308 win Powders

[Alaska Bush Man]

I’m looking for a good powder for my 308. I was going to use Varget but it is a little hard to come by. Any help would be much appreciated.

Powder Depends on bullet weight for the most part

IMR 4895 will work great with most 150/155/168/175
For 130/150gr the TAC and IMR 8208
For heavier 165/168/175 the CFE 223 but is temp sensitive, with Varget or IMR 4064/4166 a better choice.

I use more Varget with 175 Berger OTM than any other powder in WW brass with BR 2 primers

 

[6milphil]

I tried AR-Comp in my savage 308 for the first time today behind 168gr speer target match and was very pleased with the results. It seems to shoot every bit as good or better than varget or H4895.

 

[chapstix97]

Sierra load data shows imr 8208xbr as their accuracy load for the 168smk.

 

[corning]

Depending on the bullet, either IMR-4064 or IMR-3031.

 

[littlebuddybr]

Lots of good powders for the 308.
But will be hard to beat H-4895.

 

[Jakes10mm]

A little dated thread, but thought I'd throw in a comment and see if there are additional comments. My Rem700 Mil Spec used in best rest out to 500 yds has been eating Hornady 168 BTHP bullet over Alliant 2000-MR powder for years with excellent results. My supply of 2000-MR dried up and it seems to be stock out everywhere. I switched over to 44.0gr Reloder 15 for the 2019 season with good results. Out of pandemic boredom, I looked at the almost empty cans of powder in the cabinet and did some playing around on quick load. My testing last weekend provided some very positive results and possibly good signs for what's left of the 2020 season. I bumped up my RL15 load to 47.0gr and averaged 2834 fps with a 0.4" group at 200 yds. The surprise showing was my "45-70 Govt powder", IMR 3031. With 42.0 gr, it printed a 0.6" group at 200 yds averaging 2856 fps with 4 identical chrono readings and one reading 6 fps faster. IMR 4895 printed at 1.08" at a slow 2704 poke. H4895 was on the heals of RL15 for speed but opened up to a 1.5" grouping. I may have to pick up another can of IMR3031 for some more testing, like the speed for the windy range where we shoot and the low SD.

 

[Dub]

IMR4895 works fantastic for me

 

[mike06]

I’m looking for a good powder for my 308. I was going to useVarget but it is a little hard to come by. Any help would be much appreciated.

Changed to ArComp in my 5 308's two AR10's a Ruger Precision and 2 Rem 700 5r Gen 2 using with 168 and 175 it is very temp stable easy to meter.

 

[Longtrain]

All the previous posts contain good information, if you rifle’s barrel is long enough and the twist matches your bullet, a “Palma Load” of a 155 SMK, jumped 20 thousands, behind 46 grains of Varget, lit by a Federal 210 or BR2 primer should shoot without too many issues. Work up to this load from 2 grains less and go from there. I won’t say that if it won’t shoot, there’s something wrong with your barrel, but then again maybe there is?

 

[dc.fireman]

Imr 4064 or h4895 which is better for ar10 168 to 178 grain bullet

Yessir.

My go to loads right now:

Bolt Guns (Tikka T3, Win M70):

Nosler 168 BTHP
44.3 gr. Varget or 40.0 gr. H4895.
Federal case
Fed 210M primer

Gas Gun (M1A):

Sierra 168 HPBT
42.0 gr. IMR-4064
Lake City case
CCI No.34 primer

The 44.3 gr. of Varget is giving me a slightly sticky bolt lift, but is a sub .2" group. The H4895 gives me less velocity out of the same gun; groups are good enough for competition, brass life is better, bolt lift is smooth and easy.

 

[littlebuddybr]

A little dated thread, but thought I'd throw in a comment and see if there are additional comments. My Rem700 Mil Spec used in best rest out to 500 yds has been eating Hornady 168 BTHP bullet over Alliant 2000-MR powder for years with excellent results. My supply of 2000-MR dried up and it seems to be stock out everywhere. I switched over to 44.0gr Reloder 15 for the 2019 season with good results. Out of pandemic boredom, I looked at the almost empty cans of powder in the cabinet and did some playing around on quick load. My testing last weekend provided some very positive results and possibly good signs for what's left of the 2020 season. I bumped up my RL15 load to 47.0gr and averaged 2834 fps with a 0.4" group at 200 yds. The surprise showing was my "45-70 Govt powder", IMR 3031. With 42.0 gr, it printed a 0.6" group at 200 yds averaging 2856 fps with 4 identical chrono readings and one reading 6 fps faster. IMR 4895 printed at 1.08" at a slow 2704 poke. H4895 was on the heals of RL15 for speed but opened up to a 1.5" grouping. I may have to pick up another can of IMR3031 for some more testing, like the speed for the windy range where we shoot and the low SD.

