Reloading 7.62 Enfield - Will an Ishapore 2A handle .308 pressures?

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Will an Ishapore 2A handle .308 pressures?

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Topic: Will an Ishapore 2A handle .308 pressures?

Posted By: Sapper740
Subject: Will an Ishapore 2A handle .308 pressures?
Date Posted: April 07 2023 at 4:48am

I'm hearing mixed signals about whether the 2A can handle .308 Win. pressures. Some say certain serial number ranges are good to go for .308, some say no .308 at all for the 2A. Does anyone have a definitive answer to this question? I'd love to stretch the legs of my 2A with some Federal Match .308 Winchester ammo I have on hand but I'm holding off for now. I've shot it with surplus Israeli, Turkish ZQI (very accurate!), and handloaded M80 to good effect but for long range competition I'd like to work up some handloads with the Berger VLD bullets I have on hand. Any info is greatly appreciated.

Replies:

Posted By: britrifles
Date Posted: April 07 2023 at 1:44pm

A much debated topic. I think some .308 Win ammo (lower pressure target loads perhaps) would be OK.

I load my own for my No.4 7.62, that way you have control of the pressure levels. For the short and mid ranges (200 to 600 yds) I load to the minimum published charge weights in .308 Win. For long range (800 to 1000 yds), I’m loading mid .308 charge weights with 168 and 175 grain bullets (to get the electronic target sensors to function).

If you reload military 7.62 NATO brass, drop the charge weight by 1.5 to 2 grains to account for the lower case volume.

Posted By: Goosic
Date Posted: April 07 2023 at 5:00pm

Sapper740 wrote:

I'm hearing mixed signals about whether the 2A can handle .308 Win. pressures. Some say certain serial number ranges are good to go for .308, some say no .308 at all for the 2A. Does anyone have a definitive answer to this question? I'd love to stretch the legs of my 2A with some Federal Match .308 Winchester ammo I have on hand but I'm holding off for now. I've shot it with surplus Israeli, Turkish ZQI (very accurate!), and handloaded M80 to good effect but for long range competition I'd like to work up some handloads with the Berger VLD bullets I have on hand. Any info is greatly appreciated.

If you are reloading for the 2A/2A1, keep the charge weights to the minimum to mid range and your golden. A perfect match load is 42.0grns of IMR4895 under a 168grn BTHP with a C.O.L. of 2.830". That is just under the mid range weight for that particular powder. Starting weight is 41.0grns. Starting weight using IMR4064 and the same bullet is 41.5. Both of those taken from Hodgdons website for reloading data...