Anyone uses 748 powder & 150gr Win bullets for .308?

IM_Lugger

IM_Lugger

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Loading .308 for the first time!

I have Winchester 150gr soft point bullets and Hodgdon 748 powder to work with... What's a good load? or at least min. & max. charge for that combo? I can't find data for that bullet...

To be used in a Rem. 700 sps :)
 
ht tp://data.hodgdon.com is your friend. :)

They list 48.5 grains as max for a 150 grain bullet. That would make a start load of 44 grains look pretty sane. As they used a boat tail and you're using a flat base; you should be very safe in terms of pressures, so long as you load to an overall length longer than 2.7 inches minimum (2.75 will probably be about right for the bullet you mention).
 
You can try to load it with 48 grains of W48. It is not the max charge but close to it. I tried it but because it was not the most accurate load for my rifle I abandoned it. However it is still good for paper punching and even for dear hunting. It is a safe load for sure.

Regards, Kazimier
 
Lyman manual lists 50 grains as a max. It shoots great in my 308 but flattened the primers pretty good, so I went back to 48.5. I do use magnum primers in for ball 748. It evened out the velocity.
I load them longer though, 2.82in
 
Winchester data specifies their std primers with 748 in .308 loads. Some say Win primers are a touch "hotter" than most, so no need for a magnum primer especially with that relatively small case and fast ball powder. I use Win primers with Win ball powders, Rem primers with IMR extruded powders. Works for me.
 
Around 46 grains of W748 with 147-150 grain bullets will approximate military 7.62 NATO velocities.

For some reason, Hodgdon has no start load data published for any cartridge with W748.
 
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^ yeah I noticed that :S

Should I start at 10% less and work up? Or just use a grain or two less than max?

PS: is W748 a decent choice for .308? or should I have picked something else?
 
IM_Lugger said:
^ yeah I noticed that :S

Should I start at 10% less and work up? Or just use a grain or two less than max?

PS: is W748 a decent choice for .308? or should I have picked something else?
Click to expand...

10% lower and work up is the standard, and I highly recommend it. Though, I often don't do full 5 shot group tests at the lower loads -- a single shell at 10% less, and load single shells going up a grain at a time until I'm at about 5% under max, and then load my 5 shot groups from there on up to the max for accuracy testing.

And yes, 748 should be an excellent powder for a 308 Winchester (though maybe not my first choice, for no good reason other than I tend to prefer stick powders over ball powders -- for velocity/accuracy/etc; it should work just fine).
 
In mine Win 100 760 was much more accuate.I use mag primers in almost everything especially ball powders.......many knowledgeable gunwriters do too before the riot starts.......Harold
 
W748 is an excellent choice for the .308. So are BLC2,IMR3031,IMR4064,IMR4895,H4895,RE12 and Varget. Good idea to use mag primers for cold weather hunting loads,especially those with ball powders. One of the good things about handloading is that you can experiment with a variety of components until you find the right load for your particular rifle.
 
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