The military uses non-canister grade powder but there's always a lot of chatter in the shooting forums about recipes to duplicate the military's M118 (175-gr SMK) and M852 (168-gr SMK) loads using canister-grade powder and commercial components. The preponderance of "recipes" I have seen online suggest 41.5-42.0 grains of IMR4895, with either bullet. Hodgdon's minimum charge weight with both those bullets is 41.0 grains and the max is 45.4g (with the 168) and 45.0g (with the 175), so the higher 42 grains gives dangerously high pressures a wide berth and is easy on the barrel.
Another no-fuss recipe I've used supposedly originated with the USMC's marksmanship unit for short-range work. They put a 168-gr SMK on top of 39.0 grains of IMR3031, which they later increased to 41.0 grains (presumably, that 2-grain difference represents a full accuracy node's change in velocities). Hodgdon's min/max for that powder are 39.0/42.0, so 39 will be a tad on the slow side, ~2500 fps from a 24" bbl, and 41 is still a full grain short of the published max.
For my first .308, I did what datguy suggested. I bought 10 boxes of 168-gr FGMM, which gave me opportunity to 1) break in the barrel, 2) get a relative gauge of what that factory barrel was capable of using a known reputable load, and 3) left me with a decent stash of brass to reload. Federal brass is notoriously soft, so it isn't the best choice, but if you load mild and anneal frequently, you still can get 8-10 or so reloads out of them.