anyone else use IMR4350 in their 308Win????

Qc_BearHunter

Qc_BearHunter

CGN Regular
Rating - 100%
75   0   0
Location
Pont-Rouge, Qc
Well,

I'm trying to find a satisfactory load for my new Cz 550 Varmint.

I started with 2 bullets 155 Nosler Comp and 168 Sierra MK.

I tried different combination with Varget, H4895...a little of W748 with not much result...nothing very constant under .75" with most three shots group going over that.

A friend of mine told me to try 49 grains of IMR4350 under a 168grain bullet.

I tried 3 of them....got .481"

Today I shot 5 just to see...got four in .627" with one enlarging the group to .808"

Best results to date with this rifle.

Do you ever hear Good old IMR4350 a suitable 308win powder????
 
What works in your friend's rifle could be dangerous in yours unless you worked up to that load. If you polled 100 long range shooters in Canada about 75% will tell you Varget powder. The remaining 25% will tell you Reloader 15, IMR 4895, IMR 4895sc, IMR 4064 and even a few will tell you IMR 3031.
I shoot Varget with 155's and found 46 gr to be the sweet spot in all three of my .308's with 30 inch barrels. This load in safe in my rifles and you should work up to this in your rifle. The only time I shoot 168's is for 300m ISU matches and I use a powder-puff load of 39 gr of 3031.
 
It is shocking how different rifles are. Even ones with consecutive serial numbers. I would have to have a lot of bad results ebfore i ever got around to trying 4350, unless i was working on 200 grain bullets.

But you lucked in. Go for it.
 
Problem with IMR4350 is when you get to 48 grains+ the case can be overflowing. It may be accurate, or not but powders a tad quicker have worked well for over the years.
 
I went with the N 140 powder. I quit using varget quite a while ago due to the cold winters and hot summers.
 
"...49 grains of IMR4350..." That's one grain under max according to my old Lyman book. It's safe, but you really should work up your own loads from a manual
 
Noslers book likes 50 gr. of IMR 4350 with 180 gr. bullets.

I tried it; you damn near have to sit on the press handle to seat a bullet. It might work if you had a really long magazine and enough throat in the barrel, but it's too full in anything I have. It grouped 'mediocre' for me; I have better luck with IMR4064.
 
For me, no matter how hard I try other powders I always end up with the best results form reloder 15 with my 308's. Better in every sense of the word than Varget.
 
Qc_BearHunter said:
My friend did. He got 2760fps from his 26" Savage 12FV. Holes touching almost every time...
Click to expand...

I've been using 4895 and Varget mostly, and I'm getting 2750fps with my 165gr loads, from my 20" barrel. I have some H4350 here, but never tried it in the .308...
 
I shoot heavy bullets and my barrel has a fast twist and a long throat, but I had observed good accuracy with 4350 in my .308. I just dislike loading with a drop tube, so I tried Winchester 760 and got better velocity but I haven't used it enough to make any concrete statements concerning accuracy.
 
Boomer said:
I shoot heavy bullets and my barrel has a fast twist and a long throat, but I had observed good accuracy with 4350 in my .308. I just dislike loading with a drop tube, so I tried Winchester 760 and got better velocity but I haven't used it enough to make any concrete statements concerning accuracy.
Click to expand...

Speaking of heavy bullets in a .308, I just tried 220 gr. Sierras over 44 gr. of WW760. It takes them a while to get there, but they sure do land all in the same place!:D And no, it wasn't on the toes of my boots. Out of an 18" Model 7 (which is kind of my walk-around gun, when I'm not hunting but in bitey-thing country) they clocked in at 2200 fps.
 
Perhaps a different bullet would get better results, IMR 4350 seems a bit too slow for the .308 anyways.
Reloder 15 and Varget always gave very good results with decent velocities even in short barrel guns.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom