Favorite .308 combination.

[Evan1678]

I've been talking to some friends of mine that also reload, and we got on the subject of favorite .308 and .45 acp loads. As of right now I only load .308 and have very good luck with the load that I make. What are your favorite loads to make? Target or hunting.
My load for target shooting is,
Sierra Matchking HTBT 168gr.
Hodgdon Varget 45.5 gr.
It is at the top of the scale but does not exceed tolerances. Every round touches at 100yd.

 

[swampratt]

That is near the upper accuracy node some speak of. I could never reach the upper node and settle on 42.5gr varget with 168Amax Lapua brass 210m or cci primers.
I had some loads that went .378" at 100 yards but fell apart at 200 yards. That 42.5gr will shoot under 1" at 200-250 yards.

If your gun does in fact make them all touch at 100 then please enter this Evan1678
https://www.okshooters.com/showthread.php?210184-100-yards-20-round-shootout

I used to think my gun shot really well until I tried many rounds like the above.
I will be trying it again though as it is free and an eye opener.

My 45acp load is 4.0-4.1gr bullseye with Lee 200gr swc tumble lube bullet lubed with LLA and JPW and set off by cci primers.

 

[Evan1678]

This almost reminds me of the dot torture diagram for pistol shooting. I will definitely give this a go.

 

[djcorrell]

Hornady 155 A-max, 43.3 IMR4064, 2.785" OAL



Sierra 175 HPBT, 41.5 IMR4064, 2.800 OAL



Do either of you have a die recommendation for .308?

 

[swampratt]

I use lee dies.
Looks like they are working for you as is the 4064.
djcorrell is that 4064 powder different stick sizes that you are using?

 

[djcorrell]

Thanks for the die suggestion. That was with the wack a mole
I used it for load development. Now I am ready to actually load some.
Don't know about the stick size. I can measure some....
They are two different dippers, and two different load weights.
I do know the current (dated 2014) 4064 does not match the chart that is in the dippers, it is dated 1966.

 

[swampratt]

I have weighed many powders and compared to the lee dippers and Zero matches.
That is why we work up.. and not everyone's scale will measure the same to the tenth.

I started with the wack-a-mole loaders in 3 guns and they worked great.

The older 2009 and older IMR4064 was a stick powder with all sticks the same length.
Then I poured out some 2012 dated powder and it changed,, it was long sticks and medium and short ones.
Really short to the point of looking like flakes or balls.
Just wondering what date yours is and how it looks.

 

[djcorrell]

Dated Jan 2014. They look "the same", and measure .082-.085". Never thought I would be measuring powder length. I have noticed a few shorter ones when loading, but just assumed they broke somewhere along the way.

 

[Grumulkin]

For bullet weights in the 308 Winchester I've never found anything better than 165 to 168 grains. I've also tried various powders including Varget and have never found anything better than IMR 4064; it has been my go to 308 Winchester powder for 30 years now.

 

[swampratt]

I have had really good luck and great accuracy with IMR4064 also in .308 and 30-06.

Here is a picture of the different dates of 4064 powder and is why I asked if yours is all the same length.
may not be able to see the difference on the screen unless you have a big screen. but the 2 newer dates on the right and in the middle look exactly the same with tiny granules and medium and small and large sticks.
The powder on the far left is old 2009 all long sticks.
the 2011 dated came from a factory federal M1A case.