Gold metal match load

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Fired this today with this:

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168 Nosler CC Winchester brass Fed 210 primers and 45.2 grains of Varget, vel = 2550 sd 8. Factory 16.5" SPS tactical with AAC Cyclone put in an HS stock, 3 x 9 VX 1 scope

42.3 grains of 4064 vel = 2475 sd 11 did this however:

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Tag
trying to find that sweet spot also

43.6 of IMR 4064 with a 168 SMK did give me sub moa groups however those were the OLDER Sierra bullets
going to test a new load tomorrow, will update my results
 
The brass here is important, as to what powder charge you use. Federal brass is thick, and on the soft side... so less powder is needed for a given pressure level. If you're using Winchester brass, you'd end up at 42.2 grains of 4064 with the 175's, and 43.2 grains with the 168's. With Lapua brass, you'd be maybe .1 or .2 grains heavier than with the FC cases.
 
hornady 308 brass has a huge variation in weight / internal capacity - without the primer it goes from 150 gr to 175 gr, FC is commonly over 180gr - so with hornady the brass will need sorting, and the load adjusted
 
The brass here is important, as to what powder charge you use. Federal brass is thick, and on the soft side... so less powder is needed for a given pressure level. If you're using Winchester brass, you'd end up at 42.2 grains of 4064 with the 175's, and 43.2 grains with the 168's. With Lapua brass, you'd be maybe .1 or .2 grains heavier than with the FC cases.

Good to know as I am using Lapua brass.

Additionally, it is virgin brass. How much of a difference should I expect to see between virgin and once fired?
 
The brass here is important, as to what powder charge you use. Federal brass is thick, and on the soft side... so less powder is needed for a given pressure level. If you're using Winchester brass, you'd end up at 42.2 grains of 4064 with the 175's, and 43.2 grains with the 168's. With Lapua brass, you'd be maybe .1 or .2 grains heavier than with the FC cases.

I'll have to try 43.2 grains of 4064 with the 168 sierras

I tested 3 nodes on Monday, 42.2, 42.5, 42.8
they honestly all shot the same...
can't really freaking tell :(

I'll have to try the 43.2 to see if it's tighter
 
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What about hornady brass? Should I go with more or less powder?

I have never tested the Hornady, other than to check it's internal volume (.308 brass, that is)... and it's not too far from FC as I recall... test the same charges as the FC cases, and see how it goes. Lake City and Federal hold about the same volume too, incidentally...

hornady 308 brass has a huge variation in weight / internal capacity - without the primer it goes from 150 gr to 175 gr, FC is commonly over 180gr - so with hornady the brass will need sorting, and the load adjusted

To help answer some of the questions about Hornady 308 brass, I have accumulated quite a bit of once fired Hornady 308 TAP brass over the past 6-7 years. The brass made up until the last 3-4 years weighs (without the primer) in the 155 to under 160 grain category and has a brass colored primer. It is similar to Winchester brass in weight except the necks are about .002" thicker. I use a .333" redding S bushing for this brass in my bolt guns.

The newer, recent Hornady TAP brass has a primer crimp with a nickel plated primer ( I have found some with a primer crimp and a brass primer). This brass weighs in a bit heavier in the 170+ grain category. I use a .335" S bushing for this newer brass. I've found Hornady brass to be very good quality.

Interestingly, Winchester 308 brass has also shown a weight gain in the past few years also. I've had to weigh segregate 308 Winchester brass into 3 lots, The older lots are in the 155-158 grain area with newer lots in the 160-165 area and then the newest lots in the 170-174 grain area. I've had to adjust using S bushings from the .331" for the lightest lots, to .335" for the heaviest lots.

I've done my own internal capacity tests and across the board, the heavier the brass, the less internal volume and I adjust powder charges accordingly.

As everyone else has said about Federal GMM brass, the newer lots of Federal GMM brass is thick and weighs (without the primer) in the 181-184 grain area (on par with LC brass in weight and volume) and is pretty weight consistent. I've been getting 8-9 reloads out of the newer Federal GMM brass that has the blue primer sealant. Some of the older lots of Federal GMM brass was soft and primer pockets loosen up quick, but I found the blue primer sealant cases to be a little better than the old stuff.

Thought I'd throw this out there to see if anyone else had found similar conclusions.