best powder for .308

Baldur

Baldur

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Hi all,

I've been loading with IMR 4350. It's a really large particle powder, and it's giving me fits in my powder drop.

Anyone have experience with other powders well suited to 308, hopefully smaller particle powder that works well in a powder drop?

Most of my shooting is target shooting at the range so I'm loading between 150 & 165 gr bullets.
 
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4895 is "the" 308 powder, but I like Varget for my long range work, and its VERY temp insensitive.

I have been loading IMR 4320 for the last 200 rounds, and was shooting 1/2 moa at 840 yards with it yesterday...
 
All of the powders I've used in my three .308 rifles have performed well. For some reason I just use IMR-4064 in them these days, and am happy with the results. My favored bullet is a 150 Sierra Gameking SBT.
 
Varget works very well for me in 308. In fact Varget is almost the only rifle powder I use any more.
 
I think it's 4350 .I used it years ago for my 3006.Set the measure to drop a little on the light side and used a trickler to bring it up to weight.
 
You might look into BLC-2, 748, H380,H414........ all very small grain powders and I have used the small grain 4320
which also feeds through my powder measure with out any bridging.

I sold my win 100 semi auto before Varget came out but many
say that it works great, also.

Good luck.
 
Seems like I remember reading somewhere in a loading manual that
Winchester developed 748 specifically for the 308. The velocities vs
pressure with 150 and 165 gr bullets are hard to beat with any other
powder. 748 flows through a measure like water.
 
Ramshot TAC is the 308 powder.

Ball powder, clean-burning, low-carbon build-up for gas systems, copper-fouling deterrent, temperature-insensitive. I love it.
 
I've used both IMR 3031 and IMR 4064 to load for my 308 caliber rifles. My go to load is 45 grains of 4064 with a speer 150 grain spitzer flat base and cci 200 large rifle primers. I'm afraid that will not help you with your powder drop problem because the IMR powders are all extruded typed powders and are larger grained.
Hopefully someone will chime in with a ball type powder load. That will help you with the powder flow through your drop tube.
Len
 
The .308 Win. is an easily fed cartridge.

These are powders I have the most experience with in your caliber.

Varget, Reloader 15, W748, all meter well and have delivered exceptional accuracy for me over the years. I don't recall being disappointed by their performance in bolt or selfloader.

Hodgdon and IMR 4895, IMR 4064, are less measure friendly, but put in great performance from this cartridge.

I've been testing CFE 223. It meters great and has pushed the chronograph readings using a 20" barrel to some impressive velocities.

My experience with CFE is quite limited though, so I ain't passing judgement yet.
 
Pay attention to Cdog's post. I expect that you'll find his recommendations are sound.

My personal experience is with Accurate 2495, IMR 4064, and 4895 and can report than none of them meter well. However since my 308 is a bolt action I'm a low volume shooter who doesn't mind trickling up each and every charge. Actually when loading the 308 I have this terrible urge to get a white lab coat and talk like Jerry Lewis in the Nutty Professor because I feel a bit like a "mad Scientist".

The biggest issue will be actually finding powder. That is the key factor in my use of the 3 powders I've used at this point, it's all I could find. Varget is high on my Want List for 308 but I have yet to see even one small bottle available locally or on the net. So, if you can't find a powder on Cdog's list get yourself a lab coat and start studying up on Jerry Lewis quotes, may as well have a bit of fun with your reloading.
 
I use Varget in my .308. it meters fair / pretty good in my powder dump.

I've used IMR 4350 in my 30-06 bolt gun.
( but not in a semi-auto like a M1 Garand , to slow a powder)
 
Having fired many thousands of .308's in NRA high power matches using my M1A Supermatch and Remington 40X, I still return to IMR4895 and have used many 8lb jugs of it. Simply because it delivers the performance I want and need to find and stay in the X ring at even the 1000 yard line.

Randy.
 
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