What Powder is best for 308?

[Alaksa girl]

Is the shape of powder important??? And why ??? Thank you!!! I want the best reload for my 308 that I can make! I will have my own cast boolits and reprised cases! The powder is my last step! Thanks for your input!!! :)

[Alaksa girl]

I slugged my 22-250 and that went really well it measured at 223,,, sooo cool !!! I am so pleased I can't wait to do my 308! The 22-250... Is shooting so nice !! I think it makes me look like I know what I am doing or something!!! Lol

[CastingFool]

.308 win was the first metallic cartridge I reloaded, and I asked the very same question. My mentor told me to use 748. good ball powder, meters well,with good results. He also suggested IMR 4064, and IMR 3031. these are stick powders, don' t meter quite as easily as ball powders, but yield good results. 30 yrs later, I still use all three.

[TXGunNut]

Reloder 15, 4895, Varget, 4064 all do well.

[Alaksa girl]

Thank you for your input ... Very good info !!! I have varget ... That is what I used in my 22-250 reloads... I had great results with that!! :) Thanks again!!! :)

[Alaksa girl]

This is so fun to reload ... My family is wondering what happens to me... Cuz I am so busy reloading and cleaning my guns!!! Don't WORRIE I made cookies this morning for them!!! Lol

[Lonegun1894]

For full power loads, I use 4064 and it does great, but for light plinking loads, especially subsonic or close to it, I go through a lot of Unique, which is a pistol powder. If you start playing with Unique, be very careful as it burns very quickly so builds a lot of pressure quick, and it doesn't take much so it is VERY easy to put too much of it in a case as large as the .308 Win.

Don't worry about your family, they will eventually realize that you're the "weird goofy" relative, that for some unknown reason shoots a lot more, for a lot cheaper, and seems to be able to make the shots that for the rest of them are either impossible or at least close to it. I never tried bribing my family with cookies, and they still give me a hard time about all the shooting and loading, but for some reason never turn down the meat that magically appears in my freezer...

[Alaksa girl]

Lol ... Thanks ... I am working on my 308 load this morning!!! :) have a great day!! :)

[DeanWinchester]

For jacketed loads, I never found anything better than the camp perry powder; AA2520

[Jack Stanley]

I've always been partial to Reloder seven . It's a flake powder that has always metered well for me and lights easy in moderate loads Accuracy has always been very good as well .

Jack

[rattletrap1970]

The old reloader that originally taught me how to reload said with Bullseye and IMR4895 you can load almost any common cartridge. A later I was shooting on the Connecticut Juniors High Power Rifle team (then 19 years old) and one of the guys that coached the Juniors said all they used was 4895. Nowadays, there are so many powders how can you not want to try a bunch.

[Smoke4320]

Win 748, Varget , H414, IMR 4064 , Reloader 15 all are good..
It will really come down to what your rifle and projectile like
me I would try 748 first .. easy to measure , consistant , and fairly clean burning
its my go to powder for any 308 to start and usually get a very accurate load quickly

[Larry Gibson]

Is the shape of powder important??? And why ??? Thank you!!! I want the best reload for my 308 that I can make! I will have my own cast boolits and reprised cases! The powder is my last step! Thanks for your input!!! :)

Alaska girl

Assuming cast bullets in your .308W; best powder for what use? What cast bullet? I ask because frankly there is no one "best powder" for all uses and requirements.

Larry Gibson

[AlaskanGuy]

Larry,

She is using the lee 170 gr mold C309-170f. She wants to do it herself, so i am staying out of the picture unless there is a safety issue, so advise away. She has her own varget, 4064, accurate 2495, and norma 203b. She loved how the varget shot in her 22-250, so that is a great place to start... She wants a real accurate deer/moose load..... But any of the above will be fine. She has been learning about laddering up loads.

Thanks for the help... She loves this reloading stuff... And she got the bullet out of barrel of her inter-arms mark X 308. A real nice gun....

85987
And a purty lady... :bigsmyl2:

[starmac]

This is so fun to reload ... My family is wondering what happens to me... Cuz I am so busy reloading and cleaning my guns!!! Don't WORRIE I made cookies this morning for them!!! Lol

All's well as long as you keep the cooky jar full and reload enough for Alaska Guy to shoot up in the evenings. lol

[Larry Gibson]

What "real nice gun"............

Oh....back to the question.....what was it? Oh yeah.......powder........Very nice lady indeed and you are a fortunate man.

I suggest she forgo Varget initially and use the AA 2495 which is another flavor of 4895. Reason being is Varget tends to work best at top end pressures and she may not want to go there with the lighter weight 170 gr cast. Suggest Alaska Girl start with 28 gr AA2495 under that Lee bullet and work up in 1/2 gr increments to 32 - 33 gr. A 1/2 gr Dacron filler should also be used. She should find happiness (other than with you of course) with a load in that range. If that works and she wants to try Varget or the 4064 simply use the AA2495 accuracy load as the starting load with either and work up until accuracy goes south. The 1/2 gr Dacron filler should be used with both of those also.

