99.9% of all venison shots taken.

(Edited to correct the max charge of 4895 under a 165 bullet.)

[bsterns]

Thanks Rocky, that is sage advice. I will try the benchmark. I also will try the 165gr. bullet. I wonder if that limbsaver gizmo that fits over the barrel would help?

[Rocky Raab]

Well, I've read two very opposite reviews of the Limbsaver doohickey.

For those who haven't heard of it, it's a rubber donut that you slide along your barrel until it dampens the harmonics. It's a clever idea, it's inexpensive - and it's both bulky and ugly as sin.

It also didn't seem to help in at least one writer's opinion.

I think if I had bstern's rifle, I'd find a good load about 5% below max and call it good enough.

What's good, and how do I find it? "Good" for THIS rifle is a load that has low extreme spread across a lot of velocity readings, and shoots consistently into 2" or less (this is a deer rifle). Since this is a lightweight, skinny barrel gun, I'd shoot three-shot groups mostly, with longer shot strings being done in very slow batches of two shots at a time - lots of barrel cooling time between the twofers.

Why 5% below max? Because accuracy is more important than raw velocity, because recoil does matter, and because slightly reduced loads are often more consistent.

[bsterns]

Well, I got the little gun shooting pretty good. The advice on this forum is top drawer. I am very glad I discovered it. I did not start reloading until after I retired. I have shot more rounds this year than I did the other 66 prior years. Long live Hunt Chat!!!

[Rocky Raab]

So what load did the gun end up liking?

Tell us what you changed with the gun and the load to go from lousy to just fine. We can all learn from the lessons you can now teach us!

[bsterns]

I tightened up the screws on the scope mount and used loctite. I bedded the action as I mentioned. I used the BLC-2 load you recommended and have gotten good tight groups as a result. I also got good groups with the 190 gr. as well as the 150 gr. bullets. I am sorry for the delay in answering. I have gone to Africa hunting and have numerous health concerns since I first wrote that post. All is well and i am waiting until cool weather comes to start shooting again at the range.

[bsterns]

I forgot to mention that I call this my "hog gun". It is a synthetic stock with a rugged mauser 98 action. The 190 gr. bullets I have loaded for it is for the hogs I plan on hunting this fall.

[Jack]

Glad ya got the rifle working