The Accurate Reloading Forums
.308 powder choices
13 December 2001, 03:27
<fa18hooker>.308 powder choices
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.
13 December 2001, 03:36
<gone hunting>try 45 to 46 grs of Hodgdon Varget.
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born on a mountain, raised in a cave, hunting and fishing is all i crave!
13 December 2001, 03:40
sxr6H-414 or H-380 are very accurate & work well in powder dispensers.
13 December 2001, 03:56
<fa18hooker>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.
13 December 2001, 06:18
<Michael Swickard>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.
Check out this link. http://forums.delphiforums.com/n/main.asp?webtag=palma&nav=start
Hope this helps.
13 December 2001, 06:22
<Chainsaw>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
13 December 2001, 06:53
<DaveH>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.
13 December 2001, 07:19
Robert D. LyonsAccurate Arms 2460 and Winchester 748.
13 December 2001, 07:36
RSYI'd definitely look into trying Alliant's Reloder 15 (or its Norma or Vhitavouri equivalents).
RSY
13 December 2001, 08:43
<Daryl Elder>Varget.
13 December 2001, 09:50
<Wolverine>Reloder 15, IMR 4895.
13 December 2001, 12:01
<Gary Rihn>Mine has a strong preference for Win 748, followed very closely by Varget.
Both produce sub-1/2 MOA groups with Sierra 168 MK's.
13 December 2001, 17:11
<Kerry.S>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
13 December 2001, 19:24
PeteI'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.
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tikka 3 barrels
13 December 2001, 20:23
<Martin BN>I use 44 - 46 grs. of Norma 202 with 165 gr bullets for great accuracy.
14 December 2001, 07:52
R-WESTIMR or H4895; R15; Accurate Arms or IMR4064; & W748 are superb in the .308
R-WEST
14 December 2001, 09:24
<OttoDude>Vihtavuori powders are highly recommended!
I've had good results with Vihtavuori N150 for 160gr bullets and heavier. For the lighter bullets, down to 125gr go with N140.
Otto P.
14 December 2001, 12:15
KuduKingRL-15 and Varget. They are stable at all temperatures and very accurate.
15 December 2001, 09:36
BFaucettI 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.
15 December 2001, 16:53
<Sam>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
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A bad day at the range is better than a good day at work.
15 December 2001, 18:46
<hotdog>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
16 December 2001, 12:32
grandpao[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.
16 December 2001, 13:52
<Mr.16 gauge>My M-14 in .308 has done well with Win 748, H414, H335, and IMR 4064. I am loading bullets in the range of 150 grain to 168 grain match. Good luck!
17 December 2001, 09:41
<Reloader66>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.
18 December 2001, 03:03
<Magnummaniac>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.
18 December 2001, 06:15
<bobshawn>fa18hooker __
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.
Good shooting.
Robert
19 December 2001, 19:36
<fishnfool>ditto Reloader66's post. My experience exactly.
20 December 2001, 10:55
StonecreekHodgdon'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.
20 December 2001, 12:20
BradI've loaded for six different 308's... RL15 has consistantly provided the best combination of accuracy and velocity.
Brad
20 December 2001, 13:15
Paul Hquote:
Originally posted by KuduKing:
RL-15 and Varget. They are stable at all temperatures and very accurate.
Spot on! If you can't get a 150 gr balistic tip to make a bug whole group with RL 15, the gun won't shoot.
20 December 2001, 14:49
Major CaliberI like 45gr of N-202 with a 150gr bullet. I shoot this load in my Win Model-100.
31 January 2002, 17:25
<savageman>I have had good luck with Varget, but H335 has given me the best results with 150 grain Gamekings.
31 January 2002, 18:37
<fishnfool>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).]
07 February 2003, 05:48
Alaska Bush ManI have used Reloader 15 with 165 SBT for a long time, but I would like to give N540 or Norma 202 a try one day in my 308 Win.
07 February 2003, 06:18
redialI'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
07 February 2003, 08:29
<S.B. Hooper>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.
07 February 2003, 09:43
tjm58I like BL-C2, I get great results, meters well and all of the local gun shops carry it.
17 March 2003, 18:16
shootawayI 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.