Home Forums Reloading Big Game Rifles Any good loads for 308Win & 180 Hornady SP?

Ill be loading for a Win. M100, plan on using RE15, Win brass, WLR primers, also have some Benchmark on hand as well as some Varget, any recipes you guys wanna share? Thanks!

Don't overlook the sticky thread below. My load is using a 165 grain BTSP Hornady Interlock, so it won't do you much good.

http://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php/topics/2255435/Good_308_Loads#Post2255435

Yup, saw that thread, didnt see anyone using a 180 though. Ive never loaded for a 180, all 150-168s, this is new to me.

Varget, 150 TSX, CCI 250s.
DOA anything in lower 48.
180s are unecessary with today's "super bullets".

45.0 RL15 or Varget, WW BRass, Fed 210M.

180's work well in the 308 Win and I'd rather use a 180 NP on elk than a 150 "wunder-monolithic" like the TSX.

This load is not for my rifle, but a friend of mothers, id use 155 AMAXs for hunting purposes.

You're welcome...

Brad, talked to Hornady today and they gave me a max of 41.4 for RE15 and 43.2 max for Varget, question is, will 45grs be a bit much? The rifle is a M100 Auto. Thanx.

Auto? Yep, likely too much.

45.0 is max in several manuals with a 180. IME, it's been max in my 308's as well.

Brad has been a lot of help in the past for me with my 308 and 300 wsm, but regretfully I'll have to disagree with him on this load. Hornady load manual lists a max of 41.4 gr. with the 180 gr. sp. I've been shooting the chit out of my win model 100 and I'll tell you I found the upper node for my rifle but consequently after 130 rounds down the tube It started having ectraction problems. I stopped shooting after 3 failure to extracts in row. My load was a little too hot for the little rifle . I took the rifle home and did a thorough cleaning and inspection and noticed the extractor was cracked down the middle of it. I replaced it that day and decided to drop the charge by a few. I had to drop 2 grains to find the lower node for the rifle and it's shooting pretty good (just not as good as with the hotter load, but I'll keep the extractor intact for a long time this way). Gorskij, I'm running 45 gr of RE-15 now instead of the 47 for the 150 gr. hornady sp. I'll be using it in a "hunting rifle" shoot tomorrow if they don't cancel it because of the weather . It will be my "iron sight" rifle and we will be shooting in different field positions (it ought to be pretty interesting). Here's how it is shooting at 50 yds with its factory irons:



The first 3 shots were .809" and the one on the lower left opened the group up to 1.300". This group was the last 4 shots fired (4 shot mag) after drifting and adjusting the elevation blade on the rear sight.

Here's the first 3 shots before adjusting the rear sight incase you were wondering why I didn't show the whole target. It's got a few different groups in it from walking it down and to the left. Didn't want to show the clutter Anyway the rifle is pretty consistent and I'm really liking the Win model 100:


Damn I wish I had a nice peep for tomorrow . Anyway, if it were my Win model 100 and I were going to shoot the 180 gr. hornady I'd probably be looking at a starting load of somewhere around 36 and work up to around 39 and see what kind of speeds and accuracy you get. I know it sounds more like a good 300 savage load but trust me your extractor and rifle will thank you

It's even on the mild side for that.

BSA, it's not a matter of agreeing or disagreeing, it's a matter of individual rifles and bullets... plenty of manuals will give 45 gr's Varget or RL15 with a 180 in the 308 Win.

My rifle dotes on both. Others rifles may vary.

At the end of the day, if it's a 22" barrel and runs up to 2,650 or a bit less, that's a safe 180/308 load with Varget or RL15. Ya gotta have a chronoy and know your individual rifle.

Caveat Emptor.

Hey Mac, the thing about this rifle is it is an old semi-auto and it needs to be loaded accordingly. Sometimes this is overlooked on here. I'm just giving real world experience since I've been messing with mine a lot lately. Some even suggest loading the m100 like it were a M1A/M14 service rifle. The hornady load manual suggests 41 gr. of RE-15 as a max for the 178 gr. bullet in a service rifle if that helps any.

Thanx guys, Nosler has a max of 42.5grs RE15 for their 180s, guess Ill keep it under 42grs for sure.

Pretty smart to keep it under max for the old girl. Keep in mind the extractors are getting harder to find for these old rifles. Its also harder to look for typical pressure signs like hard bolt lift because it's a semi-automatic. Keep an eye on the usuall like cratered primers and extractor marks on the brass. Brad is right about every rifle being different, but trust me the Win model 100's weren't meant for hot rodding. I've researched this quite a bit and experimented with my own rifle to know this as fact. Better to be safe than sorry.

I noticed in my research that 760 gives top velocity, I do have some 760 here also, what do you think BSA, should I try it? Believe 49 was mx over at hodgdon.com, maybe keep it no more than 47grs??? OK, not top velocity now, but in my old Hornady manual.

BSA, once the original poster noted it was an auto (I somehow missed that salient point in his first post), I wrote regarding the 45.0 gr load:



... you may have missed that and I think we're exactly on the same page

Never tried 760 so I can't help you there, sorry. I'd stick with a "medium burn rate" powder like RE-15, varget, IMR 4064, IMR 4895, and remember they suggest a middle of the road charge for these things for reliability and safety. You still want it to operate flawlessly (use enough powder) and also not blow your extractor off or worse (mine actually cracked, luckily I found it in time for it so it didn't create a problem ). Also thing to remember when reloading for the Win model 100: If your neck tension is good you don't need to crimp, full length size (or atleast .004" shoulder set-back), and primers a few thousandths inset for no slamfires. I'm sure you know this already, but for the guys who are thinking about loading for the semi-auto rifles in general.

Yep I know Brad. I'm going to my shoot now. Have a good day my friend..

Im using Hornady dies, dont know if the neck tension is good though it should be, I always seat the primers as far as they will go with my Hornady primer tool.