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Originally Posted by Jeff Higgins
I love the new Savage. They have really turned things around in the last 10-15 years and now produce some of the most accurate rifles made. They pretty much dominate the production gun bench classes and the cast bullet matches. Their "accu-trigger" is a godsend in this day and age of 7-8 pound triggers on bolt guns. Funny, who would have ever thought everyone else would be playing catch-up with Savage?
Do you have any experience at 1,000 yards? We used to shoot 3-4 times a summer down at Ft. Lewis on their "KD22" ("known distance" range #22). I'm rather proud to say I'm the reigning Ft. Lewis 1,000 yard black powder champ, shooting my C. Sharps '74 in .45-2.6, having won the last couple of matches fired there. Anyway, I digress. 1,000 yard shooting is a whole 'nother ballgame.
The .308 ain't gonna cut it out there. It cannot handle enough bullet weight at enough velocity to maintain accuracy at that range. It will almost certainly have a 12" twist, which is not fast enough to handle the long, heavy bullets needed for that range. The old '06 is even pretty marginal, with its standard 10" twist and greater case capacity. In .30 caliber, we're looking at one of the magnums like the .300 Winchester, Weatherby, H&H, or similar. The guys winning at that range are using the very heavy for caliber bullets, like in the 200-220 grain range. It takes a big case, loaded on the stout side, to drive those fast enough to remain stable out to 1,000 yards. Your typical 168 grain .308 match loads that do so well out to 600 in hi-power competition are useless at 1,000. I've lost track of how many targets I pulled with beautiful profiles of 168 grain Match Kings in them, as the bullets tumbled and went through sideways. You're going to need more gun. For me, that would be good news...  |
I am new to the 1000 yard game. What about the Palma guys that shoot 155gr bullets? I understand they do pretty good. And then theres the 6.5x284 using 142gr bullets that claim to do even better? The load analysis shows the 155gr bullet fired at 2950fps with a ballistic coefficient of 0.52 remaining supersonic at well beyond 1000 yards.
I do want to know more. I talked to a guy that claimed he used 190gr bullets, seated 0.010 INTO the lands with his 308. I wouldn't recommend this as the seated into the lands will certainly overpressure the gun. As to getting the initial velocity of 2950 fps with this weight bullet, again don't try it. I did. It blew the primer right out of the pocket. A 30" heavy barrel helps, but I don't see any way with a 308 to go beyond 168gr bullets. But then again how do the Palma people do it?
My 45-70 with a Hornady synthetic tipped bullet will launch a 300 gr bullet at over 2000 FPS, but I doubt it will do as well as the 308 at 1000 yards.
Do you have any web sites for reference info?