308 Win with H380 Starting Point Suggestion

[drenner43]

So this is a follow up to my previous post. Background info.

Loading for a friend. This is just for a hunting load, not long range. He has the components except powder and H380 is what i have extra of so others are not an option. Brass is Lapua and he has 175gr Barnes LRX BT. I know there are better powders and better bullets for this cartridge but this is what i have to work with. I contacted Barnes and they had no help or recommendations with the powder. Did say i could use lead core bullet data with the LRX just to be sure to start at the min. One of the photos was shared from the Sierra book and i found the other in the Nosler book.

2 questions

what would your initial starting charge be? 42gr? 44? Planning to work up in 1gr increments to start with.

I have CCI large rifle primers and Fed magnums, i've seen both used. what would you use?

 

[Ol' Red]

I would start with 42 grains and work up from there. Large rifle will probably work best, but try both.

 

[Doom2]

I think I would use magnum primer. Make sure he has at least a 1 in 11 twist.

 

[Idaho Lefty]

I'd start at, 44.0 grains and work up in, 1/2 grain, increments.
My best ( most accurate, Hunting loads ) are "usually" one grain to, a 1/2 grain, UNDER, Max charge.
Starting too Low is,.. a WASTE of,.. Powder / Time / Bullets.
CCI standard lge Rifle should Lite off 45 Grains of H-380 Powder,.. NO,. problem !
CCI std's are what I use with, H-380 in my .22-250, to shoot, "BugHoles" .

 

[drenner43]

Loaded a few rounds up last night and to get them to fit in the factory 700 ADL mag box I ended up with an OAL of 2.832". With 43gr it is definitely a compressed load. However, the nosler photo above also shows the 180gr bullets compressed at 44gr with a book OAL of 2.810". With that In mind I would think these compressed loads would be safe up to 44-45 gr, would you agree?

 

[Ol' Red]

I would not start with a compressed load, but that decision is up to you. I had a firearm explode on me about 20 years ago. It was a faulty action, but bone above my left wrist has been replaced with expensive angle iron and sheet metal screws. I tend to start low and watch for pressure signs.

 

[slick Nick]

Agreed once you have felt the beast like that it makes you cautious and caution is a good thing. I know some say a low charge is a waist of time but I have found based on a gun barrels harmonics there can be two maybe three loads that will deliver good accuracy so I tend to take my time (trigger time done right is never waisted) and shoot small increments. Then after finding that sweet spot I try a little OAL adjustment once again in small amounts. Yes if you load 30-40 RDS at each incremental step, it's a lot but I try to keep numbers down until I have something that I like then load more for final testing on longer ranges that they will be used on. Just my thoughts. Everyone has them. Good luck and happy range time.

Nick

 

[Ol' Red]

I think I would use magnum primer. Make sure he has at least a 1 in 11 twist.

After testing both large rifle and large rifle magnum, I would agree. I get good groups with both primers, but lower SD with magnum primers.

 

[slick Nick]

Absolutely next step was testing this out of the AR10 since the bolt is gone thanks