308 Ammo and Recipes??

[Icarry2]

I am looking for 308 reloading combinations, what do you like, projectiles, powders, primers, brass, dies, press?

I am starting over with reloading and am starting with the most expensive round in my collection. Notice I didn't say aresenal, cause some agency might say that it is wrong and try to take more of my rights away..

Anyway, Just let me know your ideas, expereince, hunches, combinations, etc. I want an accurate round low sub MOA at 600 yards..

I think my rifle is capable, I want to see if my skills are and don't want the round to be the reason I can't..

Oh and if you have some recomendations for some manufacturered match ammo please let me know.

Thanks in advance, I appreciate all of the information and knowledge I have already received and shared from this site.

 

[Yeah]

I am looking for 308 reloading combinations, what do you like, projectiles

155 Lapua Scenars, with moly.

powders

Reloader 15

primers

CCI 200

brass

Lapua

dies

Redding Type S, neck sized with a 0.336 bushing.

press?

Forster Coax usually. Although I have 3 or 4 others in strategic locations that see some use.

 

[sloughfoot]

Accurate 308 loads for 155, 168, and 175 bullets have been published and used by thousands of shooters for the last 40 years or so.

There is no need to reinvent the wheel. I can add nothing to the equation.

The 155 at 2750 fps, the 168 at 2650 fps, and the 175 at 2600 fps will all perform well at 600 yards. If you can read the wind.....And the maker of the bullet doesn't matter much either.

Any of the powders appropriate for the cartridge will work just fine. Varget, RE-15, 748, IMR4064, the 4895's, N140 and many more will get you there.

As far as factory ammo, Hornady and Federal make good stuff.

I guess I am just a spoiler.

 

[indyjohn]

Varget.

Measure your chamber. Play with the jump.

Don't 'mass produce' your rounds. Size, trim, clean, prime, charge, seat. Seperate stages. I'm not saying throw away your progressive, just slow it down.

Get a chrono if you don't have one.

Did I mention Varget?

 

[Icarry2]

Thanks for the info guys, I have some older info but was wanting to see if someone had re-invented the wheel.. lol..

I appreciate the info..

 

[Yeah]

The 155 Scenar is THE long range 30 cal bullet and the only thing keeping 30s alive in my rotation.

Scenars and AMaxs blur the line between match and hunting bullets.

 

[redneckmedic]

168gr/178gr Amax
37gr Varget
Brass=any
primers= lg rifle
RCBS FL

 

[DocIndy]

Hornady dies.... and Neck sizing once fired Winchester brass. Varget powder with CCI BenchRest Primers and Hornady 168 gr. A-MAX bullets. My Howa also likes the 110 gr. V-MAX too.

 

[thescrambler]

I like hornady 168 gr match bthp bullets with cco primers. I use Lake City brass and H varget powder. I also use Nosler 180 gr hunting ballistic tips with the H varget powder.

The bullet to powder grain ratios are
168 gr = 42 gr
180 gr = 41 gr

Scrambler

 

[kludge]

168gr SMK, CCI 200, IMR 4064 is what I use. Factory FGMM shoots 3/4 MOA for me, but my rifle likes it about 100fps slower, and my goal is 3/8 MOA for those components... I have a new (higher power, finer crosshairs) scope this year so it'll be fun!

600yd is where I would start looking at 175gr SMK or some of the other sleeker bullet designs; under 300yd look at the 150gr or 135gr SMK.

I'd definitely look at Varget if you go heavier than 168gr, but 4064 seems to be the sweet spot for 165-168gr.

Play with different primers and brass later. Find your bullet and powder first, just make sure the brass is consistent to begin.

Start with your bullet 0.015" to 0.020" off the lands. My Savage chamber lets me load quite a bit longer than listed COL. Once you have a load that shoots, you can play with seating depth.

+1 on a chronograph.

Read up on "ladder test" find a calm morning and set up at 300 yards or more. I like to use 0.3gr increments in powder charge for a ladder test - should give you about 20 rounds of ammo from start to max load.

