I tried out my first reloads today and I am hooked for life. Here are my results, comments always appreciated.

4-16x56mm scope on a Remington LTR .308 20" 1 in 12" twist stainless fluted barrel with harris bipod.

Sight in scope @ 100 yards with Remi UMC metal case 150gr results in about 1.15 MOA.

My loads are New Winchester brass, remington primer, Hornady A-max 168gr bullets, and IMR 4064 powder C.O.L. was 2.805"

Powder charges I used are 39, 40, 40.5, 41, 41.5 grains.

Best accuracy today was with 40 grains of powder easily .5 MOA. All of my loads were at 1 MOA or better. All I do is shoot silhouette and paper targets so I am not concerned with velocity of the round but I pay attention to accuracy. So is there any reason why I should be trying higher powder loads for shooting at the 100 yds?

The only reason I can think of right now is to help with long range accuracy when I go to the other side of the range (more powder = more energy for the long flight), where there are 200, 300, 400, 550 yd metal targets and the range host Palma, F class, and 1000yd organized shoots.

All rounds went bang so my hand priming of the shells were good. None of the cases showed evidence of high pressures and I did not expect to see any as I stayed away from max loads, Hodgdon tables say to start at 41.5 and 45.9 is compressed max load.

I think there is a "standard" 4064 powder charge for that weight of bullet used by a lot of match shooters. You might investigate a little more and find it. I think it is a few grains higher than your loads but lower than your manual's maximum.

your rifle will likely shoot better off a bench rest than off of the bipod.

Megawatt, Welcome to the forums.

I have been shooting a .308 Rem 700 VSSF 26" since that model came out. The best accuracy has been between 42.3 to 43.1 grains with the 168 Sierra. The secondary gain to increased velocity is wind resistance, something we need here in Las Vegas. If you try the 155 Sierra's and Varget, 45 grains is a wonderful place to start.

Edited to add: I've been shooting and loading the .308 for 42 years and have shot many (100's) of game animals from Moose to Coyotes, the 165/168 is the best bullet weight IMHO, and careful bullet selection as to construction makes all the difference.

I have an LTR myself & I am very impressed with it. I have only tried 168gr SMK & RL15 but in my first batch of reloads I shot several 5 round groups under .5". The smallest being .353", give RL15 a try with a 165 or 168 grainer.

quote:

Originally posted by hvy barrel:
I have an LTR myself & I am very impressed with it. I have only tried 168gr SMK & RL15 but in my first batch of reloads I shot several 5 round groups under .5". The smallest being .353", give RL15 a try with a 165 or 168 grainer.

I agree, RE15 is the top 308 powder, was more accurate than varget in my testing, IMR4064 is a fine powder as well, but id test RE15 and 4064 side by each if it were me. Just to make sure. Jay

43.5gr of IMR-4064 with 165 Nosler Accubonds work great in my old long barrel PSS.

add these 2 your try list;
imr 4895 h4895and varget.
one time at the range my friend was shooting his then new 40x 308 rem rifle.barrel still green (not broken in) shooting federal premiums 175's he complained out loud that this rifle bla bla should shoot better 5 shot 3/4 inch @100 yds. i was shooting my 308 rem.varmint rifle w/150 sierra bt reloads they fit his chamber like a glove and shoot into your pinky finger nail.
moral of story don''t bitch about a green barrel. tlc all the way to tiny groups.
regards