Loading for 308

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Browning_300wsm

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My new .308 is due to land here next week. Going to dust the reloader off and whip up some ammo for it. Have some nosler 165 and maybe 180gr, IMR 3031, 4064 and 4350. A guy I hunt with swears by 3031 in the .308 so I'm going to ladder test those for sure. Looks like 4064 is a good option too, and varget. I don't have varget on hand, I want to use up what I have before getting anything else.

Rifle is a Sako A7 soft touch with an 11" twist. Glass that is going on it is a Nikon Monarch 3 4-16x50 BDC.

What is everyone's favourite loads for the 308? :cool:
 
My pet load uses 41 gr of IMR 4166 powder, a Hornady 155 gr A-Max bullet, a F210M primer, at a LOAL of 2.8". Loading for the 308 isn't complicated, it seems to prefer powder in the Varget category. Buy and use Lapua brass, and that is a pretty hard and fast rule. They can be used out of the bag, weight sort if you're anal.

The 1:11 twist in your rifle will favor the lighter bullets, and your choice of optics seems to indicate a desire to shoot targets and perhaps the odd whitetail.

- IMR 3031 is a bit fast burning, IMHO, I've used it in the 303 Br. but have switched to Varget for that one.
- IMR 4064 is in the right burn rate zone, but Varget and IMR 4166 work better, again IMHO.
- 4350, the IMR and H versions vary slightly, I'd consider them for 180 gr or heavier bullets.

Nathan says it better than I can:

ht tps://www.ballisticstudies.com/Knowledgebase/.308+Winchester+7.62+NATO.html

Nitro
 
nitro-express said:
My pet load uses 41 gr of IMR 4166 powder, a Hornady 155 gr A-Max bullet, a F210M primer, at a LOAL of 2.8". Loading for the 308 isn't complicated, it seems to prefer powder in the Varget category. Buy and use Lapua brass, and that is a pretty hard and fast rule. They can be used out of the bag, weight sort if you're anal.

The 1:11 twist in your rifle will favor the lighter bullets, and your choice of optics seems to indicate a desire to shoot targets and perhaps the odd whitetail.

- IMR 3031 is a bit fast burning, IMHO, I've used it in the 303 Br. but have switched to Varget for that one.
- IMR 4064 is in the right burn rate zone, but Varget and IMR 4166 work better, again IMHO.
- 4350, the IMR and H versions vary slightly, I'd consider them for 180 gr or heavier bullets.

Nathan says it better than I can:

ht tps://www.ballisticstudies.com/Knowledgebase/.308+Winchester+7.62+NATO.html

Nitro
Click to expand...

Thanks for the tips! I have reloaded a fair amount but not in 10 years or so. Have dies for 308 but only loaded maybe 20 rounds for my dad to try. Didn't have one myself at the time. Mainly loaded for .25-06 and
220 Swift.

Yes this will be my deer rifle, but I do like target shooting and the 16x is nice to have for those longer target shots. I may end up selling it and getting a 2.5-10 or 3-12 Monarch 3 instead, going to try this on it first and see since I have it Absolutely love the glass. It's a shame Nikon is out of the scope game now.

Definitely will concentrate on the 4064 for now and if I see varget or 4166 in my travels I'll pick up a pound to experiment with it. I'll probably keep the bullets in the 150-168gr range.


And thank you everyone else for your advise too! Really looking forward to getting back into reloading.
 
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