[george]

Hello, I'm just getting started with handloading and was hoping to see if anyone has some good starting load suggestions for a SSG08 308 w/24" barrel. Right now I have these ingredients in the shop but I'm not limited to those if you have some really good suggestions:

Hornady 168 ELD Match bullets
Varget powder
once used resized Match cases
CCI primers

I'm using:
Hornady Match dies on a RCBS supreme single stage
RCBS Loadmaster Supreme

I've loaded up several practice loads but would like to see what others have found works well so I can focus on a few more. Thanks for you help. Cheers

 

[Hubert_tyc]

Hi,

Within 2 years I tried to find proper bullet for target/PRS shooting. I started with 168gn Berger Hybrids. I tried different powders, different charges and seating depths and best groups were 0,6-1MOA at 100m. I switched to 139gn solids - even worse 1,5-2MOA. Then Hornady 155gn ELD—M showed some potential with 0,5 -0,8MOA. But finally I gave a chance to Lapua Scenar L 175gn and it was the way to go.
please have a look on video from zeroing and 300m shooting.

All best!
HT

 

[george]

Hi,

Within 2 years I tried to find proper bullet for target/PRS shooting. I started with 168gn Berger Hybrids. I tried different powders, different charges and seating depths and best groups were 0,6-1MOA at 100m. I switched to 139gn solids - even worse 1,5-2MOA. Then Hornady 155gn ELD—M showed some potential with 0,5 -0,8MOA. But finally I gave a chance to Lapua Scenar L 175gn and it was the way to go.
please have a look on video from zeroing and 300m shooting.

All best!
HT

Thanks for the information Hubert. Your video is very well produced and you have a great SSG setup. I wish I could understand Polish though (there wasn't any subtitles). My grandmother tried to teach me Polish when I was a child but my parents only ever spoke English.

I haven't used any of the Scenar bullets yet. I've mostly used factory rounds including Federal Gold Medal 168gr Sierra Matchking, Hornady 168gr ELD Match, and Norma 168gr Golden Target. They have all grouped well within the 0.5MOA range so I decided to start with the 168gr ELD for my first reloads. I haven't used any lower gr bullets in this rifle yet to compare.
My initial loads with Varget powder and 168gr ELD were promising. I started with 3 increasing powder loads to test out my processes and found the bullet performed well at 41.7gr of Varget with a group of 0.5-0.6MOA at 100m. I am going to up the charge slightly to 42.0gr and try several groups to confirm. If they group well, I'm going to try adjusting the seating depth to see if that has any measurable effect.
After that, I'm going to pickup some Lapua Scenar L 175gn and Sierra Matchking 175 BTHP to see how they perform next to the 178 Hornady BTHP Match. I'm hoping to try the Vihtavuori powder also. I'll update on the progress. Thank for your help. Cheers

 

[Case]

185 grains works the best in the SS GO8. .
You can shoot a 168gr and above with 1 To .25 moa accuracy without any issues I prefer to use federal 185 match Kings or Burger if you're going to use the Lapua ammo 175 or heavier Sinclair L's are great
If you can get them defiant munitions now makes on 185 gr 308 pacifically designed in my SSG08-A1 will get. You. 2720 feet per second suppressed.

 

[george]

185 grains works the best in the SS GO8. .
You can shoot a 168gr and above with 1 To .25 moa accuracy without any issues I prefer to use federal 185 match Kings or Burger if you're going to use the Lapua ammo 175 or heavier Sinclair L's are great
If you can get them defiant munitions now makes on 185 gr 308 pacifically designed in my SSG08-A1 will get. You. 2720 feet per second suppressed.

Thanks for the suggestions Case. Once I get the 168gr ELDs I have dialed in as best I can get them, I'm going to try out the heavier 175-185 matchkings and Scenar L and see how they compare. What powders are you using on those heavier 185s?

 

[Case]

Thanks for the suggestions Case. Once I get the 168gr ELDs I have dialed in as best I can get them, I'm going to try out the heavier 175-185 matchkings and Scenar L and see how they compare. What powders are you using on those heavier 185s?

I shoot all Factory load ammo during competition I do not reload I would recommend check out
Federal 185 Burger otm
185gr defiantmunitions
185gr berger juggernaut OTM
These are what I use for KO1M matches and all will do 1 MOA Beyond a mile . 2203y sofor for me