Where am I going wrong? .308 hunting load and general powder questions

[Devo10ate]

I'm new to reloading and this is my first workup for a load. 1st one foremost the goal is to build a load I can shoot that shoots well (under 1MOA) but will double as a load for hunting whitetails inside of 400 yards. The gun I'm using for this is a Remington 700 varmit that I've had for over 10 years and is somewhere in the 3500 round mark of factory loads, prior to starting reloading 2 weeks ago. Thus far I've reloaded approx 40 rounds and the groups are atrocious.
-Gun : Remington 700 varmit chopped down to 20in, with Silencerco Omega 30 call, KRG Chassis, Glass has been a mix of Leupold Mk5, Bushnell Elite, but currently has a Arken 4-16 on it. I see the gun as a constant, nothing is loose and I can shoot control groups with 168GMM, 175GMM, 178 Hornady A-MAX, Speer 168 Gold Dots, Sig 165 Elite Hunter, Federal Premium 180s with Nosler Partitions and really any other factory round that is considered high quality and the gun in it's current configuration will absolutely shoot 1MOA or better across all of those rounds at 100. I can shoot .25 groups consistently out of my AI and .75 out of DD5 work guns so as a shoot I'm also a constant. Obviously some days are better than other but I'm a more consistent shooter across the board than what I'm seeing in my hunting gun with my current reloads.
- Reloading setup : RCBS Single Stage RC starter kit with powder Trickler etc. Hornady G-3 scale for powder measuring.
- Current load workups are on a Hornady 178 ELD-X, Once fired Federal brass ( Most of which were shot out of work rifles not my personal Remington) this is also a constant as I have a large amount of once fired federal brass and don't ever plan on buying .308 brass, Using CCI primers, and Varget powder.
-Process
Step 1- Clean brass in media Tumbler- I don't do this per load , ie I have 1000+ tumbled clean once fired bass.
Step 2- Lube Cases with RCBS lube and pad
Step 3- Resize, de prime, re prime case
Step 4- Measure powder Started at 41gr then worked up to 45gr
Step 5- Add Powder
Step 6- Seat bullet. OAL of 2.8
Step 7- Shoot bullets for accuracy and velocity checks.
I'll post pictures of some of the groups I'm seeing in a few.

 

[Devo10ate]

These groups are all over the place. And I’m not changing anything in my process other than powder charges. What would cause such a wide dispersion? Also regarding powder. Are some manufacturers or powders known to burn faster or slower based on brand etc?

 

[simonp]

Are you using a chrono on these tests? Curious about the velocity and SD's.

 

[TheOfficeT-Rex]

The last two aren’t atrocious at first glance.

Consider trying a different powder or bullet. Sometimes a combo just doesn’t work in a particular barrel.

ETA: sifting through three round groups isn’t the most reliable IMHO, except for rejecting the really bad, slow, or over pressure stuff. I’d retry the two that don’t totally suck with 2x5 of each before swapping components.

 

[918v]

The 45 grain load is too hot. Load from 42-43.5 grains in .3gr increments.

Increase the coal in .005” increments. You should find something decent that way.

 

[hlee]

Once fired brass from a variety of guns would not be my starting point for a true precision load.

I e shot a bunch of eld-m bullets, but the eld-x factory loads haven’t really impressed me enough to invest in loading them.

I really feel that- in 2024- reloading without a chrono of some sort is making the task more difficult than it needs to be.

 

[XLR308]

Varget is a good starting point but would recommend trying something a little faster burning like AR-COMP.
The 178eldx is a long bullet but even a 1-12 twist should handle it well you may just need to adjust you seating depth out a bit as already mentioned.
You already know the rifle shoots the lighter bullets pretty well so that might be another option.
Me personally for hunting I tend to prefer a lighter, faster and flatter shooting bullet that is a bit more forgiving for unknown distance hunting scenarios.

 

[Cr1775]

Try a different bullet, might be the rifle doesn't like it.
When i try to work up a load on a new rifle i try as many different bullets and powders that i can get my hands on.
Also overall length can make a world of difference, but maybe not for where your at now.
As far as using brass i usually start with range pick up until i find a combination that works and then buy new good quality brass. Crap is getting expensive.

 

[Devo10ate]

Are you using a chrono on these tests? Curious about the velocity and SD's.

Yes I have a chrono. The best 2 groups were 44gr at 2574 and the 45gr at 2620 average.

 

[918v]

Yes I have a chrono. The best 2 groups were 44gr at 2574 and the 45gr at 2620 average.

But you’re way over max with those and Federal brass is soft so your primer pockets are trashed.

 

[supercorndogs]

Worrying about chronograph number while you are trying g to get something to shoot at 100y is just adding noise to the noise. I don't generally chrono anything until load work up is done and I am looking for a number for the ballistic app. The exception to this is when I am working a powder bullet combo i don't have load data for.

 

[wvfarrier]

I have the same rifle (except I shortened it to 22") and found Power Pro 2000MR provided far better results than Varget

 

[Snuby642]

Yes I have a chrono. The best 2 groups were 44gr at 2574 and the 45gr at 2620 average.

Are you making one grain 1.0g steps?

I usualy use 0.3 step increments and then bracket the best with 0.1, for 2up and 2 down, plus original best group.

Get some bullets with a tangent ogive they are more forgiving as to jump.
Not a fan of Hornady bullets, just because they have good numbers on the package.

A good tangent or hybrid bullet will be fine out to 400 yards in a 308.
Cant get to my book for the bullet but, varget will probably work with --------

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