Robert Snyder

Powder is supposed to be stored in a air tight container in a dark cool dry place, all of which your Hopper is not. I sometimes leave the powder in my hopper because I am feeling to lazy to put it back in the container. If your powder starts to dry out you are asking for kabooms in your next loads or a great difference in performance so I say put it back in the container and be sure to mix it in real well.

I have a LWRC REPR that is capable of 3/8 or less at 100 yards with Federal GMM 175's. The Barrel is Cold hammer forged and not chrome lined. If I was going to Build one I would opt for a JP or a Noveske Stainless. I don't think you are going to find a Barrel for your Budget that will shoot even close to 1 1/2 inches at 100 yards. Sorry.

The main thing for Long Range work is that you will need a 1 in 10 twist to stabilize the Heavier Bullets. Desert Tactical is very nice because you have your choice of using one Chassis platform to shoot the following 8 Calibers. 308 Winchester .260 Remington 6.5x47 Lapua 7mm Winchester Short Mag .300 Winchester Magnum .338 Norma .338 Lapua Magnum

I have a Desert Tactical SRS in 300 Win Mag with a 26" Barrel and Grizzly Muzzle Break. It cost more but is extremely flexible since they offer Barrel conversions from 223 to 338 that can be interchanged using the same SRS Chassis. Makes for a Great Platform. I have read good things about the 7mm SAUM round as well. Sierra is making 210 grain Bullets with a Ballistic Coefficient of .645 in 30 Cal. which is perfect for the 300 WM for Long Range work. The DTA SRS is a Heavy Rifle and with the Grizzly Break it feels more like a 308. I don't think I would shoot a Hunting rifle in 300 WM as it would beat your shoulder up but if you could find a 7mm SAUM that would be great for long range hunting.

For all of you funny guys, we all know that the 308 will make it to 1,000 yards if you know how to use your scope. Granted it might not have real knock down power left. Because of this I bought a DTA SRS in 300 Win Mag which will make it pass a 1,000 and still have enough power for anything that gets in it's way! I still Love my REPR and do not regret buying it at all as it will do all I ask of it as long as I keep myself educated in Long Range Shooting.

I have a PRS stock on my REPR 308 and Love it! It's great at bench shooting if you put a mono pod on it and with all the adjustment you can make the Rifle fit you. I don't notice any sound and there is no wiggle from mine.

I have been watching this thread and for the sake of cost I have narrowed my next purchase down to a Desert Tactical in 300 WM. We have a Range fairly close that is rumored to be putting in a 1,400 yard range and I know that my 308 is not going to be quite enough and the cost of feeding a 338 is way to much. I have spec'd this rifle with a Grizzly Defcon-1 Muzzle Brake that is said to reduce recoil by 65%. The question I have is that I have seen Federal Gold Medal with a 190 SMK but was wondering if anyone had a suggestion on what powder to hand load with and what weight Bullet? A friend of mine said to use a 200 grain as it is not pushed by the wind as much. Some of the Loading Data that I have looked at has psi numbers close to 308 levels so why do people say that this kicks like a mule?

I have not heard of 340defence but I am planning on getting to Peacemaker. Currently I shoot at CRESAP which only has a 100 yard range. I have some friends that are members there and when we can work it out they let me and a friend come in during there off days and shoot and hopefully once I get everything settled I will be able to chrono the loads as well. In past experience my chrono is supposed to be 10 feet from the muzzle and every time I take a shot it blows it over, any suggestions. I also have some friends that belong to Thurmont which has a 300 yard range, it's just a matter of timing to get us together to go shoot.

Someone told me that it is not a good idea to use Varget in a piston gun. Have you noticed any problems? I have a plan of using IMR4895 and VV540 with the 175SMK's. I changed the Scope on my REPR to a Bushnell HDMR 3.5X21X50 in a Larue 104 mount. I wanted more magnification and I really think that the grid system is far easier to use than Kentucky windage. I am going to insure that the scope is as close to perfect as far as being Vertical with the Bore. I am then planning on re-zeroing it with the HDMR using the Fed GMM with 175SMK's loaded that gave me such Fantastic groupings as before. I am also going to load my own with both powders in the same Brass and work the loads up in .2 increments then shoot them on the same day until I get to the load that go's thru the same hole as the Factory. It sounds tedious but I am use to doing this as I spent years testing different loads from the Bench with my hand guns. I figure that when I get to a Load that hits the same point of aim as the Factory I should not have to chrono it as a deviation in speed would change the Impact. I looked at Sierra's loading and I think I know why you should not use Varget as according to Sierra it does not meet up to a 100% burn rate which means those flakes are going somewhere where as IMR 4895 and VV 540 both have a 100% burn rate with nothing but gas being produced. The 2 powders I mentioned to not need a max charge as well to reach Factory speed so that should mean less pressure.

