Home Forums Reloading Big Game Rifles Good .308 Loads

I'm interested in the weight as a clue to manufacturer.

Mine weighed the same as Federal, were thick like Federal, were soft like Federal and the caseheads were marked in the same font as Federal.

I was told by a very good source that Nosler is made by Norma.

I don't believe that's a constant across the different cartridges.

The best load I've been able to work up in my 2 308's (Ruger hawkeye and winchester model 70 fwt) with the bullet I want to hunt with (150 horn sp interlock):

47 gr. RE-15
W-W brass
CCI 200 primers
150 hornady sp




I'm pretty happy with the results. Thanks again to mathman for steering me in the right direction

Have been running 46 grains of Winchester 748, CCI LR Benchrest Primer, Federal case with a 165 Hornady SST or a Sierra 168 Match King. Velocity for the SST is 2730 and 2710 for the Match King from a 20" barrel. Groups are in the .35 MOA range.

Bob

Just an FYI here, tried 45grs Varget with CCIBR primers, Win brass & 168AMAX, this load was too hot, had 2 sticky bolts of the 3 I shot.

Rifle?

That load works great for me using the 178 AMAX in a couple of different rifles.

Rem SPSS.

Interesting. All my 700s have deep throats and digest 46 grains of Varget with a variety of 165/168 grain bullets loaded in WW brass.

Wait, I take back the all part. I'm just beginning to shoot an XCR LRT and I've used nothing but a mild, old standard target load so far. It appears to have a min. headspace chamber too. I haven't checked the throat.

I have no issues with 47grs RE15 and 155AMAXs, and 44grs RE15 with the 168s, fwiw.
Oh btw, in the varget load the bullets were off the lands about.020".

For all we know your batch of Varget could be a bit hotter than mine.

We're supposed to be careful and work up anyway, so due diligence keeps us safe.

Ditto that,

Last weekend was able to get out and do a little shooting with a gun I had taken to Ray Lawler with Absolute Accuray. He trued and bedded the action (R-700), and replaced a 7-08ai barrel with a 308 win factory barrel I had picked up here and had him shorten to 23" and recrown. Shot a pretty good group with the 150 Horn FB, tweaked it a little and then shot a 4 shot group right at 0.5" with a warm to hot barrel. 47.5 gr Varget, 2.750" COL, Hornady FL sized brass, CCI BR-2 primer. MV was 2860 fps, think I've found a good deer load for this fall.

bludog

x3..... Super accuracy and performance on deer

I also tried 43.5grs of Varget, that didnt fare too well either, just over 3" @200yds for 5 shots, no wind, cold barrel, well it was cold until I shot that first 5, haha. I wont be trying anymore varget, and this is the 2nd time varget has disappointed me with the 168s, it didnt shoot that well with 168MKs vs RE15(both at 42grs) in my Classic 308, either.

I ran a few across the chronograph today, just looking for pressure/velocity. Most were fired at 200yd steel. The rifle is a 20" Remington 700 SPS-AAC-SD, brass is neck-sized W-W, primer is CCI 200, and all bullets are moly coated. I'm toying with the notion of going to a 2.995" Wyatts mag box, so some loads had a long-ish OAL. Weather was rather warm at 90F+ with steamy humidity.

RL15:
45.5gr with 168 Ballistic Tip. 2.815" OAL. 2,575fps.
46.0gr with 168 Ballistic Tip. 2.965" OAL. 2,600fps.

TAC:
47.0gr with 150 Ballistic Tip. 2.815" OAL. 2,750fps.
47.5gr with 150 Ballistip Tip. 2.955" OAL. 2,775fps.

RL17:
200gr Sierra Gameking BT at 2.955" OAL.
49.0gr 2,515fps
49.5gr 2,530fps
50.0gr 2,560fps
50.5gr 2,596fps (no pressure signs)

208gr Hornady A-Max at 2.985" OAL.
48.0gr 2,469fps
49.0gr 2,491fps
50.0gr 2,496fps
50.5gr 2,544fps (ejector mark)
51.0gr 2,578fps (ejector mark)

It looks like the RL15 and TAC loads are fine, even though I'm over max in several manuals. The moly and long throat contribute to lower pressures. The 200gr Sierra may be a good all-rounder at 2,600fps, but the workup shot about 2-2.5 MOA. I'll need to shoot the 50.5gr load again for accuracy. The 208gr A-Max hit pressure a bit earlier than I would have thought, although it was the end of my range trip and the gun/ammo/chamber were damn hot. Even so, the workup shot a bit over MOA at 200yds, so the rifle may like this bullet.

I just thought I'd throw today's range trip info out there, as there are bound to be a lot of folks working with the long Remington throats. A tight custom barrel, match chamber, shorter throat, and heavier brass would be burning a lot less powder to make those velocities, so be careful and work up.

40 grain RL 15, 210M primer, 185 scenar, Lapua case, OAL 2.8, shoots .336" 5 shots @100, 2400 fps

WildmygotoloadAlaska ��2002-2011

Upper left group was the shiner of the day out of my new Ruger M77 Mk II stainless (unaltered).

150gr Hornady SP
46.5gr RL-15
R-P hulls
WLR primers

This be the load for this year's deer season.

46.0 g. varget
remington brass
165 g. hornady spirepoint
cci 200 primers

100 yds. i did pull that 3rd shot when i saw it was going to be a nice group.

rifle is a savage precision carbine.

I have run 45gr Varget, 210 primers and 180 SST's at 2610fps from a 22" barrel. Good accuracy and no extraction issues.