Novice ammo questions for SMEs

I'm attending my first precision rifle course at Sniper Country in northern Utah. The long range, bolt gun shooting is new to me so my question is this:

I have a Savage 10Ba chambered in .308. Rate of twist is 10 w/ 24" barrel. What manufacturer and grain store bought ammo is recommended for a novice shooter to get the most out of this rifle at ranges out to 1,000 yards? Thanks forum!
 

MattJames

Certified Derpologist
Staff member
Moderator
Been a while, apologies for not seeing this sooner.

I would look at 175 grain SMK if your going for factory ammunition. Federal Gold Medal Match is easy to find in quantity, but I would rank Black Hills as higher on the totem pole of quality all things considered. But you pay to play as with anything. Both ammunition I've shot fairly extensively and are great options. Plus, the 175 SMK responds well to a faster twist such as the 1/10. There are also smaller batch loaders who make arguably a higher quality product, but the advantages of buying from a manufacturer is that if something does go wrong you have recourse to get it fixed.

The reasons are multiple with respect to the grain weight, bullet, twist rate, etc.

- A higher BC bullet is going to do nothing but help you at extended ranges. A higher Ballistic Coefficient is going to mean a lower drag, thus it retains MV longer and bleeds it off slower then a lower BC. It also bucks wind better at longer distances, partially because of more MV but also a more slippery bullet. A good comparison is to load different bullet data in an ballistic calculator
- The 168 SMK is an commonly found bullet in factory .308 match ammunition, but not one that is great at sea level at the distances your looking to use it at. Due to its shape, it does not retain stability upon transition between trans and sub sonic and thus can produce erratic results around 800y and beyond. I say sea level because at higher altitudes (this higher Density Altitudes) the air is thinner, thus the bullet stays super sonic longer. A good example- at home 175 grain goes trans sonic around 800m from a 24 inch barrel. Were I'm at currently, out of the same barrel length my transonic range (around 1114 FPS) is closer to 1000y. This is in an environment about a mile in elevations difference.

What else are you brining to the class? Based on what I've said I could make some decent gear selections that will help in the future.
 
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