Thoughts on my plan, new to reloading

[maverickasu]

Ok... So, I am prepared for the FNG bashing, lord knows I deserve it after posting this is the wrong forum to start haha... But in an effort to do this with the least number of stupid questions from myself to the brain trust here, I'm going to lay out what I think is my plan and we will go from there. I have very basic reloading experience, did it some in high school but that was 10 years ago. Doing this on a budget, but not a SHOESTRING budget.

Reloading gear is basic Hornady single stage press and basic accoutrements. Thinking I will upgrade to quality digital scale. The gear is my FIL's but it just sitting in his office with crap stacked on it and he said I'm welcome to it.

I have been shooting 175 Prime with good results out of my 20 inch 1-10 twist 308, but feel like I can do better/more consistent especially past 800. I feel like there is some speed to picked up (yes I realise its a 308 but like I said I feel like there is some gas left in the tank)

My plan is to use the bucket of Prime brass I have collected. I honestly don't care how it looks as long as it shoots. Magazine fed is important to me so I was thinking just load to mag length and move the hell on... Also Primer I figured I would just buy like a 500 count of CCI primers and run them so it would at least be consistent

As far as bullets I'm interested in the 185 Juggernaut, and the 178 ELD-X.... any reason NOT to focus on these?

Powder... this is what I think my first potentially dumb question is. If I was going to buy one powder to start. I'm looking for an all around solid repeatable powder. What would your suggestion be?

2nd question- Brass sorting... Yeah I know this is a can of worms... Bottom line, worth the time? If so thoughts on best method? I'm just planning on full length sizing.

In my head this makes use of the things I have available, and limits the variables that I'm testing at least to start. Once I pick a bullet then all I'm messing with is powder charge. What do yall think? (puts pot on head for helmet and takes cover from shelling haha)

 

[ophious]

If you are looking for consistency, then shooting the same brass, preferably from the same batch is the way to go. Same with the bullet. If you're looking at hitting a credit card at 600YD then you'll need to take much more into consideration. Remember consistency is key. I'm assuming you don't have a custom rifle so depending on the rifle will dictate how much throat you have to play with in terms of seating depth. If it is a factory Remington, I've found that the 175 SMK BTHP are very jump forgiving in my .308. I can't even come close to touching my lands in my factory Remington utilizing a magazine. I can if I hand load each round, but that isn't practical. Ladder testing will help out on that. So I'll list everything I do to maximize my accuracy to be proficient at long range.

Before even starting I fire form my cases to my chamber.

1. Power charge- consistent down to the .1 of a grain. I run Varget in my .308. 43.50gn using an A&D FX 300i
2. Anneal brass before resizing.
3. Resizing FL every time bumping the shoulder no more than .003", then completely clean in ultrasonic and trim if needed.
4. Neck tension (Bullet Seating pressure) - There are ways to measure this accurately and ways to eyeball it.
5. Concentricity of the cartridge.
6. Testing - Need a chronometer for this. See how close your velocities are for these carefully created rounds. The more control you have over all of your processes, the closer your velocities will be. In theory if you take out the variable of the cartridge, you only need to worry about the elements and your fundamentals.

 

[maverickasu]

Guess I should have given a little more info...

Rifle is a custom Alamo Precision Rifle, cant remember the bottom metal right now... I know my mags are accurate mag. have to get out the calipers to measure them to get my max length. All the brass I have is once fired from my rifle. All from the same case of prime ammo.

 

[lightman]

I've always favored CCI primers so I think thats a good choice. There are so many powders that work great in a 308 that theres not really a wrong answer. My favorites are IMR 4064 and Varget. RL-15, IMR4895, BL-C2 and a ton of others work well too. Brass, trim it, sort some of it by weight and shoot some of it as is and compare the difference. At longer range details make a difference. Bullets, I've always been a Sierra fan but I've lately shot a lot of Bergers. Dies, if you already have dies roll with what you have. If you're shopping for dies I like the Redding Master Hunter set. Its a full length sizing die with their competition seater. I've not seen much improvement in my scores between fl sizing and neck sizing. I'm also not a fan of bushing dies unless you are shooting benchrest and neck turn. Many may disagree with some or even all of this!

When your budget allows, buy 100 of a few different primers just to experiment with and maybe 100 pieces of Lapua brass.

 

[Sheldon N]

In your shoes, on a budget, and wanting to keep things simple for a starting reloader here's what I'd get.

1. Full length bushing die with a bushing that gives you 0.002 neck tension. Don't use the expander ball.
2. Varget and 185 Juggs. 178 ELD-M are a good plan B.
3. Decent digital scale, use a reference weight (stainless bolt, etc) to make sure no scale drift.
4. Buy full Hornady shoulder bump, ogive, and modified case gauges. You need to know where your lands are, how much shoulder bump you are getting from your sizing die, and what your base to ogive on your loaded rounds is (ie jump to lands).
5. Magnetospeed sporter - you need to know velocity of your final loads, be able to test consistency of velocity, and be able to evaluate how velocity changes as you add powder.

I would just use your existing brass, don't bother sorting unless you have time on your hands and it makes you feel better. You can probably skip annealing for the 2nd firing on the brass but down the road you may want to start doing it. Size it for 0.002 shoulder bump using the Hornady gauges.

If you are looking for consistency at distance that's going to happen in your testing and load development. It is NOT going to happen just by chasing a faster load. The better bullet with better BC will help greatly, but I would encourage you not to just hot rod a high pressure load. You are looking for the right load, not the fastest load.

Lots to read up on for load development but here's the 10 second version I'd follow. Seat the bullets at 20 thou off the lands (Hornady gauges) or at mag length, whichever is shorter. Start with a velocity ladder test with the chrono (aka Satterlee load dev) establish your pressure ceiling and back well off from that, look for the velocity flat spot. Second do an OCW style test (no chrono attached) with 3 shot groups, in the vicinity of where you saw the velocity flat spot. See if the relative POI stays consistent from group to group, and you'll also get a sense of if they group well or not. If they are shooting super small groups already then run it at distance. If the are not small enough yet then explore whether adjustments in seating depth can tighten it up further.

 

[OLD308]

My thoughts keeping in mind your budget, availability of componets, and your experience level.
175 SMKs are dummy proof in a 308.
8208 will get you speed and is more consistent batch to batch than Varget in my experience. Benchmark is awesome if your not a speed freak. Lapua bass is king, but use what you got for now.
Basic FL sizing die with a micro bullet seater.
Load to maximum COAL per your mags.
Load 10-15 rounds of ammo in .2 grain jumps for node testing. Start under max per your powder choice. Watch your primers! Identify your nodes, and select the charge in the middle of the nodes. Load 3, 5 round sets of each node you identified. If you identified 2 nodes you should have 6 total sets of 5 rounds of ammo ( 3 sets of 5 per each node). Got to the range and shoot 1, 5 shot group for each node at 300 yards. Take a long break, then shoot the next set. Long break and shoot the final set. Measure and average the group sizes.
This system has never fails me for tactical practical level accuracy. It mitigates the need of a cronograph (ED SD), and seating depth manipulation is you choice latter. Yes it takes time and a few bullets, but it saves you on expensive powder measures, chronographs, etc. Also SMKs are seldom if ever out of stock. Experience behind your rifle always trumps the latest and greatest bullet that’s out of stock. Yes I use a much more complex method now. But I also use equipment you don’t have. This system will deliver the best results per your equipment and experience level. I was taugh this 20 years ago a Quantico by some benchrest shooters. Not the last work on the subject, just my thought. Good luck.