.308 Varmintmaster Mil & Comm Casings?

[Sgt. Mike]

I've asked this around before, but thought I would try again. I have a Weatherby Varmintmaster in .308 Winchester. Commercial loads shoot fine, if you can find them at a reasonable price.

Military brass with a case length of 2.005", shooting a Sierra Matchking 175 grains starts to stick in the chamber at 43.5 grains of Win. 748. If I trim the case to 2.000" the case removes easily, as it should. Sure a tight chamber is nice but using a rubber hammer to remove casings is a bit tedious and hard on the gun.

The military sniper loads shoot the 175 Sierra Matchking Bullet at 2715 f.p.s. according to my Oehler. The Sierra Reloading Manual says the 175 Sierra MK can be loaded to 45.5 grains, then take a 5% reduction for a military casing.

This gun likes factory loads or very short military brass. I'm open to suggestions. I have a couple of other .308 Winchesters, M1A and a Savage that shoot anything without a problem, within the book, of course.

Has anyone had this problem? I'm open to suggestions but having to trim the casings to <2.000" for some reason is not to my liking. All help is appreciated. Michael

 

[Art Eatman]

I guess I'd regard trimming the GI brass to 2.000" as "just one of those things". If loads with those cases are equally accurate in the other rifles, I'd either live with it or set up a few boxes which are reserved for the Weatherby.

 

[csmsss]

Military brass will actually operate at a slightly higher pressure level than .308 commercial brass, since the case capacity is slightly less (thicker case walls). You should probably reduce your charge a grain or so if your brass is marked as 7.62mm NATO.

 

[Sgt. Mike]

.308 Varmintmaster

I'm down nearly 2 grains at this point. Any point in having the throat made longer? Michael

 

[csmsss]

Mike, that might not be a bad idea - your chamber might be a little on the tight side with respect to freebore. Have you had your chamber measured? Might be a good place to start.

 

[ronl]

The closest you can come to the military sniper round is 175 SMK's in LC Match casings with Fed210M primers loaded with 43.5gr of RL-15. OAL is 2.820. Just keep in mind that it may not be the most accurate round in your particular rifle.

 

[Sgt. Mike]

.308 Weatherby Varmintmaster

I have not had the chamber measured. I did call Weatherby who in the past with other rifles has been very helpful. This person only wanted to know if the gun would shoot factory ammunition, PERIOD! Arrogance at it's highest level. This is my last Weatherby. I talked with them 6 months or so ago so this is not a quick decision.

Believing this was a problem I could work out I put an IOR scope on it. If the problem persists the IOR comes off and a Simmons can go on it. :barf:

A few years back I purchased some military brass all the same year from L.C. Beautiful brass and highly dependable in the M1A's with very high velocity. Thank you to everyone who has helped in this issue. Please keep the suggestions coming. Michael

 

[Art Eatman]

Yeah, you could get a bit of additional free bore reamed into the rifle. But I'm kinda superstitious, maybe, with an attitude of "If it ain't broke, don't fix it." I think I'd rather tailor the ammo to the rifle than MAYBE mess up its present capability. Might not hurt a thing, of course...