I have a Rem Mod 600 .308 that does extremely well with Varget powder. With 165 grain Hornadys, I get an average of 2650 fps and great accuracy. I have some BLC-2 and was wondering if anyone had compared loads with this powder to the Varget in short barrels. It did not come close to Varget in my .223, but according to burn charts should be good in the short barrels.

sbhooper

Can't really say for sure but since all my 308 win in in a Hunter Benchrest rifle shooting 134 grain bullets. My barrel is a like 22.5" and I have no problems buring powders from slow lots of H322 to Varget.

BLC-2 should work fine. It is actually a slightly faster powder than Varget. Hodgdon list 47 grains as max with a 168 grain pill for a velocity of 2754 fps in a 24" barrel. My experience with the 308 is it will digest about every powder and still shoot well. Don't worry about the slightly shorted barrel.

Both the Hodgdon Burn Rate Table and Steve's Burn Rate Table show BLC-2 to be slightly SLOWER than Varget.

They are in a comparable burn rate range though.

I've found it to be a good .308 propellent.

using BL-C(2) in the 308 should be as good as the Varget.....both excellent powders for the 308......and for the 223 as well.....what bullets were you shooting that BL-C(2) didn't fare well for you?

It was either the 50 or 55 grain. I can't rember exactly, but the velocity was very disappointing. I figured it should have been a bit faster if anything and it was way slower. It was clocking just over 2900fps with a max load and mag primers. The varget pushes a 50 Hornady spire point at 3200 fps with 27.5 gr of Varget. These are from an HR handirifle. I will probably try some of the BLC-2 just to see how it compares in the .308. The Varget load will print an inch or less, so I doubt that I will improve the accuracy much with that little gun, but the velocity will be interesting to see. The Varget load is really hard to beat in both guns.

we all seem to get different results, but in my 223 rifles I found Varget to get the best performance of those I've tried but BL-C(2) was right on the heels.

With a 50 grain bullet and 27.5 grains BL-(2) I pulled 3,300 continuously from less than 24" barrels. Further all my 223 rifles shot that same load and with uncanning accuracy.

Forgot to list some of my favorite powders for the 308:

H322
N135
N140
748

Here is a target using N140 when testing some loads:

I was kind of wondering if I got a bad batch of BLC-2 or something, because I thoroughly expected to get more like what you did Vapodog. The accuracy was excellent, however. I also have some H322 that I may try just for the heck of it. These are just play loads as I doubt that I will better my Varget load.

Just a reminder, h322 is ok to try as long as you use 150 grainers or less. It is a little too fast for 165 grainers.

Hey SB, BL-C2 was one of the original Powders designed especially for the 308Win. So, it should work well for you.

It is a Double Base Powder which means you might not like the amount of Muzzle Flash in that short barrel M600.

Lots of excellent well-balanced Powders are available for the 308Win. Great cartridge!

Good hunting and clean 1-shot kills.

Thanks for the info, guys. I may try some other stuff just for fun, but I will have a hard time beating what I use now.

As Hot Core mentions above, BL-C2 was the original RL-15/Varget/TAC type of powder for the .308/7.62. IIRC it was developed in concert with the cartridge. The later powders have always worked better for me in the .308. Interestingly (well, to me anyway) BL-C2 is THE powder for the 376 Steyr.

I grew up in a house in teh Last Century where we were reloading the .300 Savage and '06 rifles with BL C Lot 1, and I remember Lot 2 coming out before the .308 Win/7.62X51.

I have both VARGET and BL-C2 for .376 Steyr reloading.

jim

I've used Varget with excellent results in several different rounds including 308, 376, 223, 375 H&H etc.
For me BLC-(2) is a dirty burning powder that has never shot well in any rifle I've tried it in. Maybe I got a bad lot of it or something..................DJ

quote:

I grew up in a house in teh Last Century where we were reloading the .300 Savage and '06 rifles with BL C Lot 1, and I remember Lot 2 coming out before the .308 Win/7.62X51.

I have both VARGET and BL-C2 for .376 Steyr reloading.

jim

You have piqued my curiosity. I'll send a note to Hodgdon and ask them the particulars.