Larry Gibson

[Clay M]

It my two bolt guns Rel 15 and Norma 202.That is what they like best.I am still experimenting with the M1A.

[Alaksa girl]

I will be shooting tomorrow ... I will let you know how my laddering is doing!!! :) I hope I make the paper... Lol !!! My 308 is not sighted in!!!
I will be shooting my first cast boolit in my 22-250 and the 308 .... Tooooo cool!!! :)

[Alaksa girl]

I am going to give your 2495 a try and your load suggestion !!! Thanks so much!!! I looked in a couple of different books and your load sounded best!!! Thanks again!!! :)

[AlaskanGuy]

Its all good Larry, she has that same effect of loss of concentration on me too... Has for years...lol

You can imagine when grandma alaskan gurl starts doing her belly dancing workout while i am trying to reload... Errrrrr... Why did i just put 36 grains of unique in that 30-30 case???? :groner:

[robg]

tac meters well ,work for 308 &223

[freebullet]

Since ya like varget. Here is a 3 shot group at 100yds. With 168gr matchking using 41gr of varget, shot from 308 ar. Your bolt may have a sweet spot with just a little more powder.
86071
Measures .578" edge to edge, .27 minus the .308 jbull diameter. Shoots real nice. Reloader 15 is worth trying, it may get you a higher velocity with accuracy & recoil you may like.

[Larry Gibson]

Its all good Larry, she has that same effect of loss of concentration on me too... Has for years...lol

You can imagine when grandma alaskan gurl starts doing her belly dancing workout while i am trying to reload... Errrrrr... Why did i just put 36 grains of unique in that 30-30 case???? :groner:

Yup, sure can fuzz up the sight picture..........

Larry Gibson

[runfiverun]

that load of aa-2495 will work just fine.
i'd go directly to the 28.5 gr fillered load and not flinch an eyeball.
it'll directly relate to the 357 maximum in down range energy but have better penetration.
glad to hear you got the boolit from the barrel.

[nhrifle]

Varget has been my go to powder for .223, .308. and 30/06 ever since it won me my first highpower match. None of the other powders I have tried have come close to it for consistency and accuracy.

[Alaksa girl]

I didn't even hit the Target today ... But I have a plan!!! my son was with me and he shot my 308 I made loads for him so he could shoot and get a feel for the gun! He is a natural ... Very good with a gun! He was the last to shoot it... And he never made the target eather. But on the lower left there was a nice little group of 8 wholes. Wow well we have a starting point now! Not a total lass of amo and time. !!! :) a great day at the range with my hubby and son!!! :)

[freebullet]

Curious what charge weight & bullet/boolit ya used? If it shot a group maybe a scope adjustment would get it on target.

[Lefty SRH]

What's the weather like in Alaska. Never expected you to be out testing this time of year.

[AlaskanGuy]

Well.. It has been warmer then normal... No snow here yet, but like the 2nd coming, snow is coming... Take that as gospel.

Freebullet, she was laddering up using a 170 gr cast that she made.. Went from 31 gr of 2495 up to 33 gr.... She will make scope adjustments and be right on i think.... She had to take the scope off when she slugged the barrel and got the lead stuck.... I am sure that is why it was so far off... She is learning... :)

[Bullshop Junior]

Well.. It has been warmer then normal... No snow here yet, but like the 2nd coming, snow is coming... Take that as gospel.

We finally got 2 inches night before last here in delta.

[Alaksa girl]

Hey Runfiverrun
I loaded the round of aa 2495 at 28.5 gr with filler and my 170 gr boo lit! we will see how it dose. I have 5 rounds for 50 yards and 5 rounds for 100 yards! But most important I am sighting in the gun first I have already adjusted the sight for my first shot! It should do better today! I have about 30 rounds of 33 gr of aa 2495 with the 170 gr boolit that my son had the grouping with yesterday to sight in my 308 !!! I will with lots of help from everyone get this gun shooting nice lol... You have been such a big help!!! :)
Thank you so much for you time!

[Alaksa girl]

Thanks to everyone for their input !!! :) it is much appreciated!!! :) :D

[popper]

Alaksa girl - bag the rifle real well scoped onto the bull, fire - don't move the rifle and change scope adjustments to the hole. fire again - you should be right on.

[waco]

Reloder 15, 4895, Varget, 4064 all do well.

Agree fully. Hard to beat any of those.

[RugerFan]

Shooting cast in my .308 Win and similar cartridges (7.62x54R & 7.5 Swiss), IMR 3031 has always been my go-to powder. It has worked best for me with 170-180 gn boolits up to 2000 FPS.