Cooked up my first cast bullet loads for the .308 Win and tested them this morning. Results are good to outstanding - the LH M700 .308 shoots cast better than a couple of recent .243's have shot jacketed. Bullet was a Ranch Dog TLC311 165RF sized .309", basically a 6 cavity Lee mould. Got it specifically for the .30-30 but am getting out of the .30-30 game and decided to try these in the .308.

I used 2400 and some of the last IMR4198 on hand. 100 yard 4 shot groups with the IMR4198 ran from 7/8" to 1 1/4" - not bad particularly when you consider I used an arbitrary seating depth and the cases were 15x fired. 2400 was okay at starting levels but groups rapidly turned to shotgun patterns as charge weights went up.

Anywho, looking through the Lyman cast bullet handbook it seems that IMR4198, SR4759, Rx7 (Reloder 7 I assume) and perhaps Accurate 5744 are the top contenders for loads in the 1800-2100 fps range.

For those of you into cast rifle loads in bottle neck cases, would you rate any of those four as markedly superior to the others? Again, just looking for 1800-2100 fps for 200 yard plinking loads. Like many things I suspect they'd all do okay but local supplies are still iffy so I'd like to buy maybe the overall best performer or perhaps the top two to try out.

I use 4895, but whatever powder gives you the best accuracy. For me that depends on alloy, and bullet diameter is a significant factor. .310-.312 will make a difference.

That was an easy decision.

SR4759 is discontinued.
Reloder 7 isn't available.
ACC 5744 costs $5 more per pound than everything else.

So, IMR 4198 it is.


Also scored an 8 pound jug of H4350 so the trip to the gun store was doubly rewarding.

Personally I use the same powders as for jacketed bullets, and run similar loads & pressures, but my bullets are powder coated. I use 4895 most of the time in 308; 42.5gr under a 168gr H&G #20, gas checked of course. The bullets are quenched for hardness as well, this gives better accuracy with full power loads in my experience.