Looking for advice on 8208 xbr from veterans who load with it. Loading only for gas guns 2 of which i am pushing for accuracy 223 and 308. I read many people having success with it. Loading 69gr and 77gr in 223. 168gr and 175gr in 308. Have TAC for 223 and TAC, IMR 4895 and Ar comp as well. Would I be stupid not to try 8208 xbr. I read its very versatile across both calibers. It is a clean or dirty burning powder.
8208xbr thoughts
- Thread starter Kangbeef
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It runs pretty clean, similar to Varget, and will get you 50-75fps of extra velocity. It does have a much less forgiving pressure curve than Varget or StaBall Match.
In Lake City Brass with 77gr SMK and CCI 400 primers, I run between 23.5-23.8gr. At 23.8gr, I am definitely on the top end. It is fine in some of my guns but has been too hot in others. I'd start at 23.2 and work up in .2 increments.
I have found it to be accurate and temp stable. I can produce 3/4 MOA 10 shot groups with it in my Ridgeline RD15 and Douglas barreled MK12 MOD1.
In Lake City Brass with 77gr SMK and CCI 400 primers, I run between 23.5-23.8gr. At 23.8gr, I am definitely on the top end. It is fine in some of my guns but has been too hot in others. I'd start at 23.2 and work up in .2 increments.
I have found it to be accurate and temp stable. I can produce 3/4 MOA 10 shot groups with it in my Ridgeline RD15 and Douglas barreled MK12 MOD1.
Awesome great info and forgot I was given 1lb jug of staball match. Do you run same loads suppressed or use a lighter load.
It is an good powder, but has some quirks. It meters better than Varget, but worse than ball powders. Generally best accuracy is obtained near peak pressures, but as noted above it tends to be "peaky," so I would not recommend aggressively going past max loads without slowly working your way up. It is reasonably clean, and quite temp stable.
It is useful in medium to heavy bullets in 223, lighter bullets in 308. I would use something slower burning for 168-175 gr 308 loads.
It is useful in medium to heavy bullets in 223, lighter bullets in 308. I would use something slower burning for 168-175 gr 308 loads.
Same load, all my shooting is done suppressed. I did the load development with my Mk12 and it wears an OCM5. It also shot fairly well with the 23.5gr but I wanted the extra speed. The rounds shot really well with the RD15 and an RC2, but then tightened up even more with an RC3.
See pics below from the RD15. Ignore the other random shots, was fighting 223AI load development and trying to zero.
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You ask an interesting question. I can tell you that 8208 works well in 223 and 308. I've used it in both and it is my go to powder in 223 with a 52/53 gr bullet in my 223 varmint rifle. I don't currently use it in 308 with the 168SMK but I have produced good loads with it. Is it better than the powders you have on hand? That is very hard to say and it obviously depends on what you are looking for. In 2012 when I was looking to a replacement for H335 that was more temperature stable I tried it, liked the results and have found no reason to change.
You have powders that are considered more than adequate for your application and I would personally not pursue another powder unless I wasn't happy with the results from those or I need to to change due to availability issues or pricing. It is very hard to pick specific winners when it comes to what powder is best in any specific cartridge. In reality most reloaders probably reject powders based on low sample size tests when more testing would produce different results.
There are powders that excel in some cartridges that has been proven over time. Varget in 308, IMR 4064 in 308, and there are others. We know these powders based on competition. F-T/R, Palma, F-Class, and other competitive environments tend to migrate to the most reliable powders and do based on thousands of rounds fired. But if you dig into it the Hodgdon/ADI powders (of which 8208 is one) seem to be ones that rule. Some of the newer Alliant RL series and Vihtavouri tend to follow.
Great powder, same oddball category as Hodgdon’s Varget in that it does well in many small to medium - sized short action cartridges - but doesn’t meter that well (compared to say, Ramshot TAC).
Fairly temperature - resistant.
Burns clean but seems to be noticeably hotter than IMR 4064.
Doesn’t have the same “sweet smell” that IMR 4064 has.
An old favorite for .308 Winchester Palma loads.
For reference:
1 IMR 4064 “log” weighs 0.030 grain, and meters horribly.
1 IMR 8208 XBR “log,” which is smaller and meters slightly better, weighs 0.010 grain.
You will not have any issues finding nice groups for .223 Remington bullet weight ranges between 53 to 77 grains, but velocities may be suboptimal for lighter bullets.
