I'm just starting to reload .308 Winchester, and I'm looking for a powder. So far, I've only been involved in reloading pistol, and I found Accurate powders to be easy to use (they flow through a powder measure easily), and as their name implies, accurate. Reading the Sierra reloading manual, they suggest IMR 4064. I'm told Vihtavuori is the best, but I'm skeptical. Any suggestions appreciated. I'm shooting 168gr. bullets (lapua, nosler and hornady amax for now) through a remington 700...no hunting, just looking for accuracy at the range.
I see H-380 in quite a few of the posts...now the question is, am I looking for a quick or slow burning powder? I have the relative burn rate chart, but I don't know which produces the best accuracy.
The beautiful thing about the 308 win is that it is very flexiable when it comes to powder. I shoot a 308 win (Obermeyer chamber w/ 0.333" neck)in Hunter Bench Rest. I use 125-134-150 grain bullets. Powders that work very well are N140, N135 and H322. I plan on trying Benchmark next time out. Also N540, H4895 and IMR 4064 work too. The Vihtavouri powders burn really clean too.
The Vihtavouri powders flow thru a powder measure really well. N140 and N135 are similar to N133 but slightly larger.
Depending on what weight bullet you plan to shoot, I wouldn't hesitate trying either N140 or N135. I have found that there is about a 1.5-2 grain difference between the two powders in my rifle, meaning I use more N140.
Let everyone know what bullet you plan on shooting and you can get more specific.
Lastly, the High Powder Long Range shooter seem to prefer Varget. However, they are experimenting with other powders.
I have had the best results with AA2520 and BLC-2. BLC-2 with 130 grain bullets has given excellent accuracy and AA2520 has worked well with heavier bullets. H414 gave excellent accuracy but low velocity in my testing.I am just starting to try H-380. It appears from some of the posters that H-380 has/is going under a tranformation of sorts though. That is not my findings but what others have posted.--------Chainsaw
with the rifle i use for 600 yard shoots i use the following; 168g sierra mk/42.3 g IMR4895/CCI bench rest primers/FED. gm match brass. Rifle has a 24 inch krieger ss select match barrel with 1/12 twist. your may like something a bit different. With 155g palma's it likes 47.3g of varget again yours may likr something a bit different. start low and build up your load to match your rifle.
Nothing like 4895, H-4895 Or H-335 these will reload alot of cartridges. I have loaded 4895 in everything form .223 rem to .300 Dakota. Can't afford alot of powders so I use one powder to load more than one load. Kerry
I've had good results with BLC2 and H380 with 1443, 168 and 180gn btfjms. I'm about to try Vectan SP7 and Varget. I'm also about to start developing a game load.
------------------ tikka 3 barrels
Posts: 360 | Location: Sunny, but increasingly oppressed by urbanites England | Registered: 13 February 2001
I don't load for the .308 Win but I thought this news item /press release was interesting. Also note that the standard, canister grade Reloder 15 was selected. See Alliant's web site for the complete story. http://www.alliantpowder.com/ -Bob
DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE APPROVES ALLIANT'S RELODER 15 FOR NEW .308 SNIPER ROUND 12/01/2001 Radford, VA (December 2000) - Alliant Powder is pleased to announce that the Department of Defense and the US Army Operations Support Command have selected Alliant's Reloder 15 as the new propellant for the 7.62mm (.308), M118 Special Ball Long Range Sniper Round. This cartridge will feature Reloder 15 with a 175 grain Boat-Tail bullet. It will become the standard issue, long range .308 round for use by all military services. "After rigorous testing by the US Army of all appropriate rifle propellants, including those known as 'extreme powders', our standard, canister grade Reloder 15 was selected over all others, said Pete Jackson, Director of Sales and Marketing for Alliant Powder.
M118 has replaced the 168 grain match ammo for the military marksmanship teams and as the issued ammo at the matches. The reason given is that it stays sonic past 1000 yards.
