Reloading rifle rounds

Rastoff

Rastoff

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I've been reloading pistol and shotgun rounds for a while now. I want to add rifle to the mix so, I'm seeking a little help.

I have a .308Win rifle. I think reloading for this cartridge would be beneficial to its accuracy. However, I've never loaded for this round before.

What kind of powder do y'all use for a cartridge like this?
 
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Part of the answer is not unlike loading a pistol/revolver i.e. higher velocity or more consistent velocity lower deviation for target shooting.
I've had good luck with 3031 for target 308 loads.
 
I use a load I developed with IMR 3031, match grade brass, and Sierra 168 gr. BTHP. I've been able to duplicate the Federal Gold Match in accuracy, point of impact and velocity.
 
Pretty much all my favorites have been listed above.

Don't forget you'll need to trim, chamfer, and deburr the cases, as well as lube them before resizing. These are things you may or may not be accustomed to with handgun cartridges.
 
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I use Varget. Once, testing for velocity I learned I could get 3000 fps with 155 SMK's using my 40X without pressure problems. And that folks, is approaching real world 300 win mag. speed.
 
Just remember with the shorter case, the 308 will loose case
volume a lot quicker than the longer 30-06 case.
The 150gr bullets did well in my Winchester model 100 auto
but the larger bullets begged for "More Powder" back when I
loaded for this cartridge.
With todays "New" powders you may be able to get respectable
fps in the larger bullets if you want to try them out.

One must remember that SPEED is not always the best for ACCURACY.

Good loading.
 
Thanks for the help gents. I haven't bought the reloading dies yet, but I want to do all the research prior to jumping in.

Yes, I know I'll need to add a case trimmer to the list of equipment.
 
I stay away from the military cases. A 125 Sierra spritzer is a good bullet and not a lot of recoil. You can always punish yourself with a heavy bullet. I liked my 308 so much I bought a Dillon power trimmer that resizes & trims at the same time.:):)--748 is a very forgiving powder. Lots of powders work in the 308. I shot an M1A1 for a few years but it got to heavy to lug around. Now I am down to a Ruger 77 all weather hunting rifle.
 
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If Sierra Match Kings are too rich for your blood (like me) you might consider Nosler Custom Competition projectiles in 168 or 175 grain flavor.

I also do very well with ~41 grains of Accurate Arms 2520 which meters like water.

Best to you in your new endeavors.
 
Federal Gold Medal Match 168 and 175 usually shoot extremely well out of most 308s. They use Federal brass and primers, Sierra MK bullets, and IMR4064 (~43.7gr and ~42.7gr respectively).

I bought a box of 168gr SMKs and they shot very well. Since I don't like Federal brass and don't have Federal primers, I worked up a load using Lapua brass, Winchester primers, the 168 SMKs, and 4064 . . . and got it to shoot even better than the factory version.

Also found that N140 is an excellent powder, and with slightly different charges performs similar to and shoots just as well from my rifle as IMR4064.

As always, YMMV.

ETA: FYI When testing factory match ammo in my then-new 308, I compared FGMM 168 to Nosler 168 and Lapua 167. For me, the FGMM and Lapua shot similarly and both were noticeably better than the Nosler.
 
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4895

4895 is an old but very reliable choice. It could almost be considered to be the Unique of rifle powder. It was designed specifically for the military 30-06 which is very close to the .308. Another benefit is that it can be reduced a lot more than many powders for light loads, which I really like. It can be reduced 40% from max load.
 
Reloder 15 and Vihtavuori n140 or n540 are excellent for accuracy in .308 using a 168 grain Sierra Match King. Varget is another standard. The Improved Military Rifle powders are great too, though IMR4895 might be a bit to hot for filing the case - though the best powder for M1 Garand.

Redding competition micrometer dies are worth the 150.00 if you're going to work for tight groups at longer ranges. There are a lot of on-line resources for 308. You might want to poke around the 6mmBr site.

