Oh, and the SPOMOD stock that comes with the MWS sucks for shooting from the prone. I think the factory Ergo pistol grip is going to get replaced, too. The stupid plug on the bottom keeps falling out.
The LaRue one piece scope mount rocks! I moved the mount twice after zeroing, to get the right eye relief, and the zero stayed dead on. The Leupold M3 works good, even shooting at 5 yards (on 3.5x), though I sure would like a 1-8x optic…
One more note - the BCs on the Federal Fusion rounds are direct from Federal. I couldn’t find them online anywhere, so I emailed Federal and they promptly replied with the BC for both bullets.
Yea, we were taking turns burning up an 8X8 steal plate at 300. So easy it got boring. It took me a while to find the rounds it, my MWS liked most, but it’s an amazing 16 inch gas gun. The basic 16 inch CL barrel.
//Posting a question here since it is tangentially related to LMTs and handloading 308.
I understand that my LMT MWS is not a Palma bench rifle or anything fancy, but can I load ammo (on my Dillon 550 using the Dillon dies* ) that will be accurate enough to take advantage of the accuracy potential my 18" SS tube offers.
I keep getting mixed signals about handloading accurate ammo on a progressive press so I wanted to ask here and get the lowdown.
The ammunition used to shoot the 10-shot group pictured below was loaded on a Dillon XL650. The group was fired from one of my Krieger barreled AR-15s at a distance of 100 yards. (It’s 223 Remington, not 308, but the principle still applies.)
Did you have to use any of those crazy $100+ match dies or any stuff like that—or is this just being good with case prep and consistent charges and just good all around best practices?
Our 556 is the same as Molon. Very basic good practices, but for 308 we never did the high speed reloading, Im interested to see what others say.
Just know this, your SS18 barrel may like different ammo than your CL16. Just a thought. And those 16 CL barrels shoot moa with good ammo, so be aware that SS may or may not shoot better. It should if you work up your load, but not a long way to go from MOA in improvement.
My friend feels like he wasted his money on his SS18, and with a can, the 16 is perfect (as I’m sure you know). AWESOME GUN and barrels!
100yd, 5 shot group out of a 16" CL MWS loaded on a Dillon 550b using Dillon dies i.e. not any kind of fancy match dies, using questionably prepped brass. I know the bullet was 155g Nosler CC, but beyond that, dont know, as my dad loaded the ammo and it was a while ago. Only changes to the gun from the factory is a Magpul PRS stock.
Here is another 5 shot group that is MORE typical of what this gun does consistently.
Most important thing in rifle reloading is finding a load for your particular rifle then loading until your arm is going to fall off. With mag fed guns you need something that is jump tolerant i.e. not a VLD type projectile.
Took my early LMT MWS with 16" CL barrel out the other day with my Magnetospeed 3. I was working on some loads using Varget and 168 gr Nosler HPBT pills. Showing some promise. I also took a couple factory loads as well so here’s my data:
Federal
XM118LR
Max - 2488
Min - 2456
Avg - 2491
SD - 11.6
ES - 32
This grouped the best… So good I’m really thinking about buying a healthy amount of it and scrapping my reloads. The folks I bought my MWS from (MSTN) said they had good experience with XM118LR in the MWS - how does this shooting everyone else’s gun?
American Ballistics
M118LR Clone
Max - 2508
Min - 2467
Avg - 2491
SD 13.3
ES 41
Didn’t group as well as the Federal XM118LR. Not super impressed.
Hand loads:
Hornady Match cases
Fed 210M primers
Nosler 168 HPBT Comp
Varget (41.0 - 44.5 gr)
COAL 2.810" (Right at MagPul LR mag length)
Max (44.5) 2511
Min (41.0) 2246
Best SD - 5.2 (43.3) then 9.1 (44.1)
Best ES - 14 (43.3)
Really started to like the heavier charge weights but didn’t quite tighten up to the XM118LR group.