On a probable related note Alliant Techsystems also runs the old Lake City plant for military ammo production. www.atk.com
------------------ A bad day at the range is better than a good day at work.
I guess you have enough info. My remington loves IMR4895 also H380 but a new load recomended to me was AA2015 this one I am going to try out. Luck hotdog
[QUOTE]Originally posted by fa18hooker: from your post i think you are looking for a powder that meters through a powder measure well. i would go with the ball powders myself i had some experience with h-380 and was amazed at how it threw the same charge every time through my rcbs powder measure. the stick powders do not do this allthough some are better than others. just my opinion good shooting.
Posts: 46 | Location: Friendship,Wis. USA | Registered: 18 November 2001
REL-15, IMR 4895, IMR 4064, W-748, Varget, IMR3031, BLC#2, Many powders give fantastic results in the great 308 cartridge. My 308 likes W-748 and REL-15 best so far. In fact it shoots all these powders very well.
I've been using Hodgdon BL-C(2) with lots of success. I am using Sierra 168gr HPBT-Matchking and BL-C(2) (42gr). The result was outstanding in my Steyer SSG69.
Might as well toss in another gunpowder to confuse the issue. IMR 3031. Probably because I've got a lot of it. 20.0 gr. gets me 2600-2800 through a Savage 99, an FN-FAL, or an M14. 165-168 gr. .308 Bullets. No problems metering. I use the powder measure to under-charge, then trickle to finish each case ; one-at-a-time.
Hodgdon's BLC-2 and WW 748 are commercial lots of WC-846, the standard powder developed for military ball. They are near optimum for 150 grain loads. H-335 (WC-844) will work, but reaches maximum pressures at a bit lower velocities than WC-846 and its clones (WC-844 is the original standard for 5.56 or .223).
While WC-844 and WC-846 are very similar in absolute burning RATE, the have somewhat differnent burning characteristics which make 844 more suitable for smaller cases and 846 more adapted to larger cases.
Posts: 13274 | Location: Henly, TX, USA | Registered: 04 April 2001
I've loaded for four .308s and three of them shot well using 46.0 grs. IMR 4064 with varying 150 gr. bullets. You can expect 2800 to 2850 fps m.v. through a chrono. for most 22" barreled rifles. It is one of only a handful of powders that almost always meets or exceeds published velocity in the manuals. The fourth rifle prefers 45 grs. RL15, but velocity is not as fast as I would like. Very accurate though.
[This message has been edited by fishnfool (edited 01-31-2002).]
I've loaded enough .308 to have had to rebarrel M14s six times and Rem 700s three times. The enormous majority were loaded with 4895 and 4064.
AA2520 has worked well for me too. In my experience, these three are very flexible powders and will work well in any .308 application. No sense in reinventing the wheel.
I've never tried the Viht's or RL series. They seem to work well for other reloaders.
HTH
Redial
Posts: 1121 | Location: Florence, MT USA | Registered: 30 April 2002
I have no experience with RL15, but Varget has worked well for me in my Remington 600 with 18 1/2 inch barrel. I get 2750 fps with 150 grain Hornadys and 2650 with the 165s. I picked Varget for its quicker characteristics. RL15 is nearly as fast burning though. Does anyone have any input as far as comparisons between the powders in the short-barreled rifles? If you have a 22 inch or longer barrel it is no big deal, but I want the best that I can get from a short barrel and Varget seems to fill that just fine.
I have been reloading for two years in which I shot vit 540 41gr with 168gr hornady mollies. I shot this load almost exclusively at 200yds scoreing many one hole groups.Now that the throat of the barrel has really worn it no longer likes this load-it shoots over 2in.I thought the barrel was gone until I tried other powders and discovered it shoots good again but with vit 140 and varget.I've arrived at the conclusion that its tastes for loads may vary with bore erosion.But I'am no expert.
Posts: 11651 | Location: Montreal | Registered: 07 November 2002
