I was so disappointed with this barrel. It never did achieve the groups I'd expected and hoped for. That was until today. I was convinced by Oldandcranky1 (Mark) to give it thorough cleaning and try some of his personal loads through it. The results were friggen amazing. I was ecstatic!! Thank you Mark!!

The barrel:

Mega 308 Barrel – 18 - $310 ($294.50)
• Manufactured under the strict supervision of Mega Arms.
• Chambered in .308 Winchester
• Machined with a Medium Contour.
• 1/10 twist for accurate overall performance.
• 5/8-24 threaded muzzle.
• .750 diameter gas block seat.
• SR-25/DPMS pattern barrel extension.
• 11° target crown.
• Uses standard AR-15 Mid Length Gas system.
• GUARANTEED TO SHOOT SUB 1 MOA @ 100 YARDS WITH MATCH AMMO!!
• Made from 416 Stainless Steel
• Finished in Black Nitride Coating

Today's best 3 round groups at the 100 yard line at the Marysville Rifle Club.

Curious on the weight of the bullets

Now that you cleaned it some, leave it alone and shoot it for a while with just a patch or bore snake

There good barrels, believed they come from Columbia river barrels now (BHW)

Next time a couple 5 or 10 rd strings

Yup, Ron. To get good, and not just good-enough, results you have to develop a load... find out what weight pills your gun likes and how fast to push them. Takes time and experimentation. While normally I'd say you might want to take that bullet and powder combination and start fritzing around with the powder measure, it looks like Mark has you pretty much dialed in from the get go (that's what experience does for you, eh Mark?)

'Course, Mikey and me telling you that fell on deaf ears ('cuz we're just chopped liver?). Glad you didn't just sell the gun off... although if I'd been smart (pfft, yeah, like when pigs fly) I'd have emphatically agreed that the gun was shit and bought it from you cheep.

Hey, that’s exactly the .308 load I use too ... but without any moly tincture.

C’mon, Ron. You’re the perfect candidate to be a reloader ... you can do it, buddy.

Ron, here's a load you can try:

NSFW

https://i.imgur.com/1np6GWd.mp4

A regular ol' William Tell huh?

If you can make that horse drink, buddy, you will be my hero!

That's a pretty stiff load with a 175 SMK, have you chronoed it?

Mine gives me just over 2600 fps out of a Rem 700 with 22" barrel.

My hornady manual says 44gr max for 168gr, 42.4gt max for 178gr. Sounds like a hot load. Any signs of too much pressure?

The Hodgdon site shows 45.0 grains as the max load: http://www.hodgdonreloading.com/data/rifle.

For me, primers are getting "flattish" but nothing that alarms me.

43.5 grains of Varget with a 175 SMK in Winchester brass yields 2624 FPS for me in my 5R.

44 grains of RL-15 with the same Pill in L/C brass just breaks 2700 FPS in the same Rifle.

They both shoot about the same if i do my part, sub 1/2 MOA.

Funny how everybody has different numbers. I can confirm what Varget says. These numbers are for 2.8, and yours are loaded to 2.894, so pressures should be lower. (I've been reading)