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Best Powder for 308/150GR Bullet?
- Thread starter Brux
- Start date
There's no such fucking thing as the "best powder for 308 and 150 gr bullets"
There are so many good loads that its hard to pick the best. My pet load for 150s is IMR 4064. Varget, 4895, RL-15 and a ton of others work well. I used BL-C2 in my H&K.
Op,
You need to define what determines best powder for you. Every powder mentioned typically provides excellent results in 308, and I can think of several others. Is accuracy paramount, do you weigh each charge, are you loading in a progressive? What accuracy are you looking for? What gun? It all matters!
Have had very good results with Varget and 8208 with 155 AMax, Scenars and 2156 Sierras.
This. 308 with mid-weight bullets works well with a huge variety of powders. There is also a significant overlap between powders which are good for .308 and those which are good for .223.
To elaborate a bit on @Doom's reply,
Progressive press: ball powder
Temperature ranges from below freezing to 100+ degrees: stick powder, Hodgdon Extreme or IMR Enduron powders
M1 Garand / M14: burn rate between IMR 3031 and IMR 4064
Cheap and dirty: BL-C(2)
Expensive but clean: Vihtavuori N140
Excellent but unobtainable: Varget
Want Varget but can't find it: RL-15
Torture yourself weighing each charge with tweezers down to single kernels: IMR 4064
Also load .223: CFE 223, 8208 XBR, TAC, Benchmark
With all of the current shortages, and given the advice you’ve seen above, flexibility and inventory management can be optimized by selecting one or two that cross platforms well without a lot of compromise. I’ll add AR Comp to the above with 8208 and Varget. Useable in 223/556, 22-250, 6.5 Grendel, 120-130’s in 6.5 Creedmoor and 150-168’s in 308. Something to be said for powders with a utility fielder role.
What charge weight and MVs (and bbl length) are you using and gettting with the IMR8202XBR , Bobke: I am just getting going loading for my 308 and I have two powders- 8208 and RL-15. Looking to get 2800+ fps out of 24" bbl. Hornady 155 ELD-Ms & Hornady brass. Loading to 2.81" COAL. I had great results with Hornady's box ammo using this bullet and COAL in my FN SPR. Thanx, lg
LG
All of my 308 work was in a very accurate AR10, Schneider 11:25 twist 21” barrel. Would check distance to lands with any bullet in your barrel before loading and start at .020 off, if magazine will accommodate same. If using 8208, would work a ladder up from a 43.0 start point in .2 grain increments till you see several groups with similar charge weights and POI. Pick the middle of those and play with seating depth to finalize load. I was in higher 44 grain range and over 2800fps with 155 AMax with very good accuracy, but do suggest you work up in your barrel. 8208 can be a bit peaky near max-be careful to note temp if loads worked up in colder weather.
As has been noted here multiple times, there are many powders that suit the very flexible 308.
All of my 308 work was in a very accurate AR10, Schneider 11:25 twist 21” barrel. Would check distance to lands with any bullet in your barrel before loading and start at .020 off, if magazine will accommodate same. If using 8208, would work a ladder up from a 43.0 start point in .2 grain increments till you see several groups with similar charge weights and POI. Pick the middle of those and play with seating depth to finalize load. I was in higher 44 grain range and over 2800fps with 155 AMax with very good accuracy, but do suggest you work up in your barrel. 8208 can be a bit peaky near max-be careful to note temp if loads worked up in colder weather.
As has been noted here multiple times, there are many powders that suit the very flexible 308.
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Be careful with 8208, it has a lot of pressure. This recommendation is good, start low and work up slow.
8208 for 155's or lower. varget for 155 to 185. RL17 for 185 and up are my favorites for .308
Thanx Bobke, really appreciate it and will respect your cautions. My accumulated load ideas are in a folder up north where I am headed in a week or so. I spend winters in AZ and SD during summer. Usually load devo at 70-ish degrees. Agree on many suitable powders for the 308. My shooting partner uses: RL-15, Varget, 4895, 4064. His fave lately has been RL-15. The 8208 came up on Accurate Shooters. Ramshot TAC was another powder reco'd to me. My LDS had both RL-15 and the 8208 in stock when I went looking for powder last summer.
I've loaded up 20 rounds, for each powder at different charge weights to work up to. Loading to mag length for now as Hornady's factory loads were at 2.80" COAL and my FN SPR shot those sub MOA. I got a little over 2800MV even though box MV was rated 2850. SO am only trying to mirror this load performance. The 308 is my secondary caliber. ( I bought the rifle to build on, but,, when I got it it was too nice to tear down, so figured I would just shoot it until new bbl time if I ever change it to another caliber at all) Thanx again for the helpful reply. Will add your comment to my notes and take them north with. LG
I run 44.2 grains 8208 lit by a fed 210m in lapua brass. This pushes a 155 scenar a tick over 2900 FPS out of a 22 inch bartlein 11 twist barrel.
I would get a couple lbs of imr 4064 or 4895 and don't look back. Its not rocket surgery, lots of things will work
IMR 4895 has worked well for me with hornady 150gr sp in both AR308 w/20" barrel and my R700 w/26" barrel.
For me iv always liked varget just confirmed a 150 grain Barnes ttsx load yesterday. Works good with the 168 and 175 match kings as well
My favorite for 308 is IMR4064. However, I did find some good data for 150/155's and H380 in an older load manual. All three of my 308's like it.
