Powder for .308 Winchester
 

Gentlemen,

What type powder do you prefer for reloading .308 Winchester using 165 grain spitzer bullets? I have used IMR-4064 and IMR-4895 for 30-06, but now I want to load some .308 Winchester rounds.

Thank you in advance.

I always had very good luck with both accuracy, and velocity using Win 748 powder with 150-165 grain bullets in my .308.

I use 45 grains of Alliant Powder's "Reloader 15" under a 168 BTHP Sierra Match King. I'm getting sub-1/2 MOA with it under optimum conditions...

When I first obtained the rifle (a Remington 700P) I purchased a case of Remington Match .308/168g BTHP ammo, and a Leupold 3.5-10x50 VXIII scope with target turrets. I zeroed for that round and that lot number of ammo. I saved all of my brass, for I knew I would be reloading later. I worked up my load with RL15, re-zeroed the rifle, and have been using that load ever since...

Regards,
Mike

H4895 has always worked well for me.

The powders that the above posters have recommended are good ones.

However back in 1975 or so a fella recomended this load to me.

I have used it ever since.

It has been super accurate for me in competition bolt rifles, Competition M1 A's and 308 Garands, in standard M1 A's and 308 Garands, FN FAL's H&H 91's, Sniper Rifles, Hunting Rifles, including a buddies Savage 99 in 308.

I have shot this a LOT at distances on paper, as far as 1000 yards, which is a stretch for a 168gr bullet, but it is under MOA at 800 yards all the time.

I have killed a LOT of game with this load over the years.

I have used this load with the following bullets:
Sierra 165 HPBT Gameking, 165gr Spitzer, 168 Matchking, 180gr Spitzer, 180gr Matchking. [It is a less than max load with a 165/168 gr bullet, and works great with 180's.

Nosler 165 Ballistic Tip, 165 Partition, and 180gr Partitions.

The powder is IMR 3031, the Charge is 39.5 grains [Thirtynine, and one half grains].

I have killed animals [antelope] with load and the 165 Sierra HPBT as far as 550 yards with this load.

In many rifles it will shoot even better than Federal 168gr Match...


There are a lot of newer powders, and there are a lot of higher velocity loads for the 308...

BUT I have NEVER seen a 308 that did not shoot this load pretty good.

I've loaded a boat load of .308s over the years and any moderate burning powder is going to be okay. The problem you are going to encounter is if you aren't careful, you'll waste a lot of time chasing that ultimate load when so many different ones are so darned accurate. I've used 4064, Varget, 748, 3031, and my favorite, H4895. Load a Sierra 168gr. MK and enough H4895 to drive it at 2500-2550 fps, and find out just how good your rifle will shoot!

In addition to the excellent recommendations above let me add that I have had very good results with Accurate 2520.....and it meters beautifully.

For full power hunting loads with 165 gr bullets try 46-47 grs of W-748.

4064 and 4895 should serve very well in your .308. It is a very easy round to load, and the accuracy ability of the rifle will be the determining factor.

Remember the 3 Bs- bullets, bedding, barrels!

Good shooting.

try 4064 if you have some on hand. Sierra reccomended accuracy load for 168gr bullet. I would add varget to the above listed powders.

IMR 3031 duplicates military match loads with match bullets. I've used it for years & swear by it.

IMR 3031
 

As NE450No2 and Jawfish said, 3031 is a fine .308 powder. I use 39.5 grains behind a Sierra 168 BTHP to get the same point of impact as the 168 BTHP Federal Gold Match round we use on my Sniper Element. I shoot this load through my FN PBR 18". Other members of my team are using custom built .308's based on Remington 700's (Tango 51) as well as Springfield M21's. The results we've seen are similar in all rifles. As you might guess, the brass is the once-fired Federal Gold Match from our duty rounds.

