Home Forums Reloading Big Game Rifles Accurate 2495/.308/165 TGK/Starline brass report

Have never used Accurate 2495 before so, having it available locally, I decided to give it a try with 165 grain TGK's in my new 700 Alpha I which I reviewed here recently ( https://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbt...a-new-remington-700-alpha-1#Post18969298 )

It was also my first use of the tipped Sierra's and of Starline bottleneck rifle brass. (Have used their .45-70 and handgun calibers for many years.) In fact, the only thing about the whole project that I'd had experience with were the CCI 200 primers.

Accurate 2495, according to Accurate/Hodgdon, was "made for the .308." It's said to be an Accurate analog to IMR 4895. Whether it is or not, I don't know.

The Hodgdon data shows max loads of 45 grains )compressed) with a couple of 165 grain bullets, so I put together five rounds each from 43.5 - 45 grains in .5 grain increments.

When loading, the initial 43.5 grain charges seemed to fill the cases pretty full and there was a faint recollection in what passes for my mind about Starline .308 being thick-wall, lower capacity cases.

At the range: The first increment, 43.5 grains, gave me 2752 average speed with pretty uniform numbers and not bad accuracy. The next five, 44 grains, gave me an average of 2841 which, especially given the even better apparent accuracy, I deemed good enough. Figuring I was in the "let's not push it any further with 165 grain bullets giving that speed in a 22 inch .308" territory, I figured I had my load, now maybe play with seationg depth (or not.) Still had to try 44.5 grains, however. One shot, with a speed of 2938 and I figured 44 grains is a good place to stop. I also had my Number 1B .308 with me and, just for fun, put one of the 44.5 grain loads through its 26 inch barrel which gave me slightly over 3000 fps. At that point I decided against shooting any more and decided to be happy with the 44 grain load for the 700.

I went home, pulled the bullets from the remaining test loads and reloaded them with 44 grains of 2495, went out and shot a deer with them. It was a close shot, probably 40 yards, and the TGK gave somewhat explosive performance, very much in contrast to the Sierra 165 grain .308 HPBT SGK that I killed a deer with last week and have been using as my regular load in my Number 1. That bullet acts much like a monolithic, as does the 130 grain 6.5 version of it.

I think I'm going to like the 2495 powder. It's less money than a lot of them, and it measures really nicely through my Redding BR-30, noticeably easier than Varget which has been my go to .308/.223/.45-70 powder but which has gotten up in price significantly.

Good intel. That’s pretty quick load work.

Sounds like they’re a good bullet.

Even the 44 grain charge seems a bit sporty for my taste.

I wouldn’t disagree, but it seems quite accurate and not crazy. I may look toward dialing it back a bit, or I may just keep telling myself I have a “fast barrel.”

Seems a little hot but this is what accurate thinks

I haven't tried this powder. Thanks for the heads up, with the rising price of Varget, I may pick some up.

What I find very unusual is that you are getting an 89 fps gain for a 0.5 gr powder increase (43.5 to 44.0 gr) and 186 fps gr with a 1.0 gr increase (43.5 to 44.5). I've never seen that with ANY powder in a .308 do that and it is not in line with Hornady data for that powder. Typical for a .308 is 50 - 60 fps per grain. You're seeing a 3x higher increase per grain - I don't think that's good and have no explanation for it.

Yeah, that struck me as interesting. I think the Starline cases have significantly less capacity than most .308 cases and suspect that may feed into the apparent anomaly. Also of course, different powders act differently. I think I'll try some of the same loads in some of the other brass I have on hand and see how that goes. Deer season is almost over, I've got a freezer full, I should have more time to play with this stuff. I may also try the 2495 in some other cartridges to see how it works in them.

Seen where Accurate over the years has claimed as much as 300 fps gain in 1.3 grains addition of powder. Same caliber, bullet and barrel length actual measured was 263. They changed the data later on making it ~ 2.5 grains for 290 fps gain. Actually it was a little bit more for me 338 fps for 2.5 grains. Go figure

I played around with 2495 under 168 grain Hornady bthp's in a Savage 20 inch 308 a couple of years ago. I think I was using either Winchester or Remington range pickup brass.

Really nice SD numbers, but accuracy was nothing special. But it could have been the mystery-meat brass or the 168 Hornadys. I meant to try again with better brass and some Matchkings, but never got around to it.

Notice the Winchester brass, usually much thinner in 308 than what I've seen from Starline.

I kinda like A2495. Good stuff. Shoots well in the 308 Win.