Long-Range Load Development

ETA: It wouldn't hurt to get a 0.0001" micrometer to keep an eye on case head expansion... especially if you intend to go near or beyond published load data.

 

[ckcollins2003]

My reloads are:

168gr A-Max Bullets
Hodgdon H4895 powder- 41gr
CCI Primer
LC brass

I seat my bullet so that over-all length is about 2.755". Shoots about .25" groups at 300 yards with no problem. It's a little under-powered, but it helps save my brass life and I have no doubt that this load will do great up to 1,000 yards as long as you know what you are doing with your rifle.

Oh, and for dies, I use the infamous Lee Pacesetter dies. Single stage press only for better accuracy.

 

[1$Chuck]

Shoots about .25" groups at 300 yards with no problem. .

Really? With more than one bullet? I call

 

[Yeah]

Really? With more than one bullet? I call

It's the Lee Pacesetters doing most of the work there I bet.

 

[sloughfoot]

No purple in this post, I am going to read that as 1/4 minute. Not 1/4 inch.

My choice. I hope I am not wrong.

However, it is absolutely not a good 1000 yard load. Out to 800 yards? Yes, maybe.

 

[Dave Doehrman]

I am looking for 308 reloading combinations, what do you like, projectiles, powders, primers, brass, dies, press?

168 gr A-Max bullets
CCI LR Primers
Prvi Partizan brass
46 gr Varget (This is max load - work your way up)
2.752" OAL
cases trimmed to 2.005"

Shooting a 700 SPS Varmint with 26" barrel
2755 fps

Here's a recent 100 yard group

This load shoots 2-3" groups all day long at 500 yards and on a good day I can shoot 6-7" groups at 1,000 yards (no mirage, constant or no wind & cloudy or overcast days). The 168 gr is just about maxed out at 1,000. According to my ballistics program it is moving at 1158 fps with 500 foot/pounds of energy.

I did get a change to shoot a buddy's 208 gr A-Max reloads, but only 20 rounds. I fired his loads through my rifle.

He was using:
A-Max 208 gr bullets
Federal Gold Medal Match brass
CCI BR2 primers
46.5 gr Reloader 17 powder
Set to 2.830" OAL

The amazing thing is that his 208 A-max reloads shot exactly the same at 500 yards (9.5 MOA) and 1,000 yards (35 MOA) as my 168 gr reloads. The biggest difference was the impact marks on the steel plates out at the 1,000 yard line. My 168s leave quarter size gray impact marks and his 208 reloads left half dollar sized black impact marks. Not a very scientific comparison, but it sure was a noticeable difference.

 

[ckcollins2003]

Really? With more than one bullet? I call

I assure you it is true, 3 shot groups, however my rifle was in a vice. No shooter error since I was sighting in my scope.

And I haven't experienced it myself as I only shoot up to 300 yards, but a guy I work with who gave me the recipe shoots in long range competitions and claims he has hit up to 1200 meters with it. I can't prove this one but he doesn't seem like the type of person to bs me.

I'll take some pics tomorrow with this load and see what I can do with just me in the prone position with a bi-pod.

Edit: Sorry, I did forget to say MOA. .25" MOA, not a .25 in. group, that would pretty much be bullet in bullet

 

[1$Chuck]

Edit: Sorry, I did forget to say MOA. .25" MOA, not a .25 in. group, that would pretty much be bullet in bullet

Thats a lot more believable. Just FYI, if your talking MOA, you shouldn't put the ( " ) mark after the dimension. If your using that to explain an Angular measurement then ( " ) is actually seconds of an angle. ( ' ) is the minute of angle sign.

 

[Icarry2]

Thanks everyone for the info.. Good Stuff..

 

[ckcollins2003]

Thats a lot more believable. Just FYI, if your talking MOA, you shouldn't put the ( " ) mark after the dimension. If your using that to explain an Angular measurement then ( " ) is actually seconds of an angle. ( ' ) is the minute of angle sign.

Thank you Chuck, I've always just seen it as ( " ). I think I'll just type out MOA from now on