subsitute powder for RL-15 /duplicating gold match 308 win/175 gr smks

wolf300H&H

wolf300H&H

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my new rifle ,loading for it is kicking my bass- varget doesnt seem to work well in it...wierd hey? anyhow federal gold match 175 gr smks factory prints under 1/2 moa groups and they use Rl 15 but thats unobtainium so whats a good substitue for rl 15 ? or any other companies make the same stuff with a different name ?

gonna try imr 4064 and imr 4350 next in it ,maybe those work.

thanx
 
I would suggest IMR4064 or BLC-(2). The letter seems to have few proponents, but next to Varget, it's my go-to powder in the 308 for which it was designed.
 
thats a cool find dogleg....think they use to use 4064 but switched to rl 15 for their m118 sniper round/federal gold match too maybe(from googling it/sniper hide forum or some such) . but yeah ill definatley load up some 4064 and see how that works....still have a can left over from 5-6 years ago when doing initial load testing for my target 308 years ago. and i have blc2 so hopefully one of them works in this newest rifle.

think i talked to a sierra tech too a long time ago and they said they use rl 15 in the gold match/military loading ....i had told them my sniper rifle didnt like rl 15 he thought it was wierd. i recently pulled one apart and it had 43.3 gr in her .

thanx
 
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Dogleg, I saw that sheet, so pulled a bullet out of my goldmatch at home and it was more like 42.5gr (yes, calibrated RCBS scale). Sad to hear the Varget isn't working out; I got 6lbs of it and was hoping to work up this very same (308 175gr SMK).
 
blsonne said:
Dogleg, I saw that sheet, so pulled a bullet out of my goldmatch at home and it was more like 42.5gr (yes, calibrated RCBS scale). Sad to hear the Varget isn't working out; I got 6lbs of it and was hoping to work up this very same (308 175gr SMK).
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thats wierd ,the one i pulled was 43.3(maybe mine isnt calibrated) ....maybe go ahead and pull another ...ill wait here for the results...go ahead. and id say the varget should work for you , i shoot 175 smks out of my target 308 with varget for a long time now and stupid accurate ,like under 4 " at a grand accurate. (3 shot group once last march).44.6 was the load for the factory barrell and 42.3 is for the T.G .barrell it has now. 2700 and 2600 fps velocity. im thinking its the hunting rifle of mine i recently purchased dont like varget ,a kimber m84 select ,super lite. wanted it to shoot barnes 110 gr for a low recoil coyote rifle /300/400 yard deer rifle ,but couldnt get those to shoot so i tried some of the factory gold match rounds i had kicking around for a while and voila magical 1/2 moa group ,and recoil was quite acceptable/pleasent. with 42 gr of varget and the 175s recoil was a lot more vicious rifle only weighs just 6 pounds ,
 
wolf300H&H said:
thats wierd ,the one i pulled was 43.3(maybe mine isnt calibrated) ....maybe go ahead and pull another ...ill wait here for the results...go ahead. and id say the varget should work for you , i shoot 175 smks out of my target 308 with varget for a long time now and stupid accurate ,like under 4 " at a grand accurate. (3 shot group once last march).44.6 was the load for the factory barrell and 42.3 is for the T.G .barrell it has now. 2700 and 2600 fps velocity. im thinking its the hunting rifle of mine i recently purchased dont like varget ,a kimber m84 select ,super lite. wanted it to shoot barnes 110 gr for a low recoil coyote rifle /300/400 yard deer rifle ,but couldnt get those to shoot so i tried some of the factory gold match rounds i had kicking around for a while and voila magical 1/2 moa group ,and recoil was quite acceptable/pleasent. with 42 gr of varget and the 175s recoil was a lot more vicious rifle only weighs just 6 pounds ,
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FYI i belive that Varget is way to slow to be using for 110grain bullets. You would definatly be served better by 3031, benchmark, or 4895 of either flavour. I just started using varget with 175 nosler CC and the groups seem to be performing quite nicely. Sub-MOA anyways at 100. Haven't had a chance to take it out any further.
 
I just had an interesting conversation yesterday with another hand loader at the local pusher's. He, like me uses RL15 as the powder of choice for his .35Whelen. Now that said powder has been transmogrified into unobtainium, he has been using IMR8208 with good results. I haven't used this powder yet, but I do recall it's release and recommended applications, which if memory serves, includes accuracy loads for the .308. I may pick up a pound or two to try once I'm out of RL15...which should be very soon.
 
I have substitited Re17 for Re15 in the 35 Whelen, and wonder if it might work well in the 308 with the 175 SMK.

In the 35 Whelen I used 59.0 grs of Re15 for 2550 fps and 64.0 grs (compressed) of Re17 for 2600 fps. In the 308, case capacity will be the limiting factor.
 
Chuckbuster said:
I run the same load with 250gr Hornady round noses in my .35s. Thanks for the heads up about RL17. How did the RL17 load compare with your RL15 loading? I found the latter to be the most accurate in my guns.
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I can't speak to the accuracy of the Re17, only its MV. There are a few loads that are widely popular as they seem to be accurate in all guns - 47.0 grs of Varget in the 308 with a 155 gr bullet, and 59.0 grs of Re15 in the 35 Whelen behind a 250 gr bullet is another.
 
Sorry about the 35cak hijack here BUT RL15 has a reputation for being the ultimate powder for the Whelen and 350mag. I also tried RL17 and had great results with my 225gr Partitions As good as 15 I thought until I was playing with 250s and 15. Just loaded 1 rd per increment to check pressure and all 5 were in an inch. last 3 were 1/2 grain steps and 3/8" . Sadly I'm down to 1# of 15 and can't find it or 17 anywhere.

Willy
 
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