The time has come to starting reloading

[josh8811]

For years I've bought FGMM and HSM match and shot my .308 and .223 until heart was content. In the recent months, my rifles have been parked because there's no ammo and I don't want to diminish the last of my supplies...

I've got a drawer full of brass, I've always kept my brass.

2 years ago, I bought everything I needed to reload .223. My plans were to build a bench in the spare bedroom and start reloading. Within a few weeks of buying all the reloading supplies I needed, my wife and I found out we were expecting our first baby. The box of reloading stuff has been in the crawl space every since.

Today, while doing my rounds at the local shops looking for reasonable priced ammo, I noticed there was 168G sierra match bullets in stock, I bought 500. At my next stop, I found remington primers, I bought 1k. Finding powder has been the problem. I read through the 13 pages of .308 reloading combos people recommend and quickly realized the two most popular powders are nowhere to be found. (RL15 and Varget)

At Bruno Shooters Supplies I did find the following powders and bought a pound of each
IMR4064
IMR4895
H4895

I've got several rifles but I will be loading for:
- GAP Crusader .308
- Rem700, SPS .223, trimmed down to 22'' barrel

Both are lasers with the correct factory ammo.. No I've just got to figure out how to duplicate that factory ammo..

If anyone knows where I can find RL15 or Varget, please let me know!!

Josh

 

[yz45067]

Imr 4064 is actually a great powder for the 308! I have found it to be more stable and less violent than re 15. Start out with 41.5 gr and do not exceed 43.4 gr. (43.0 gr shot lights out of a pss) I would play it safe and seat it to factory spec at 2.800" coal. It is also a great 5.56 powder as well. I don't know what bullet you intend to load so I cannot suggest loads yet for that. Be safe and exercise caution! Good luck and shoot straight!

Robert

 

[P7id10t]

Welcome to the club. Kudos to you for not begging for powder like one dude on this board with a custom rifle and acreage, asking for reloading equipment handouts.
I see you are in UT and based on your career, do you ever make it to the Columbia valley to work on the wind farms here?
If you can make it to Portland, I'd be glad to give your some different varieties of powder to try out and some 2230 for your 5.56
My 308 doesn't like 4064, but it LOVES RL17
YMMV, of course.

 

[demolitionman]

I've been loading imr4064 for my friends .308 behind 175smk's and his first day long range he was ringing steel to 700 yards. I'm a big fan of the imr4064 for the 175smks.

 

[mtrmn]

4895 is one of the most universally useful powders out there. Most of my best loads for my various AR's are with IMR or surplus 4895, both 223 and 308.

 

[pmclaine]

Im finding IMR 4064 to be a good choice for my 30-06 loads and whats a .308 but just an underfed 30-06?

I wish I could find 4895 or 4064. I admit I am also in the hunt for Varget. The beauty of playing with a bunch of powders/loads is that I have enough info to make something work if I have to.

 

[HobbyShooter]

Have you tried Gallenson's in downtown SLC? The last time I was there (early April), they had a decent selection although most 1lb kegs were about $5 too much.