Home Forums Reloading Big Game Rifles Good .308 Loads

Thanks, I'm going to keep creeping it up. Those Hornady flatbases are buying me a little extra room, and they'll crush any deer I'm going to come across.

Dave,

46gr R15 gave me 2951 fps with 150gr Hornadies from my 22" Krieger. No way I would go higher, but your rifle may be different...

John

John,

I missed your post somehow.

Anyway you're right, my rifle is different. My factory 700 has a long throat and I'm not anywhere near the lands with a 150 stuck in the case very much at all. I don't have my data in front of me right now, but I know for sure I'm not getting near the velocities you've listed with 15 and 4895 despite using the same components and amounts.

I can't recall my Lapua based numbers, but in RP hulls I know I'm nearly 200 fps short of what you're showing with 46 of 15.

Dave

You're on top of it as usual. If your rifle chronoes that much less, you should certainly be able to bump it up a little.

On a side note, I picked up 300 rds of '82 LC Match brass here off the classifieds. Compared case weights to Lapua. Very comparable, so I'm thinking similar capacities. Haven't measured neck thickness, but based on runout, It seems to be pretty good stuff...

John

Hondo64d, I picked up a lot of '81 LC Match from the same guy, I had the same opinions. I have it all prepped up and have run a few loads out of it. I'm shooting an FN PBR XP .308 and 46.5 gr. of Varget is the load for that rifle with 165 gr/168 gr. projectiles. With 165 Nosler BTs and 168 SMKs seated to the same OAL they both group under 1/2" at 100 yds, and the 165 Nosler actually outshot the SMKs at 200 yds. The SMKs shot a 1.1" group-10 shots , the BT - 10 shots, I could cover that group with a quarter, just a big hole in the paper. I did run the H380 loads through it and they were ok, no pressure signs, but they didn't group as well. Grouping being relative, no 5 shot group I've shot at 100 yds with this rifle has gone over an inch.

Selmer,

At your convenience please weigh one of those deprimed LC cases for me. I'm interested in comparing them to my reference brass.

I've read your recent posts and I'm wondering how you're getting 46.5 grains of Varget in there under 165/168 grain bullets, both capacity and pressure wise. For example 46 grains is a good max in my RP brass that weighs about 15 grains less than the two vintages of LC match I have, and when I throw identical charges into the cases the capacity difference is made clear by the height of the powder column in the case necks.

Thanks,

mathman

mathman, I'm having no problem getting the powder in, I have about .25" of empty case neck when I'm done charging the case with the Varget. When comparing the case capacity, I used H380 as reference powder for max case capacity. When trickled in as carefully as I could in an RP case and a LC Match case the LC Match was .5 gr. less than the RP brass. They were trimmed to the same length and fired in the same chamber. I'm showing no pressure signs using this load in the LCM brass and I'm going with it. I'll weigh it before I take off for home tonight, I'll do an average of ten for you.

Yeah, that would be too full for me even without pressure signs. I've found that my Redding competition seating die doesn't get along with compressed loads too well. The loaded round runout goes up and the overall lengths (measured from case head to bullet ogive) become less consistent. In the RP cases 46 grains does best when I slow pour it in through a drop tube.

I swirl it in using the powder funnel. I've found this technique to be more conducive to getting more powder into the case. My runout is staying under .003" with my Forster BR seater die, which is good enough for me.

mathman, sorry, I haven't taken the time to weigh cases for you yet. I did go back and check out my "head room" with the Varget, with 46.5 gr. it just comes up to the bottom of the neck, so it's a little more than I thought.

No sweat.

I'm running out of comfortable capacity developing some full steam hunting loads with RL15 in Lapua brass. If I need to up the charges a little more I'll see if I can refine my swirl technique.

Lots of good info in this thread, and it seems geared towards bolt actions. I'm looking for something a little different if anyone can help me.

I recently picked up a very pristine Remington 7400 in 308, I'd say less than 40 rounds through the gun.

I have 300 military cases headstamped 'wra 67', small based resized, and 3 boxes of Hornady Interlock 150 grain flat based bullets.

I've never reloaded for a semi auto, and have been told you need a faster burning powder for the action to operate properly.

Since I need to purchase powder and primers, I'm looking for suggestions on a powder that will burn clean and is fast enough(?) to reliably cycle the action in military cases, and still give decent velocity.

Does anyone load for a semi with military cases? I'm looking for the right powder, and starting/max loads in military cases. Any suggestions would be appreciated, thanks in advance.

I don't know about the 7400, but the stuff you generally see about semi-auto 308 appropriate powders has to do with loading for the M14/M1A type rifle.

It's not just about being fast enough. It's about being in the proper range to provide the correct gas port pressure to properly cycle the action. The 4895 type powders are pretty much in the middle of this range.

With a 308 it's pretty hard to go wrong with a 4895, either H or IMR. Ramshot TAC is a modern ball powder in this burn rate class, but I haven't tried it yet.

Be sure to be careful with loading data that was developed in commercial cases that have greater capacity than military ones.

Mathman,
When I said 'fast enough', I was saying what you meant, LOL, just worded it badly perhaps.

I was thinking IMR 4895 or 4064, rather than a slower burner like 4350 and figuring with the military cases the middle of the road loading would be more like the max load. Just want to make sure I'm thinking along the right lines.

4895 and 4064 are classic 308 powders. I can't imagine a circumstance where I'd use 4350 though.

Do you like to throw powder charges? 4064 is great but it's a pain in most powder measures. With my bolt action 308s it's easy to get sub-moa results with IMR4895. With LC match brass that has been sorted for neck thickness uniformity I have my Model 700 VTR shooting 1" ten shot groups with thrown charges of 42 grains of IMR4895 and 168 grain Nosler match bullets. This is with ambient temperatures between 55 and 60 degrees F and no pause for barrel cooling.

Mathman,
I've never reloaded 308, this is my first time ever messing with one, and in a semi-auto no less. I do weigh all my charges.

I used 4350 as a representative example of a slower burning powder I use amost exclusively in my 06's, was not really aware wether it was good in a 308 or not as I don't have any expierence with the 308.

So I should be thinking along the lines of 4895/4064 with the middle load in loading manuals being considered the max due to the military brass? Thanks.

Some manuals show a lot more spread between top and bottom charges, so depending on the source a mid-level load may be more conservative than necessary.

With either H or IMR 4895 and a 150 grain bullet you should be OK to start at 41 or 42 grains, basically a 300 Savage load. Work up carefully from there.

Has anyone tried a reduced (managed recoil)load in the 308? I have a Knight KP1 single shot in the 308 and I wanted to try a reduced load for my daughter. I want to shoot a 125 grain nosler ballistic tip.

Also, has anyone have a good load (not reduced) on the 308 with 125 grain nosler ballistic tips?

I have tried 50 grains of varget and get decent groups but I think it could be better.

Dad started us on the .308 with 47 gr. of IMR 4831 and the 125 gr. BT. It was hell on deer, and my brother still uses the load. VERY easy shooting and we've taken deer past 300 yds with it.

so i take it your happy with the pbr !