The powder seems to do better for 155 to 168 grain bullets, and doesn’t have the same “blanket excellence” that Varget exhibits for .308 Winchester.
Fairly temperature - resistant.
Burns clean but seems to be noticeably hotter than IMR 4064.
Doesn’t have the same “sweet smell” that IMR 4064 has.
An old favorite for .308 Winchester Palma loads.
For reference:
1 IMR 4064 “log” weighs 0.030 grain, and meters horribly.
1 IMR 8208 XBR “log,” which is smaller and meters slightly better, weighs 0.010 grain.
You will not have any issues finding nice groups for .223 Remington bullet weight ranges between 53 to 77 grains, but velocities may be suboptimal for lighter bullets.
The powder seems to do better for 155 to 168 grain bullets, and doesn’t have the same “blanket excellence” that Varget exhibits for .308 Winchester.
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Probably the best 223 powder I have tried. 24gr XBR with the 77gr SMK have worked well for me and quiet a few others. It's super accurate and you get a nice speed bump too.
I had good results with benchmark and 60gr vmax. Havent tried anything else. Only have a liitle that was given to me.
Going through this exercise at the moment and while Benchmark seems to be able to match 8208 and Staball Match on the speed side the SD numbers are significantly higher. Also, Benchmark seems to shoot tighter at slightly below max pressure while 8208 and Staball group better at book max.
77 TMK with 23.8 gr in LC brass, REM 7.5 primer, COL 2.250”
Its my pet load… 2750 in my 20” Bartlein, 2620 in my 16” Proof…
Pro tip… 23.7 gr in Winchester brass!
It's bar none the best powder I've used for 223 for 68-77gr bullets and works pretty well for 150-168gr in 308. I've found it to be very consistent, not temp sensitive, doesn't pressure spike, and it meters nearly as well as ball powder. It's ability to accurately dispensed from a powder drop on a progressive press cannot be stressed enough when using it for bulk ammo production.
I run 23.4gr with a 77gr SMK which yields 2820fps and 24.6gr with a 69gr RMR which yields 3000fps. Both loaded in LC cases with CCI 400 primers. These are spicy loads, but are accurate. My 223s are all Wylde or 5.56 chambers, so they handle pressures like this better than a straight up 223 chamber.
I run 23.4gr with a 77gr SMK which yields 2820fps and 24.6gr with a 69gr RMR which yields 3000fps. Both loaded in LC cases with CCI 400 primers. These are spicy loads, but are accurate. My 223s are all Wylde or 5.56 chambers, so they handle pressures like this better than a straight up 223 chamber.
How well it meters is a big reason I like 8208 so much. For most of my 223 loads it's not compressed like varget is. Although I tend to use 8208 for 55g. I tend to use varget in my bolt action with heavey bullets. I like 8208 for ar15 mag length rounds with 77 smk.
Since the new powder was released, I have tried three different lots. The line's initial mix appeared to be a little quicker than its subsequent one. But I found that my 6mmbr with 95-107 bullets was just as accurate.
I didn't need to make any changes because the third amount of powder is identical to the second. I find that the powder burns really clean. Because of this powder's consistency and temperature stability, I switched from RL15 and Varget.
I didn't need to make any changes because the third amount of powder is identical to the second. I find that the powder burns really clean. Because of this powder's consistency and temperature stability, I switched from RL15 and Varget.
+1
Benchmark goes well in my 18" Tikka also, 2750fps with Hornaday BTHPs, 2780fps with 73gr ELD-Ms.
I tried Benchmark, 8202XBR, and Varget before settling on BM, 8202 was a little slower but far quicker than Varget,
So I was at Greentop and they had 8lb jugs of 8208xbr for price to have it shipped so I jumped on it and glad I did. Did some load development starting at 37.0 to 40.1 with 168gr smk coal 2.775 starline srp brass @ 100 yards. Shooting AR10 20" faxon match barrel 1:8 twist adj gas block. Heavy buffers 11.5oz buffet and spring was a great purchase. I had great results with IMR 4895 but liked how the rifle functioned with 8208 xbr. Next will load several from 37.0 to 337.3 and see what groups best. Here is a few pics and thank you to everyone who posted. The pic with one flyer was cold bore shot but could have been me.
