69gr SMK and Benchmark + Varget + 68gr Hornady + 69gr Nosler

KDX

KDX

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I loaded some up tonight starting at 22.5gr and going up to 23.7gr in .2gr increments. Hodgdon has their max listed at 23.5gr. In the Lyman manual (48th edition) they don't have Benchmark for the SMK but they do have H335 which is very similar and they go 1.5gr higher than Hodgdon. I'll be watching for pressure signs along the way and will quit before the max if I see anything. Hopefully I can get out in the afternoon and give it a go. I would have tried Varget but I don't have any on hand and I just want to get out and shoot so I figured I will try what I have. Benchmark has always worked very well for me with the lighter bullets so who knows how this will pan out.
 
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23 gr of Benchmark behind the 77 gr Scenar is my best load for accuracy in both my MR-1, this powder is giving velocity without max pressure, it is my powder of choice now for those 77 gr Scenars... JP.
 
Benchmark didn't do well with the 69gr matchking in my rifle, but it might do very well in your rifle. My rifle prefers imr4064 behind the 69gr matchking.
 
I use either 23.2 or 23.4gr of benchmark behind 69gr MKs in my savage 223. I tried 6 powders and 3 bullets (every combination thereof) and that was the best results I got. It was marginally better than Win748, and Varget in that order. Of course YMMV. I read that Benchmark only worked on the lighter bullets too, but you can't argue with the holes in the target.

Not sure where I found the load data, but I'm pretty sure I went to at least 25gr. I'll check my notes.
 
Hodgdon's website says that Benchmark works well with lighter bullets in the 308 so I'm thinking it will be OK. When it dries up a little later in the week hopefully I can get out and do some testing.
 
I went out yesterday and tried out some ammo. I discovered that my form is not consistent and I need to really be aware of that with this rifle as the flyers were generally when I didn't have a very firm grip on the rifle and having it pulled in tight to my shoulder. The 23.5gr loads I used to sight in the scope so I will make a few more of them and try out that load. I might go higher than the 23.7 as there were no pressure signs. All groups were 5 rounds at 102 yards as per my rangefinder with no barrel cooling between shots. Not much cooling between groups either. The rifle is a Savage Predator Max 1 with a Rifle Basix trigger installed. It has not been bedded.

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Same rifle last year with the factory trigger and 60gr Nosler bullets. I think Benchmark might not be a good powder for the heavier bullets and this rifle. I should go find some CFE223 or Varget I think.

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If you have a local dealer that carries it, try AccurateArms 2230. Ive seen fantastic results with this powder and the 69gn SMK. I'm going to be making some of these shortly, I'll let you know how it turns out.
 
If you have a local dealer that carries it, try AccurateArms 2230. Ive seen fantastic results with this powder and the 69gn SMK. I'm going to be making some of these shortly, I'll let you know how it turns out.
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FWIW, I have gotten stellar results in the accuracy and velocity dept with WC735 and 69 grain match bullets.
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Thanks for the replys. By looking at the burn rate chart and from what you guys have said, maybe XBR will work well with the 69gr SMK. I have some here so maybe I'll give it a shot.
 
I went out again today with the SMKs loaded up with Varget. I started out at 24.8gr and went up to 26.2gr (.2gr over Hodgdon's book max) in .2gr increments. I could keep going a little higher as there were no pressure signs evident, but I think I will settle on the 25.8gr load. I might try 25.7 and 25.9 just for the heck of it. I only have about 6 SMKs left so now I guess I get to do some load development with Hornady's 68gr HP Match bullet. I think I'll start that one at 25.4 and go up in .2gr increments also.

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All groups were 5 rounds except for the 26.0gr test which was 4 rounds. Groups shot @ 105 yards.
 
You may even want to consider shooting multiple tests with the same loads, or even upping the number of test shots to 10 round groups. Very minor shooter error could've causes some of that deviation (when you're splitting hairs like this). Either way, you're very close to a perfect load.
 
KDX said:
I went out again today with the SMKs loaded up with Varget. I started out at 24.8gr and went up to 26.2gr (.2gr over Hodgdon's book max) in .2gr increments. I could keep going a little higher as there were no pressure signs evident, but I think I will settle on the 25.8gr load. I might try 25.7 and 25.9 just for the heck of it. I only have about 6 SMKs left so now I guess I get to do some load development with Hornady's 68gr HP Match bullet. I think I'll start that one at 25.4 and go up in .2gr increments also.

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All groups were 5 rounds except for the 26.0gr test which was 4 rounds. Groups shot @ 105 yards.
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If you are approaching max loads now, in April, with the higher ambient temp coming up this summer, you could reach unacceptable pressures! IMHO, a lot of reloaders do not factor this in.
 
Both Benchmark and Varget are temp stable. It's one one of the reasons I like Hodgdon's Extreme line of powders.
 
I would second the try 25.9-26.1 gr with Varget, looks like you are getting good results. Do you have a chrony to run the loads over? Maybe stretch out to 200-300, groups will get bigger but a little easier to spot the "winning" group. Look forward to more reports.
 
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