help with 308 powders

[Round2it]

I have a 20" heavy barreled 308 1-10 twist that ill be shooting 300 - 725 yrds. Targets and paper mostly. Its a difficult shooting lane that starts on my porch, across a sloped hillside for 200 yards then it slopes away (down) so that my next yardage marker is right at 380 and then its an almost flat field out to 610 yrds. As you can imagine, I get multiple crosswinds. This is looking east by the way. I have worked up a load for the 178 gr. Amax that is ok but i would like more velocity if I can get it. My load is 44gr of Varget in win cases with win primers. I'm getting 2565 fps with slight signs of pressure. My average deviation for 10 shot strings is in the low 40's. This is the best I can get from a 37.5gr starting point. I used a basic ladder test to get to this point. I am shoot this out of the Hogue stock it came with. I'm currently saving for a better stock. I have H4350, Retumbo and some IMR4350. I'm on a budget so i'd like to work with one of these but if I NEED to buy something else I will. Thanks for the help.

 

[Derek M.]

VARGET is an exceptional powder for the 308.

IMR4064 is a better choice in many applications in my experience.

Since you are on a budget, keep working with the Varget. If you find some extra $, you NEED IMR4064 AND Reloder 15.

Of the 3, Varget is my 3rd choice, and Re15 is #2.

Good luck

 

[Nomad]

You may want to try some RL-17. Read about the powder on Snipershide they were shooting a Hornady 208 gr bullet. Loaded some up with a 180gr btsp Speer bullet .308 got 2742 fps
with the load. The load is shooting a sub min....

 

[submoa]

According to hornadays 8th gadget is one of the fastest powders for the 308 so if you want more speed I would say drop down to a 168gn bullet and you should get around 2700 fps

 

[backwoods83]

Each powder company has a decent powder for the 308, Hodgdon Varget, H4895, and H380, Imr 4895, 4064, and 4320, Alliant Re15, AR-comp, and MR-2000pro, Accurate Arms and Ramshot AA2520, Tac, Enforcer. Vihtovori N140 and N540.

Of all the powders Imr4064 is the best all around for velocity, deviation, and accuracy. RE15 is right there with it and actually gets the nod for higher velocity but its temp sensative. Varget is great I use just as much of this as I do 4064. I would try seating depth and different primers like CCI BR2s or Fed210Ms. It also sounds from your description of a 20" barrel and Houge stock that you have a M700 SPS tactical, if so its a 12 twist and sometimes does not take kindly to the 178 amax, they tend to do their best with 168 SMKs or amaxs.

 

[Round2it]

Thanks for all the replies.
My seating depth is .004 - .005" off the lands and still fit in the magazine. It's a Howa w/ 1-10 twist. I got a great price on it so I brought it home. I think my brother might have just picked up some 4064. I'll check with him and see. I do have some CCI primers - 400 or 450 I think, I'll have to check. I'm going to run another ladder test with 43.5 gr of Varget and adjust seating depth to see if I can find a sweet spot. I also may be able to get a new stock by the end of the month which should really help. Thanks again for all the help.

 

[backwoods83]

Load 10 rounds with the 178s 5 of them .030" off the lands and 5 .040" off, and btw CCI 450s are small rifle magnum primers, you want CCI 200s or preferably BR2s or #34s.

 

[submoa]

According to hornadays 8th gadget is one of the fastest powders for the 308 so if you want more speed I would say drop down to a 168gn bullet and you should get around 2700 fps

I meant varget. Stupid phone writes what it wants sometimes

 

[Round2it]

Those CCI's must be from the box of loading gear I bought from a buddy for 223.
I'll try backing those 178's off and see what I come up with.

 

[Michael Eichele]

If crosswinds is your main problem, you don't need to back off of the 178. You need to go the other direction such as the 190 VLD or the 208 AMAX. These will beat the wind better at slower velocities than the 168 or 178 grain pills will do at higher velocities.

To get better velocity out of the 178 or 190 you would need RL17 or VV N540 or possibly N530 with your shorter barrel. N550 is a good bet for the 190-210 grain pills or possibly N540 with your shorter barrel.