As far as loads I have been told to use IMR4895 and Sierra 175 SMK's start at 42 grains and load to fit the mag with enough room for proper function. Powder Valley is where I bought my materials along with CCI Bench rest large rifle primers.

Do you have some data? Some targets? Thoughts? The only Data that I can provide is the experience that I have had which is mostly posted above. I used cheap 148 grain to Break in the barrel which by the way LWRC say's is not needed because of the hard smooth interior surface of there Barrels from Cold Hammer Forging and I believe them! But I wanted to make sure so I ran approx 60 rounds of it with the usual 5 shots clean 5 shots clean then 10 and so on. During that process I was amazed at how clean the carrier and bolt were! I never touch the Bolt at all during the whole range time and never had any Issues! When I decided to get serious I shot 20 rounds of Federal GM 168 grain which proved to be accurate but when I switched to the Fed GMM 175 grainers is when this REPR shined! Had I had the gun supported better this thing would have shot a ragged hole at 100 yards! As it was my final group measured 5/8! That was on a dirty barrel! I absolutely Love my REPR as it is smooth cycling and feels closer to a 223 when shooting it! I found the Best price at Knesekguns.com call them and ask for Jay Smith and tell him that I told you to call and order one! All the Naysayers are just to embarassed to think that a piston gun can shoot as good as a Bolt gun! Make sure that you get the 1 in 10 twist rate. I am working on getting a suppressor for mine so that I can have even more fun! The Rifle is Built like a Tank and never gave me any trouble, the only thing that you really need to clean is the piston system when it starts acting up and it doesn't take anything special to do it. Once the REPR is sighted in you can go to the range and with a cold Barrel it will still shoot to the same place with the same ammo and it seems that the groups get tighter with a slightly dirty Barrel so I did not clean my Barrel after the last 20 rounds so that I can verify it for real the next time at the Range.

I learned the Hard way about choosing Scopes. I was all hyped up on getting a NF that I went with the NXS 5X15 F1 with the LV.5 recticle before doing my home work. That particular recticle is set up for 308 175-SMK's and the lines are not anywhere close to even MOA's they are calculated holdovers for the ammo I mentioned. So going backwards I ordered the 3.5X21 HDMR Horus H59 for my 308 and the company that I bought my NF from was willing to take my NF back in exchange plus cash for the 5X15 NXS with the H59 recticle. So after spending a little more cash than I wanted I at Least have the same mil/mil on my 308 and my 18" 223. While i was at it I also bought the Kestrel 4500 with Horus so that I can set both Rifles up in it and with a few clicks I get my Hold over and windage correction. The Army and Marine Snipers are going this route as well as a result of that 1.5 mile shot that is on youtube, the Sniper had to hold is scope at an imaginary point and it took him 3 or 4 shots. I would rather have a grid myself as it seems so much easier to get a one shot hit. I know with tons of practice you can do it with less but with the cost of ammo the scopes I have chosen should more than make up for it in the long run.

To stay on the inexpensive side, you already have a AR which you could just put another upper on it. Like a 20" Varmint upper like the one that I will be selling soon. 1/7 twist,223 wylde chamber, fee float hand guard, as new! Plenty of power from it with 75 grain bullets and should group well with them as well as 69 grainer's. 6.8 is another choice for an upper to put on your AR, way more down range power but still in the AR platform.

Well folks I finally got my REPR to the Range although it was just a 100 yard one. I had some cheap 148 ammo that I decided to use for Break in at 50 yards and then some Federal Gold Medal 168 +175. I got the rifle set up and pulled the trigger, WOW, what a soft shooting gun! I went thru 5 rds. then cleaned and did it again then went to 10 round strings and cleaned. Did this until I had put 40 rounds thru the gun and then I used 20 rounds of 168 Feds to zero the scope at 50 so I would be close at 100 yards. I cleaned the rifle before going for the last 20 rounds of 175's at 100 yards. 10 rounds to make corrections for 100 and then shot for grouping. First 5 shot group was over 1moa because I was using a mono-pod on the rear of the rifle so I shored it up with sandbags for the final 5 shots. I put 3 in the same ragged hole and 2 just outside! For all the naysayers of the REPR all I can say is that you have no idea of what you are talking about as the rifle functioned without 1 problem and became evident that it could do better in the Hands of a Better shooter or until I am able to get there thru practice! I would say that this is a Sub 1/2 moa Rifle and that it shoots so soft that I did not have any soreness in my shoulder at all! I would say buy one and you will not be disappointed!

My REPR 20" Harris Bipod Night Force NXS 5 X 15 X 50 with Titanium Rings JP Ben Cooley Break Magpul PRS Totals out at approx. 14lbs.