Reloading 308 target rounds

KnotRight

KnotRight

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I have not had much luck reloading my 308 bullets for target shooting. I am using Hornady 168 Match Bullets (BC .450) with I think 41.6 gns of Varget. I was told by a friend that he is using Alliant 2000 with a Siera bullet. What are you reloading your target 308s with?
 
When you say "not much luck" are you referring to the accuracy? If so, you may need to try different bullets to see what your gun likes. I have not done much with 308, but Varget would be one of the first powders I would try. If the 168s don't work well, try 175s.
 
Berger 155VLD in my 10 twist Bartlein barrel. IMR 4064, Varget and RL15 all shoot really well. 4064 shoots the best with VLD target and VLD hunt, both bullets shoot the same.
 
Trim and prep the brass
Weight the brass and get sets of brass in close to each other batches
If you want to get anal weight out the bullets and do the same
I use IMR 4064 as I have plenty
Weight out charges in .5 grain increments and fire for group, then narrow down to the best group
Start using .1 grain increments on both sides to fine tune

I used one bolt action rifle and followed what benchrest people were doing
 
A couple of my recipes
168 Hornady match, XBR8208, 42.2 grains, 2.800
168 Hornady match, Varget, 43 grains, 2.800
 
That charge sems real light.

My 168grn load be in a Nosler or Siera is 45grns of Varget.

IMR 4064, 175 or 168 is 43.4grns
 
KnotRight said:
I have not had much luck reloading my 308 bullets for target shooting. I am using Hornady 168 Match Bullets (BC .450) with I think 41.6 gns of Varget. I was told by a friend that he is using Alliant 2000 with a Siera bullet. What are you reloading your target 308s with?
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My match hand load was a 175 Gr SMK BTHP with 44.5 grains of Varget. This was using either Hornady new brass or Lapua new brass. I had outstanding results with it.
 
KnotRight said:
From your reply, I am about 3 gns short. Going to try 44.5 next.
Thanks,
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Are you going to jump from 41.6 to 44.5 all at once? That isn't how I would do it.

ronn47 said:
Weight out charges in .5 grain increments and fire for group, then narrow down to the best group
Start using .1 grain increments on both sides to fine tune
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This is how I would do it. I would also be looking for a velocity node using a chrono.
 
From the Hornady Manual

20220829_161123.jpg
 
12 in twist.
It runs about 2620 fps out of my rifle and have shot that load to 1200 yds
 
Willie said:
12 in twist.
It runs about 2620 fps out of my rifle and have shot that load to 1200 yds
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I just checked the twist rate in the Savage, and it is 1:10, so it should stabilize the 178 gn bullet. Next order with have some 178 bullets in it.
 
@KnotRight since I did not see it mentioned, what brass are you using? There is a noticable volume difference between Winchester brass versus LC, Lapua, & Starline. Also not all LC brass is going to be alike. Prior to the Plandemic I snagged 1k cases of unfired primed LC brass. It may have been pull-down, but one thing I notice quickly was that the neck tension was all over the place compared to the Win, Lapua, & Starline brass I had on hand. Trying to load develop with it was antagonizing.
 
Bunsen said:
@KnotRight since I did not see it mentioned, what brass are you using? There is a noticable volume difference between Winchester brass versus LC, Lapua, & Starline. Also not all LC brass is going to be alike. Prior to the Plandemic I snagged 1k cases of unfired primed LC brass. It may have been pull-down, but one thing I notice quickly was that the neck tension was all over the place compared to the Win, Lapua, & Starline brass I had on hand. Trying to load develop with it was antagonizing.
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Bunsen, I have many assorted brands of brass. When I reload, I will always use the same head stamp. I will check these last rounds.
 
I have 2 different lots of hornady match brass with different internal capacities. I have to adjust the powder charge for each lot. Don't just trust that everything with the same headstamp is the same.
 
KnotRight said:
Bunsen, I have many assorted brands of brass. When I reload, I will always use the same head stamp. I will check these last rounds.
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It is an extra expense, but it will save you quite a bit of time and frustration. If possible grab yourself 100 pieces of Lapua brass and use that for your target loads. Unless you are pushing higher pressure, with occasional annealing you should get 10x reloads out of them. I sucked it up and bought Lapua brass when I started loading for my .260Rem and it was time and money well spent!!

www.creedmoorsports.com

Lapua .308 Win Brass

Lapua .308 Win Brass For decades Lapua has concentrated in developing components and production machinery for target shooting cartridges. This determination has created the legendary quality sport shooting cases. They have been measured and manufactured to be strong and uniformly precise...
www.creedmoorsports.com
 
Accuracy nodes with 308 175gr bullets are USUALLY at 2400fps and 2750fps. There are at least a dozen variables that could and will affect accuracy. Start with 20pcs of the same brass.
 
jimmyjames8 said:
P.S. I have two 308 rifles that refuse to shoot anything other than 150gr projos accurately.
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Funny that you say that. When I first got my 308, all I shot was 150 FMJ bullets. And if I remember correctly, they shot better than the 168 Match bullets.
 