For the 165 grain bullet, I've found Reloader 15 powder to give great accuracy with high velocity. For milder target loads I've used a lot of IMR-4064 with 165 and 168 grain bullets. I like IMR-4895 with the M1A because it was designed around this powder. Federal brass is extremely soft so only use it with very mild target loads, if you want to load them more than once. I will sometimes use Federal brass for heavier loads if I'm going to shoot them and let them lay. Even then I seldom use Federal Brass for this purpose. The stuff is so stinking soft I once had to use a hunk of 2x4 to hammer open my bolt WITH FACTORY LOADS! This pretty well scared me away from the stuff. I've noticed that even Federal factory loads often appear to have flattened primers. The primers aren't actually flat, the brass is so soft it is flowing to the edge of the primers making them look that way. I don't think Federal wants people to reload, or they would make better brass. Loads that are OK with Remington, Winchester, and military brass are often too warm with Federal brass, but only because of its softness. I use military brass for 7.62 NATO level loads in my M1A. For .308 level loads I usually use Remington or Winchester brass, with Lapua brass saved for special purposes (my most accurate rifles with the most accurate loads). By the way, there IS a difference between .308 Winchester and 7.62 NATO ammunition. Go here to see: 7.62x51mm NATO or 308 Winchester? What's the Difference?

How do the groups from your FN PBR, compare to the Tango 51's?

Winchester 748. Meters well. Inexpensive. Clean. VERY accurate.

WILDPIG

- IMR 4895
- IMR 4064
- Reloader 15
- Varget

All topped with 155 Lapua Scenar, 168/175 SMK, 168/178 AMAX

I'll look up my past load data based "specific" rifle(s). re: Powder, Brass, Primer, OAL, Chamber, Barrel Info., Muzzle Velocity, AO

I would NEVER recommend to use any load data given without supporting specs of rifle. Even with that work up to any preferred powder load.

Please delete.

..another vote for 748.

46 grains with a Hornady 165 SST or a Sierra 168 Match BT gives .25 MOA out of a Remington LTR and a DPMS Panther...

Velocity with the 165s is 2730 and 2710 with the Sierra from a 20" barrel.

Primer is the CCI LR Benchrest, brass is Federal.

Bob

I'm firmly in the W748 camp as well, as are some earlier posters, for the reasons cited. Inexpensive, flows through a meter, accurate, not too hard to find and reasonably priced. I'm certainly not denigrating any of the other powders recommended, however.

Probably close to 90% of my rifle reloading is three calibers, 223, 308 and 45-70, and I've found excellent loads which use 748 for all three, so I use it more than all other rifle powders combined.

3031 is fine....
 

but I prefer 748

I have used

H380, 4064, and 4895 with good results. Have continously obtained best accuracy/velocity combination with Sierra 150gr spitzer over 45.5gr 4064 with Federal 205 Match primer in Federal or Win. brass. That combo routinely gives 3-shot groups just under 1 inch from the bench. Of course different barrels may give varying results. With my 1-12 twist barrel 150gr bullets stabilize somewhat better than heavier weights.

I've used 748, and 4064 . 748 for lighter weight bullets, (125-130) and 4064 for the 168 gr. I have recently been loading Varget with the Sierra 150 gr. Palma. All shoot great. The .308 is a very easy round to load accurately.

Varget. Enough to get the 150 to 155 grain bullet of choice over the chrony at around 2800fps and load development is over.
I have used the Speer spitzer, Hornady a max, Nosler ballistic tip, and a Sierra round nose all with good results. Started with fed match primers but have had to go to winchester since the first are very hard to find in this area.

Good article on 308 reloading for match shooting.
.308 Winchester Cartridge Guide

I have had good performance with 42gr H4895 and the Sierra 168GR MK. This should give you between 2500 and 2600 FPS according to several reloading manuals. My rifle is a Rem 700 Police.

Also I seat the bullet so that it barely touches the rifling. I then turn the seating die down a little to make sure that there is a minimal jump to engage the rifling. Some rifles do better with the bullet just barely engaging the rifling. Keep in mind that I am talking about .01 to .02 ". In either case. The link above mentions "jump or jam".

Varget ... more temp insensitive than some other acceptable 308 powders.

I like Varget and RL15 for 308. Both have worked well for me.