3031 is a good powder. I started loading 308 with it about 30 years ago. I didn't know much about loading then. I learned a lot very quick with 3031. Unless you live in a very stable climate throughout the year. Keep really good notes. Cause when the temp swings 50* you will be chasing hard for that .4 group it shoot earlier in the year.

H4895 & varget are very stable. Just watch lot changes.

 

[Jakes10mm]

Great information! Thanks especially for the insight with 3031; may stick with load development on with RL15. I'd move to Varget but it's avaialbility locally is still unreliable. I have been reserving Varget for my 223 Rem Long Range loads. I'm still hoping to find more Alliant 2000-MR eventually. It still holds my best 5-shot group at 500 yds at 1.4". Since that score and running out of 2000-MR, the club clarified an old rule and permits bag riders for production class rifles. The rifle is probably capable of sub-1", just not sure if the idiot pulling the trigger is.

 

[rr2030]

IMR-4064 is my choice.... Been used for .308 and winning for a long time... Cheap and normally easy to find....

I am curious, everyone agrees that Vaarget is more temperature stable than IMR4064, I wont argue that. Varget is near impossible to find, and it's almost always at a premium price. That being said, in my .308, I exclusively shoot 44 grains of Varget behind a 175 TMK. Throughout the year the temperature at the range is between 35° to 85°. I am not shooting bench rest, I am smashing steel from 100 yards to 1000 yards. Off a bipod with a sock of rice as my rear bag.

SO... Is Varget that beneficial to ME for the above scenario ?

 

[kyreloader]

26” barrel 1:10 twist, bolt, 168gr Berger’s, hunting and plinking

AR Comp

 

[Rsadams]

I am curious, everyone agrees that Vaarget is more temperature stable than IMR4064, I wont argue that. Varget is near impossible to find, and it's almost always at a premium price. That being said, in my .308, I exclusively shoot 44 grains of Varget behind a 175 TMK. Throughout the year the temperature at the range is between 35° to 85°. I am not shooting bench rest, I am smashing steel from 100 yards to 1000 yards. Off a bipod with a sock of rice as my rear bag.

SO... Is Varget that beneficial to ME for the above scenario ?

If I couldn't find varget I wouldn't hesitate to use imr-4064... Here in Texas the temps can be 110 so during the summer I back it down a bit but I can't take the heat and the guns stay hot so I normally only shoot during the temps you are at... I honestly have never tryed varget in my .308s simply because of the reasons you listed... Can be expensive and can be hard to find... I bet right now it would be impossible to get but you probably could find 4064 and I use it in my .308 , 30.06 and 6mm Remington.... It may not exactly be the best for all three but I don't want to have to stock extra bottles of powder for guns I don't shoot alot.. one powder for all three works for me..

I recently started shooting skeet and I had to drive three hours round trip today to find the components I needed... So I bought $360 worth of powder , primers , shot and wads.... That plus what I buy factory wise when I get lazy will keep me going for awhile... If you're not careful you can end up with alot of half empty bottles of powder and to me that's a waste of money... But in this case you know 4064 will work so it couldn't hurt to pick up a pound to try....

 

[alby280]

BL-C2 has been my choice for 40 years .

 

[lotech]

I've used a variety of powders in .308. Varget is often mentioned and it's a good one, but I suspect many who use Varget use it based solely on a recommendation by others and have not done much, if any, experimentation with other powders. In many instances with bullets in the 150 -180 grain range, I've found H4895 provides at least slightly better accuracy than Varget. However, you often trade a little velocity for the accuracy improvement.

A variety of good powders have been mentioned here; you can't try too many.

 

[lb-ft]

H322 with 150 /155 class bullets is my very favorite bolt gun plinking round. In 24”, recoil is noticeably reduced over any other full power combination I’ve tried and the precision is excellent. Also, more rounds fired plinking LR steel before bbl heats hp vs other combinations. It’s roughly 2500 FPS.

4065 is a favorite of mine with 168 and 175 SMK.

Max velocity and stunning precision came together with 155 Scenar utilizing 4166.

In truth though, there are probably 30 powders that could be used in 308. Probably only the ‘06 beats it in dietary variety.

 

[Bamban]

Don't forget the forgotten powder, IMR4320. It may not be the powder of choice these days, but when the popular ones are unobtainable, 4320 seems to be on the shelf.

 

[Ned Ludd]

Don't forget the forgotten powder, IMR4320. It may not be the powder of choice these days, but when the popular ones are unobtainable, 4320 seems to be on the shelf.

This is probably why IMR has discontinued 4320. If you like using it, I'd suggest stocking up as when the stuff on shelves (and/or in warehouses) is gone, it won't be replaced.