Have you considered reloading for .223? With the 77 and 80 grain Sierras and the right powders it's an excellent medium range cartridge. I shoot 80 grain SMK's over 25 grains of RL15 at the 600 yard line all the time. It's a very versatile cartridge and hard to screw up. The components are very inexpensive and high quality. You can get processed Lake City brass for about 12 cents a piece and match grade bullets aren't expensive either (Nosler 77's for example). Uses half the powder of 308 and equally capable of punching holes in paper.

Of course if you want to hunt anything larger than a wood chuck, you might stick to 308.

Either of these cartridges are fine.
 
I'll vote for 3031 as well. Chamfer and debur is only needed the first time. I reload quite a few times before I need to case trim, but then again I don't use near maximum loads.
 
44R said:
Have you considered reloading for .223?
Click to expand...
Of course I have. Eventually I want to reload for every caliber of gun I own. Alas, it's an incremental process. I'm just thinking .308 is next on the list.


44R said:
Of course if you want to hunt anything larger than a wood chuck, you might stick to 308.
Click to expand...
This is one reason I'm thinking toward .308 right now. I'm not a hunter, yet.
 
308 Match Loads

The AMU & MCRT match load for 7.62 (308) was
Serria match 168gr hpbt
41.5 grains of IMR 4895, for 2550 fps
Set numerous national records in both match gun and M14
Preformed great out to 600 yards
 
The .308 Winchester is a very easy round to handload. Personally I think it is at it's best for medium game using 150 to 165 gr. bullets. For anything inside of 200 yds. shooting deer, hogs, etc., you just don't need a cannon. I've used .308 Winchester (aka 7.62mm NATO) in a couple of bolt action rifles as well as several M-1 Garand's. I've had extremely good results using Winchester 748 ball powder. It is very consistent. If you want to load for match use, you'll want to look at the various 168 BTHP's. Winchester 748 will be a good choice, but there are others from Accurate Arms, etc., that you will want to consider. Sincerely. bruce.
 
Right now I load using primarily 168gr A-Max using either Varget or Reloader-15 (shoots well but tends to be dirty with sub max loads). I've also had good luck with AR-Comp. Available powders today IMR 4166 looks promising, it's new so it doesn't have a lot of demand yet, I'd like to get some when time permits.

I do find mid range loads work best in terms of accuracy. Also something you might want to consider is a comparator. The comparator will allow you to accurately and consistently measure an "OAL". I say it with quotations because OAL is given from base of the rim to tip, but the tip is not a consistent datum point, the ogive of the bullet is. Being able to measure consistently will allow you to set the "jump" the bullet has into the lead and playing with that jump can have a pretty good effect on accuracy.

To find distance to the lead you can do it a couple ways, you can buy a tool like Hornady's OAL gauge or make one and we can get to those later.

I should say regardless of if you take it that far, you definitely will be making better ammunition than factory.
 
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If you are loading for an M1a, take a close look at H4895. It, among a few others, operates in the proper pressure curve for this rifle. Some popular .308 powders do not. H4895, when matched with Sierra MK bullets, has been an accurate combo in all my .308 rifles over the years. As noted in previous posts, it is also very well suited for reduced velocity loads, one of the few rifle powders recommended for this use.

Larry
 
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It was pointed out to me....

rwsmith said:
4895 is an old but very reliable choice. It could almost be considered to be the Unique of rifle powder. It was designed specifically for the military 30-06 which is very close to the .308. Another benefit is that it can be reduced a lot more than many powders for light loads, which I really like. It can be reduced 40% from max load.
Click to expand...

It was pointed out to me that H4895 from Hodgdon is a slightly different powder than IMR 4895 and that the IMR site only directs reducing loads 10%. I don't want to mislead any new reloaders by going against what a manufacturer recommends.