I used to load 37 grs of 3031 with a 168gr match bullet. It was an accuracy load from an old lyman manual. It is a target load but I am not a hunter and just love to shoot.

My load for .308 Win are :

42.5 gr. of 4895 for 165 or 168 gr. bullets in auto loaders.

41.5 gr. of 4064 or 39.5 gr. of 3031 in bolt guns with same bullets, all these load consistantly group under 1" in all my .308 rifles.

have used 748, rl-15, but my best was with benchmark. would also look at the new 8208 from imr.

I have used IMR3031, W748 and IMR4064. I now only use 4064.

late to the thread but my vote goes to imr 4064 also, have had great results with nosler 165 grain ballistic tips. used federal nickeled cases, w-w lge rifle primer, and 43.5 grs. IN MY RIFLE. remember work to your own max.

39.5 gn of 3031 behind the 165 gn of your choice +1

Back when I loaded .308, I used W-748 for 150-165gr. bullets and IMR 4895 and IMR 3031 for 180gr. I now load only for .257 Roberts and .35 Whelen using IMR 4064 and would use it for .308 if I loaded it now. It is a very versatile powder which yields excellent accuracy, I chose it after extensive research and range testing.

I especially like the 4064 with Sierra MK168g HPBT bullets. It also loads well with the 175g MK. I tried Varget as well when I was target shooting (Rem model 700 5-R Milspec Rifle) but had the better accuracy with 42.0 gn of 4064 with the 168g Match bullets. I could have loaded much hotter but that load was very accurate and easy on the barrel throat, It showed no erosion after 2000 rounds. Regards, Chef

w-748 is the best for 223 - 308 - and the 30-06.

+ 1,Best groups I ever shot with the .308 Win. was with the good ol IMR 3031 and 172 gr Sierra MK's.

The most accurate powder I found in my Rem 700 with a Sierra 168 gr. match bullet is Benchmark. I was seating them long by the way.

I have a question for all the guys using the 39.5 gr. of IMR 3031 load, what OAL are you using?

I was surprised when I read thru this post. I have been reloading the .308 for as long as I have been reloading...it was my 1st cal. I was surprised, because no one mentioned Bal-C2...I tried 748 and it didn't gain me anything...it was very good, but not better, h-414 same thing...so I bought an 8 pound can at discount, and never looked back...its also great in my 30-30...

The other powders are fine too...but I wanted to give a shout for the old factory loaded .308 powder for military and civilian market...Bal-C2

Some may argue but blc2 and 748 are supposibly the same powder since hogdon and sells 748 now. If you look through new load manuals the loads are very close. the same is said for h110-296

There are some excellent recommendations in this thread, but I will add my fave: Vihtavuori N140 for 165-168 gr bullets in 308.
I've used AA2550 previously, but switched years ago and never looked back.

My most accurate load: Sierra 168gr MKs over 41.0gr N140.

LT

That's very close to my load using Benchmark. Now I know which powder Hodgdon is sticking their label on.

I always seat to magazine length, ie. under 2.800
The exception is the 165 Sierra HPBT Game King. It is a shorter nosed bullet, and thus the Ogive is farther foward. I seat them to 2.735.

That is a good game bullet.

.308 Loads
 

Tagged for reference

I have had excellent results from my AAC Edition Rem700 (20" h-bar)with the following recipe:

WCC case @ 2.005", Fed 210M primer, 41.5gn of IMR 4895 and 165 Nosler BT @ 2.795" AOL. It likes to make a ragged hole at 100yds. Haven't had time to run it out to medium ranges yet. (600yds)

BTW, I did weigh out the cases to within +/- 0.5gns and trued/deburred flash holes and primer pockets. It is amazing how much this can effect group size.

Sorry for the extremely late reply. I just found this while going through old posts. My groups from the FN PBR range around .75 MOA. The Tango 51 (which was my assigned rifle when I was a team member, rather than the team leader) will do sub-half MOA, even for me. I got promoted to Lt. awhile back, and don't get to play anymore. The current team leader has the Tango 51, and can do .5 MOA groups with relative ease. the .25 MOA claims from TacOps is valid. I've seen it done.