What are the good powders for reloading .308?
- Thread starter stangri
- Start date
I've tried IMR 4064 and liked the results, but it's a little crunchy in Lapua cases. Went to Varget and found a great load, but the price of that stuff is crazy on the west coast now. I am now trying to find a good load with IMR 4895. Hope I find it 'cause it's 50 or 60 bucks less than Varget for 8 lbs. Wish me luck!!...C.
A good powder is one you can find in the store. Suggest you buy a 8 pounder, because once you have something that works you don't want to have to start out again.
A scales would be an improvement. If you use a scoop, this will work better with a ball powder. I tried it once and found a scoop with ball powder got better results than a powder thrower with stick powder.
For your purposes (hunting ammo), I would use ball powder because it measures better if you don't have a scale. I use a 180gr bullet on deer and the larger game, like moose. One load- one bullet.
Ball powders for 308 (not in order)
H380
H335
BLC2
748
414
460
Good stick (extruded) powders
4895
4064
Varget
Benchmark
RL15
4320
4350
N140
N150
Take this list to the dealer and see what you can find. Good luck.
A scales would be an improvement. If you use a scoop, this will work better with a ball powder. I tried it once and found a scoop with ball powder got better results than a powder thrower with stick powder.
For your purposes (hunting ammo), I would use ball powder because it measures better if you don't have a scale. I use a 180gr bullet on deer and the larger game, like moose. One load- one bullet.
Ball powders for 308 (not in order)
H380
H335
BLC2
748
414
460
Good stick (extruded) powders
4895
4064
Varget
Benchmark
RL15
4320
4350
N140
N150
Take this list to the dealer and see what you can find. Good luck.
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Thank you gentlemen for all your replies, amount of information can be overwhelming so I surely appreciated how many of you (like hoytcanon, Ganderite) provided it in an easily digested form. 
I do have a scale (but no dedicated powder drop), so I would have preferred to use the scoop (besides the one included in the kit I have a set of scoops of different volumes) so I will try to get the ball powder for consistent loads.
PS. Regarding neck sizes and all -- I absolutely only intend to reload cases I've shot from my own gun.
I do have a scale (but no dedicated powder drop), so I would have preferred to use the scoop (besides the one included in the kit I have a set of scoops of different volumes) so I will try to get the ball powder for consistent loads.
PS. Regarding neck sizes and all -- I absolutely only intend to reload cases I've shot from my own gun.
So from what's available I've decided to go with Hodgdon BLC2 powder (I'll start with 1lb and will grab an 8lb container if I'm happy with the results), the Hornady 150gr FMJBT BULLET (for the lack of Hornady InterLock 150 Grain Spire Point locally) and, well, whatever primer I can source.
My best load of IMR4895 with .5 staggered loads of 39.5 - 42.5gr on a 168gr Amax (2.800") was 41.5 on my R700 LTR .308 with a stock 20" tube. Just under 1 moa @ 200 yards.
Lapua uses N540 in their factory .308 Win. GB491 154 gr. Scenar ammo which shoots extremely well and for reloading produces top velocity with low SD. Regarding single-based powders there is essentially no difference between N140 / N150 and so-called temperature insensitive powder such as Varget. We have seen military testing from +63 degree C to - 50 C and we assure that there is huge varience in performance regardless of manufacture! Lapua products win these military extreme parameter tests around the world.
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While I've been very happy with how BLC-2 measures consistently in the Lee scoop (so I may not switch unless forced by a drought) -- I have to ask, is the N540 ball powder? I've looked at the vihtavuori (say that 3 times fast) web-site and it doesn't say.
OK, 3 pages in and I have another big question...
I've had an assortment of Remington, Federal and Winchester brass (all shot thru the same gun) and it looks like the fired cases of different brands are of different lengths which results in different COL (by 0.02 of an inch at most) -- should I be concerned if I'm only shooting up to 200 meters?
If I get the new Lapua .308 brass (or if you can direct me to another quality brass available in BC) -- can I run it thru the Lee reloading kit and safely shoot from my gun or does it require the proper prep work of a press?
I've had an assortment of Remington, Federal and Winchester brass (all shot thru the same gun) and it looks like the fired cases of different brands are of different lengths which results in different COL (by 0.02 of an inch at most) -- should I be concerned if I'm only shooting up to 200 meters?
If I get the new Lapua .308 brass (or if you can direct me to another quality brass available in BC) -- can I run it thru the Lee reloading kit and safely shoot from my gun or does it require the proper prep work of a press?
- Location
- West Quebec
Varget or Benchmark get's my vote
For your purposes, that brass is all the same. But sort it by brand and package it that way. (Military brass is very different. Use 2 gr less powder.) The variation of COL is an illusion. Your dies seats with pressure on the ogive, whereas you measure to the bullet tip. it is the ogive that matters.
Load up in 0.5 gr increments and find out what groups best, and then load and shoot.
I'm not sure I follow that logic. The curvature of the projectile is a fixed distance from the tip regardless of the case, so if I measure to the tip it's the same as measuring to ogive, is it not?
This is a common misconception. The distance to the tip is a very unsure way of measuring true COL.
Get a tool to pick up the projectile on the ogive, and use that for consistency.
Regards, Dave.
Uhm, it's mind boggling then that Lee is selling their hand reloading kits which seat bullet by pushing it by the tip and not ogive. And does that also mean that there's about 0.02" inconsistency in the distance from the ogive to the tip and that's normal?
Just to confirm -- you're not talking about measuring COL on cases with different projectiles right? It's all the same brand/type even batch of bullet.