However, in my experience and speaking only for myself I have reduced IMR 4895 40% from the max load provided for IMR 4895 powder in the 30-06. I have had no problems at all with erratic or incomplete ignition that could lead to varying velocity, or at worst, a squib. In fact I'm impressed with how consistent the rounds are. If I want to go lower in velocity, I use IMR 4759 which is designed for reduced loads.

Thanks for the PM putting me straight.
 
The chronograph "doesn't lie"

This information is from my notes and original ammo box.

In my Rem 700 with a 26" custom barrel shooting Federal Gold Medal 308 Win loaded with 168 gr Sierra Matchking BTHP bullets, muzzle velocity = 2,700 fps. OAL = 2.805" , a 100 yard 5 round group was covered by a dime.

My reloads with R-P or Federal brass with Sierra Matchking BTHP bullets, 42.2 gr of IMR 4895, muzzle velocity 2,700 fps shot the same size groups at 100 yards. I loaded 50 rounds 3 days ago with the original jug of powder and went to the range. Quartering cross wind was gusting to 20 mph, group size was 1 bullet diameter tall by 3/4" wide at a 100 yards. Using the Hornady ballistic tables, I hit the steel popper target 3 out of 5 shots at 500 yards. The range officer was surprised at the rifle / ammo accuracy. That was the accuracy load.

The rifle shoots 1/2" groups with 150 gr or 165 gr hunting bullets using IMR 4895 powder. An 11# bolt action rifle is not something you go trekking with in the woods or mountains in pursuit of deer size animals. Using 130 gr HP bullets and Win 748 powder it was great on prairie dogs without beating the shooter up.
 
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My powder choices for 308 are Accurate 2495 or IMR 4064, both have proven to be good accurate powders.

One item I consider essential that has not yet been mentioned is a Case Gage. Lyman and L.e. Wilson both make easy to use case gages that allow you to quickly check if you have the shoulder set correctly and for the overall length. IMO with any high pressure bottleneck caliber a Case Gage of some description is absolutely essential, because it's just not possible to get your dies setup for the correct headspacing without one.

Yeah, someone will probably suggest doing a plunk test. Problem with that in a caliber such as the 308 is that a plunk test will pass a case with excess headspace and excess headspace will cause excess case growth and potentially cause a case head seperation event. Something that is always extremely unpleasant and potentially fatal in the 308.

Bottomline, spend about 30 bucks for a Case Gage. These are available from both Brownells and Midway and if they are out of stock I would wait until I could get one before sizing one single case.
 
I prefer Varget, but I use it in most of my smaller to medium sized cases. It is very temperature insensitive, and does not vary much from 40 degrees to 100 degrees (which I have found in may-June Prairie Dog shooting). I have loaded my share of 748 and 4064 as well, and some prefer it but they don't get out in weather extremes. When I was working up a Sierra Palma Match load for my Rem. 700 HB I called Sierra, and they advised me they preferred Varget with that bullet.
 
scooter123 said:
...it's just not possible to get your dies setup for the correct headspacing without one.
Click to expand...
OK, this is new to me. I thought head space was the distance between the bolt face and the case head when the bolt is fully closed and the case fully seated. How does a case gauge determine that?

The plunk test is easy to do on a pistol. Not so easy on a rifle. I would get a case gauge anyway, but I'm curious as to the above statement.
 
I will second the suggestion on the case gauge mainly to ensure proper sizing and casing length....in a semi auto it is critical that the shoulder be set back to its proper pace especially in an M1A.

The load used to replicate military M852 for Service Rifle shooters in NRA High Power Rifle matches is IMR 4895 41.5 grns/ Sierra 168 Match King, LC casings and Federal primers, bullet seated to magazine length....if your gun won't shoot this....your gun is not going to shoot well with most other combinations either.

Randy
 
Remember that your brass should be clean (shiny not needed) and lubed to avoid adventures with sizing dies. I use an X die to feed all my 7.62x51 gas guns, 'cause there's better things to do than trim cases.
 
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