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Best powder for 308 benchrest

marchboom

I just received a rifle set up for benchrest shooting. It has a 25" Lilja barrel with a 1-12" twist, McMillan benchrest stock & a Jewell trigger. I plan to shoot Sierra 155 MK bullets. I have narrowed the powder choice down to the following: Varget, Reloder 15 & H4895. Is there one of these powders that you would recommend over the others? I will be shooting in temps between 40 & 90 degrees. Would Reloder 15 be at a disadvantage?

Thank you.
 
I recently tried the H4895 and it worked out very well using 168 SMK's as well as with 175 NCC's. Normally, I prefer Varget, but had a bottle of H4895 lying around for 18 months and decided to try it last week. For a little extra MV the H4895 was a pleasant surprise where I'm very temped to switch from Varget.
 
Of the 3 my vote is for H4895 . I have had great results over a wide range of bullet weights and powder charges...easy to tone down or jazz it up.
 
The resistance to temperature-induced velocity variance for those three powders would go in the order: Varget>H4895>>>Re15. Expected velocity for tuned loads with them might go Re15>H4895>Varget. However, if this is for Benchrest, your primary goal is the best precision/accuracy possible, and you'll already be giving up something solely based on your choice of cartridges. I'd probably start with H4895 and then Varget, both of which work well in .308 Win. H4895 especially shines with lighter (175 gr or less) bullets. Then do some load workup and see which one gives you the best accuracy/precision. The highest possible velocity is not necessary for BR, but the best accuracy/precision is. Frankly, with only three choices, you could do some preliminary testing for precision with each powder and have a pretty good idea which one to continue testing.
 
Well all good go to Powders posted above ?
8208 ? High Pressure very Possible ?
I shot 155’s in .308 out to 1000 yards .

Now don’t forget about two old work Horses.
IMR 4064 and 4320

Best of Luck
 
Don said:
Well all good go to Powders posted above ?
8208 ? High Pressure very Possible ?
I shot 155’s in .308 out to 1000 yards .

Now don’t forget about two old work Horses.
IMR 4064 and 4320

Best of Luck
Click to expand...

4064. It's fantastic with the 155's. I've used it in both Lapua and Winchester brass. The load was increased by 0.5 gr in the Winchester brass.
 
Last edited:
marchboom said:
I have narrowed the powder choice down to the following: Varget, Reloder 15 & H4895. Is there one of these powders that you would recommend over the others? I will be shooting in temps between 40 & 90 degrees. Would Reloder 15 be at a disadvantage?
Click to expand...

Limited to a choice of these three powders, I would use the H4895.:rolleyes:

But when I tested powders and the 155 bullets for accuracy and velocity, 8208XBR won that test. However, those 'olde' school powders like 3031 and 4064 behave exceptionally well also, you cannot discount their performance.

I also find that ARComp is right up there kicking and screaming all the way to the target.:eek::) So pick your poison from what you have or go any of the other directions for fine performance.
 
As KURZ says So pick your poison from what you have or go any of the other directions for fine performance.
You say "you just received ,ect.ect. Does that mean NEW or you got it from someone else ? and didn't they give you any load data ?
Rifles , especially custom built are like women, they all respond best to different things, you just have to find what works best for yours.
 
I think you have enough powders to rock this right now. I would not explore too much until you give what you already have a try. If you do not like the results you can always give other powders a try ho harm no foul. I would prob. ask the previous owner if you can what they where running! If they have a pet load that they used in competition that is proven start with that! Like all free advice though mine is not worth any more than another persons! LOL Cheer! Let us know how it goes! 308 is well proven to be easy to load for and at the very least capable of being very accurate! I like Benchmark for 155gr. loads but I do not have and have not had a twist rate as slow as yours in many decades. My 308 is for TR and I run 185gr. Juggernauts as my lightest bullet. I use 155FMJ's for plinking and for small varmints but again my slowest twist is 1:10 and my fastest is 1:8 so.....
 
Baddog0302 said:
As KURZ says So pick your poison from what you have or go any of the other directions for fine performance.
You say "you just received ,ect.ect. Does that mean NEW or you got it from someone else ? and didn't they give you any load data ?
Rifles , especially custom built are like women, they all respond best to different things, you just have to find what works best for yours.
Click to expand...
What you said about women is true, i treat a woman so many different ways she's bound to like one !
 
Thanks to all those who responded. I think I'll start with Varget and then H-4895. I like that they are "Extreme" powders.
 
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