Quickload Request - .308 178gr Hornaday Amax w/ IMR 4064

[Jenrick]

Just trying to verify that my intended test range will make it out to 1000.

Can anyone with quickload run .308 Winchester - 178gr Hornaday Amax w/ IMR 4064 with a starting charge of 39.5 up to 41.5 and reply with the muzzle velocity? I have found a very good accuracy node at 39.5-41ish, but I haven't had a chance to take it out to distance to see if it looks like it will stay supersonic out to 1000. The reason I picked 41.5 as the top end, is that is when I see flattened primers. No need to push it any further if I can get it there without going into that territory. I'll run the MV through a ballistic solver to see if it'll make 1000.

Thanks in advance!

 

[AJC1]

https://www.hornady.com/team-hornady/ballistic-calculators/#!/

https://www.hornady.com/team-hornady/ballistic-calculators/#!/4dof

 

[Jenrick]

https://www.hornady.com/team-hornady/ballistic-calculators/#!/

https://www.hornady.com/team-hornady/ballistic-calculators/#!/4dof

Quickload can provide a calculated muzzle velocity, which I can then plug into any ballistic solver such as the two you mentioned above. Getting the MV number is what I was requesting from someone with quickload. I don't have easy access to a chronograph to generate my own numbers, and I want to be sure that the window I'm working in should work for my intended task.

 

[mcb]

What barrel length?

 

[jmr40]

Buy or borrow a chronograph, that is the only way you're going to get correct MV. Quickload can give you a guess, but the same load in MY rifle might be 150 fps faster, or 150 slower than you get in YOUR rifle with the same loads even with the same barrel length. You'd be just as well off to look at the manuals and get an educated guess

My manual says 40.7 is a starting load at 2445 fps and 45.2 is a max load giving 2683 fps. Flattened primers don't tell you much, you could be, and probably are well below a max load at 41.5 gr. But it should be somewhere between 2500 fps and 2600 fps. I'd run the numbers at 2500 and 2550 fps and see what you get. It'll be pretty close.

 

[Jenrick]

What barrel length?

20" thanks.

Buy or borrow a chronograph, that is the only way you're going to get correct MV. Quickload can give you a guess, but the same load in MY rifle might be 150 fps faster, or 150 slower than you get in YOUR rifle with the same loads even with the same barrel length. You'd be just as well off to look at the manuals and get an educated guess

My manual says 40.7 is a starting load at 2445 fps and 45.2 is a max load giving 2683 fps. Flattened primers don't tell you much, you could be, and probably are well below a max load at 41.5 gr. But it should be somewhere between 2500 fps and 2600 fps. I'd run the numbers at 2500 and 2550 fps and see what you get. It'll be pretty close.

A SWAG is all I'm after, the proof is in the shooting afterall. I'm mainly just trying to verify that the lighter charge has a chance to get there.

Per my manual max load is 42, so not too surprised I'm seeing flattened primers. I also know I probably have plenty of room to work with, but I have no need or desire to move into that territory if I don't need to. Currently 39.7 grain will shoot a 3/4" or smaller group at 250 yds, no need to go faster if that will make it out to 1000yds. It shoots about a minute low compared to 168gr Fed GMM (which was what I had on hand to compare with, so it's definitely slower. The question is how much slower.

 

[mcb]

OP what bullet again. There is not 178gr Amax or I missed in on Hornady's webight I only see an Amax is 168 gr. The 178gr is either ELD-Match or ELD-X or regular Match

A quick sanity check and Yeah QuickLoads is replicating the published 4064 data on Hodgdon's online database pretty good.

39.5 under a 178 gr from a 20-inch barrel is only going to get you about ~2300 fps
41.5 under a 178 gr from a 20-inch barrel is only going to get you about ~2425 fps

That is very rough estimate since I don't have the exact bullet dimension or your seating length. Using Hodgdon data. Could easily be +/-100 fps on both of those in your gun/load.

It going to be close on getting to 1000 yards super-sonic depending on what you are defining as supersonic. Going to need a .5 or higher BC to have a chance.

 

[Jenrick]

They stopped producing the 178gr Amax when the ELD series came out (fortunately I have a quite a few still). Really the only difference between the two (I mic'd a couple last night) is the ballistic tip is a different material (darked red plastic is all I cell). Externally they have identical dimensions. Seating length 2.226 to the ogive, which is .020 of the lands in that particular gun, so I can't give you a cartridge OAL sorry.

Thank you, per JBM even at 2200 FPS, it will still be supersonic out to approximately 1200 yds (with our average density altitude and environmentals).