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Mule Deer,

While going through the 29 pages of 308 loads on the reloading forum, I came across your post of using 46.0 grns of Varget for just about all of your 308 loads using 150 and 165 grain bullets.

Are you still using this combination, or have you found other powders that you prefer?

Thanks in advance.

That's what I mostly still use.

That said, there are a bunch of good powders in that general burn-rate range that also works well--which is one reason the .308 is generally very easy to handload.

Varget is the powder of preference for Palma shooters for those bullet weights. And that includes a ton of testing. That;s what I use for Palma but for hunting loads MR-2000 added about 50-75 fps and shot just as well. 4064 does not suck as well. 4320 is an excellent powder as well
I would start with the Varget load you listed.

Varget is good. There are others that are as well. I just did my first, quick try with 155s over I4166. It did really well considering I haven't done any tweaking or true testing as of yet.

Thanks to you all!

I was looking at Varget as a starting point and branching out from there. Getting 2800 fps with a 150 grn E-Tip to shoot well is the goal.

I picked up some 4166 a while ago and good to hear it did well. What kind of velocities are are you getting?

Thanks again.

I've had excellent results with TAC,Varget,Accurate 4064 and IMR 4895.

I'm getting 2700 fps with 150gr E-Tips in 16" barreled LWRC REPR's with CFE-223 powder, MOA accuracy out on 300 yard steel, if your rifle has 20, or 22 inch barrel, should get you at least another 150 fps.

Have found 4166 an excellent substitute for Varget when Varget becomes scarce--which it seems to during every buying panic.

Varget works well but I have gotten more velocity with TAC and accuracy was still good.

I like H4895 with 150gn Hornady SPs. That's in my skinny barreled Ruger Ultralight. Three shots will go under an inch. It can be a little finicky so once I found a good load I stopped right there. I came home and pulled my Varget loads down.

NAGW, but my favorites

Varget, RL15, H4895......All work well. I mostly use Varget.

I'm sticking with CFE 223 and BL-C(2)

Varget's a good .308 powder, but I've seen slightly better overall accuracy with H4895 using bullets in the 150 -180 grain range. Sometimes, you might give up a little velocity with H4895 when compared with Varget.

Another vote for TAC.

Almost anything except Goex 1F works in the 308.

No one uses 748?

The 308 is not picky as a rule (I own one that is picky, but it's an odd ball)

4895, 4064, H335, 748, 4320, Varget, RL-15 <<< (the one that my "picky rifle" likes) BL-C2, AC2230 and AC2495 have all been good for me at one time or another, in one gun or another. Some better and some worse, but few were bad.

The powders that seem to be the most consistently accurate in the various 308s I have owned in the last 40 years or so were 4064, 4895, 748 and RL15

Varget gets wonderful reviews, but in all my 308s most showed me very good accuracy with it, but only one ever gave me it's best accuracy with Varget. That seems opposite of many men I have talked to (many of whom I trust completely, so I have no true explanation for what I have seen, but it IS what I have personally seen with my rifles) On a scale of 1 to 10, Varget has usually given me "8s" but in only 1 rifle, a bull barreled M70 Winchester, did Varget ever give me the best groups I ever got.
In all others I got my tightest groups with other powders. Varget was nearly always good to very good for me, but never "best". Even in my M70 Target rifle, the Varget groups were as good as my 748 and 4064 groups, but not any better.

In the last 10-15 years I sold most of my 308s. Thinking back now I can count 12 of them. The 2 I own now are a Mossberg MVP and an AR10 Type I made myself. The "10" is the picky one, and has been the most challenging 308 I ever owned for accuracy, but I found a load with 180 grain bullets and RL-10 that gives me .650 to .8" consistently at 100 meters, so I quite there. My MVP has never been a "one-holer" but groups of 1-1/8" to 1-1/4 with good grade hunting bullets are normal, and it's never let me down. I have killed several deer, elk and antelope with it and come to like it quite a lot. I use the same load that my AR10ish rifle like sin my MVP and it's not as tight from the Mossberg, but plenty tight enough to kill game with The AR shoots at .8" or a bit less, and the MVP shoots the same loads to about 1-1/4" The very best accuracy I have seen from the Mossberg so far were with 130 grain Barnes TSX and 49.0 or 748. Those shoot to .625" for 5 shots.

Not a lot to go on, but maybe it will be helpful to those that are interested.

748? Years ago my deer load was 48.5 grains under a 150 grain flat base Interlock. This was in R-P brass and lit by the older nickel finish Winchester 8 1/2 - 120 or the 80's vintage CCI 250.

Yes, I've had about equal luck with H4895 and Varget with a 165 grain Hornady IL over 17 years. Folks on here told me Varget would give me an edge, but I didn't see it.

One alleged quality of Varget is that it seems to be pretty indifferent to primer selection, which might be a benefit right about now.

I've had better luck with RL15 and H4895, but haven't done much testing with my latest .30/06 Short.

I don’t like how Varget measures (Actually hate it) compared to TAC