Shocker998md said:
Unless I missed it, what rifle are you shooting? My m1a is way different then my weatherby vanguard in what it likes.
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Savage Axis II. I have the same rifle in 6.5 CM and it shoots under 1 MOA. Stock and scope have been updated
 
Have you had good results with any factory ammo? If not I'd try a box of lighter coreloks and then a box of federal gold match 168s. If it doesn't shoot either of those decent I'd really look at the hardware.
Going back to reloading now that you have some brass formed in your chamber I'd just do a ladder load with whichever powder you have in .5 increments up to max charge weight. Bonus points if you can do all that over a chronograph. Take your best results and go down .2 and up .2 and you should have something decent.

I won't lie I went two grains under max for 4064 and a 168 grain bullet and my weatherby shot moa with it at 100. It's just a deer rifle so I took those notes down and loaded 50 more and haven't messed with it.
 
I never had much luck with Varget but shot 1/2 moa with Winchester Brass, GGMM primers, 175smk with 43.3 guns of Reloader 15. Did multiple ladder tests to find my load.
 
I see all kinds of load data & information. An old timer handloader taught me decades ago; "Each & every gun is an animal unto itself. Only by experimenting can you find what to feed the animal. "

I understand that nowadays,, with supplies severely lacking in availability it can be harder to test the spectrum of loads for a gun. But,, start with what you have (bullet, primers, and powder,) work your brass to get it uniform & alike. Then start at the lower end of the chart, and as mentioned, do the ladder test.
If the accuracy still isn't there, you change ONE (1) item. It can be the bullet, it can be the primer, or it can be the powder. Then start over. You do this until YOUR gun tells YOU what IT likes to be fed.
 
I haven't shot my 308 in quite awhile. I have a FN SPR. I would have to look up the exact load, and I was shooting at 100yds(all I had). But that gun loved the Hornady V-max ballistic tip over 4895 on Lake City match brass.
 
KnotRight said:
It will not be done in one step. Like you said .5 of a gram.
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It might give you some measure of confidence to use GRT. Once I have a consistent speed, I change the variables to predict higher charges, and use the built-in OBT for my next node. It warns you as you get to overpressure areas. Oh- and it will do some ladder gaps if you want and graph the predicted velocities that you can compare against hte pressure bands.
 
308 loading here is Powder IMR 8208 or IMR 4064 some of the M1A's is 4895
Reloading 308 is like make sure you keep records, plenty of records.
Krierger barrels in the M1A mix, Bartlein in the 700 action mix, A Hart 700 Action
Brass Lapua Small primer (Palma) and Large Primer, LC 77 Match, old Federal Nickel
match brass. Bullets are Bergers / Sierra 155gr-185gr... Then your plain Match M1A's
Each one has it's "pet" load, the Bartleins lean towards the Bergers I think..

Use the OCW method. All cases are the same length, Dies are a set of old Wooden Box
RCBS Match Dies / Mighty Armory / Whidden. Berger / Sierra Manuals.. Start a charge
go .5 grain increments , then adjust in the .1 range. Don't have my data handy.

The SSG loves 168 Sierra's LC 77 Match brass (got a bunch)

Edit: To Add: I nixed Vargot long ago...due for all the various reasons.
It's always best to have more than "one" load for a given firearm powder wise.


-Snoopz
 
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KnotRight said:
I have not had much luck reloading my 308 bullets for target shooting. I am using Hornady 168 Match Bullets (BC .450) with I think 41.6 gns of Varget. I was told by a friend that he is using Alliant 2000 with a Siera bullet. What are you reloading your target 308s with?
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That’s a pretty light Varget load. Might need a little more juice to get it going

2000MR is an awesome powder. 45.0gr with Hornady 168s is great through two Rem 700 .308s I’ve shot it in

With a 1:12 twist you could try some 150-155gr match kings or similar Hornady bullet
 
My current 308win load for long range precision is 44.4gr of Varget pushing a 175gr SMK using CCI BR-2 primers and Federal 308win cases*. It produces a <10 (usually <6) Standard Deviation with an average velocity of 2680fps in my rifle's barrel. I can fairly consistently keep it at 0.5moa from 100 to 800 yards.

*This should by no means be taken as legal advice. Always work up your load based on pressure signs indicated in your rifle.

One thing to consider is every one of those four components affects precision. If you're using mixed brass, consider focusing on a single headstamp. If you're using a variety of primers, consider trying to figure out which one is doing best for you as you dial in your node. Also look closely at your seating depth, preferably via use of a micrometer seating stem. Keep your COAL as close to the book recommendation as possible (for 175gr it's 2.800"). Also make sure your seating die is not set to put in a crimp - you shouldn't need one for a 308win precision load. There's so much more that goes into producing quality precision ammo than bullet and powder combo.

Doing all of these things should improve your results regardless of your powder/bullet combination.
 
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I am upwards of 44 grains of Varget with a 175 grain SMK as well with a 24 inch barrel so you are at a pretty light load. With you shooting a 168 grain bullet, you will need to work up slowly to get peak performance. You should be above 43 grains for sure.
 
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