In 40 plus years of shooting I guess I've never really experienced a truly picky barrel when it come to bullet size. Picked my daughter up a Savage lady hunter in .308 win, 1:10 twist and was amazed. 150 gr could not even keep on paper , 168 gr 12 in group at best, but 180 gr dialed in MOA. Although, I picked it up used it appears brand new. I'm wondering if its even worth trying to hand load anything less 180 gr. I've seen references to the barrel breaking in later and not being so picky. I'm wondering if any shooters have had any similiar experiences
picky .308 win barrell
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WestKentucky
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My .270 used to only eat 130s. I reload everything and I had fits with 150s. Then I stuck a case really bad and now I can't get it to eat anything. Some barrels are really picky. I suspect every barrel likes every bullet at some power level. I will get mine back in shape sooner or later. Going to have to totally rework my load I think.
Nature Boy
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Got to be something wrong with the rifle or the scope. .308 shouldn’t be that picky
Berger.Fan222
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Life's too short to run down all the rabbit trails. Feed it what it likes. Don't worry about what it doesn't. Some barrels are just weird.
Here is the “break-in” target from my Savage M10T-SR .308 Win. Even cheap FMJs did well. The 168 grain was admirable. The 178 grain are noteworthy! My point, I would loop back and do a barrel break-in. Then, try again.
If the problem was in the optics, the groups would not gave gotten tighter. Savage does recommend the 168 grain in a 308 Win with 1-10 twist.
Geno
If the problem was in the optics, the groups would not gave gotten tighter. Savage does recommend the 168 grain in a 308 Win with 1-10 twist.
Geno
GooseGestapo
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I've had several barrels that took 2-300 rounds to "shoot in". One of the things that make a custom barrel different, is the hand lapping that essentially does the break in w/o shooting the gun. The longer shank (bore riding surface of the 180's likely helped).
Try a deep clean and use a polish type bore cleaner like Remington paste bore cleaner or JB bore paste.
Then, retry some of those other loads. You might be pleasantly surprised.
Added; but then again, most women I've ever interacted with tended to be "picky". Some were downright savages...
Likely a characteristic of a "Lady Hunter".... I suggest swapping out pink stock for a black stock!
Try a deep clean and use a polish type bore cleaner like Remington paste bore cleaner or JB bore paste.
Then, retry some of those other loads. You might be pleasantly surprised.
Added; but then again, most women I've ever interacted with tended to be "picky". Some were downright savages...
Likely a characteristic of a "Lady Hunter".... I suggest swapping out pink stock for a black stock!
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I did try the cleaning when I was fighting the 150's. I am wondering about taking to a gunsmith to check out . Ill try breaking it in, . I really wouldn't care,but the 180s do have a little more recoil than my daughter likes, but i can figure that with hand loads.
I think you're thinking of muddy girl, the lady hunter (and Camilla from weatherby) are wood laminate last I checked, they're just shaped better for the female anatomy.
Which bullets specifically were you using? Flat base? Boattail? Have you tried switching the profile? For barrel break in that SHOULD be acceptable in the accuracy, and very light recoiling, try out some 110 varmageddons, they should be OK with the flat base, and they're cheap enough to burn up on practice too.
FL-NC
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What this guy said.
GooseGestapo
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Horsey, It was "tongue in cheek"... re: fickle nature of females... "joking"
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