LA,
Not sure if someone mentioned it, but what seems to work well in more than a few rifles is Varget, w/ SMKs. Some rifles won't go as high w/o showing pressure, but what shows good accuracy in my Rem700Vs is this: Winchester cases, CCI BR2 primers, and then either 46.0gr Varget for the 168SMK, or 45.0gr for the 175gr SMK. Others have had good results w/ up to 47.0gr Varget and the 155gr Palma SMK, but my gun doesn't do well w/ 155's
4064 is a great powder for the .308, and has been for years. Accuracy is often phenomenal, though velocity is a little less than some newer powders, and it would be a courtesy to say it meters like hell. Definitely a weigh-every-single-charge-and-trickle-up affair, which may be a non-issue for you, as many/most LR shooters do that anyway.
Alliant RL-15 has been around a little while, and it is another of the short-cut extruded grain powders like Varget and Viht N140. I think the official U.S. sniper round for the .308 Win now uses the 175gr SMK and RL-15. Not quite as accurate as Varget in my particular gun, and has a funky smell to it also
Vihtavouri N140 works well in the .308, and I've talked to some HBR shooters who got phenomenal groups using it. Lately I've not heard much about it beyond some rumors that it was turning out a bit more temperature stable than Varget.
Varget is part of Hodgdon's 'new' (last couple years "new" ' Extreme powder line manufactured down in Australia. Very temperature stable, about the only downside I've heard to it is that every new lot seems a little cooler than the last. Haven't really noticed it myself, but then again, my chronograph is on the fritz, and I don't have detailed LR data of my own to compare against. Each can I get still puts them in little holes w/ the 175gr SMK.
If weighing every charge (4064) doesn't appeal to you, try something like Varget, RL-15, or N140, as they throw to acceptable tolerances in most powder meters (i.e. +/- 0.2). 'Acceptable' depends entirely on the load, and how sensitive it is to slight variations. I really didn't see much in the way of SD/ES (sorry, can't remember the numbers) difference btwn thrown +/- 0.2gr, and weighed down to the gnat's *** every charge. Lastly, if throwing charges vs. weighing is what you want, but you don't like the +/- of Varget and the other short-cut extruded powders, try Ramshot Tac. Their powders are all supposed to be pretty temp stable, and are a ball type powder, so they meter about like water
Velocity was down around 4064 in my gun, which wasn't bad, it's just that Varget was sooooo much better
As for the scope, well, different strokes for different folks, i.e. depends on who you ask. S1 *really* likes the NightForce scopes, and has used them in professional (read as: taxpayer dollars) applications. Other knowledgeable folk, like Darryl Cassel, have a preference for Leupolds. At least one serious shooter here uses Nikons, Bausch & Lomb, etc. As you probably figured out, Jay is the resident messiah for Burris. Me, I've had Leupold LR/Ts, had some issues w/ them (not quality, just compatibility btwn them and me) and plan on getting a NightForce most likely. Meantime, the stopgap measure for me is a Sightron 6-24x. Not a first choice, and it does have some limitations, but so does my budget at the moment
Check out the models that interest you. 30mm main tube is a plus, as is side-focus and target turrets, though none are absolutely essential. Lots of elevation adjustment is nice, and drives the price up rapidly on the higher-magnification units. I'd say about the only absolutely-must-have feature that you should not go with out is parallax adjust, whether in the form of an adjustable objective (AO), or a side-focus. Fancy reticles are neat whiz-bang items, and take some time to master completely to the point where they save time and ammo rather than waste it, but they do have a time and place.
As always, your mileage may vary (YMMV)
Monte
[ 03-17-2003: Message edited by: milanuk ]
