ADI powder and .308 Win at Mid-range

[Aim-To-Please]

G'day everyone,

I'm looking for a mid-range load for my .308 Winchester. ADI powders are my go-to choice. As an Ozzie they are local for me and easy to get hold of, most other powders are scarce as...

AR2206H and 168 grain Nosler CC are my favoured mix. My question is can anyone suggest a good accurate load. I have found 43.2 grains of AR2206H coupled with the 168 grain Nosler CC to be a good combination and I have Chrono'd these loads at 2770 fps. I've tried loads on either side of this that also shoot well in my AI. I was hoping someone who has had good results they could share using this powder, projectile combo.

I'm shooting sub-moa groups at 300 yds but struggle when I get out past the 500 yard mark.

Looking forward to your comments...

 

[Laurie]

308 and a decent tangent ogive 168gn match bullet (as per the Sierra MK and Nosler CC) is probably one of the easiest combinations to shoot well in most rifles. Just note, the older 168s are not long-range bullets and best kept to 600 yards or less.

Your problem will be in the vast number of 'pet loads', you receive here - except that outside of the Antipodes, few people know which ADI powders are what. To help you get some responses, here are what suitable ADI powders are sold as in the US:

ADI AR2219 .................. H322

ADI Benchmark 2 ......... H Benchmark

ADI Benchmark 8208 .. IMR-8208 XBR

ADI AR2206H ................ H4895

ADI 2208 ......................... H. VarGet

All will work well, and it's unlikely any will better your current AR2206H/H4895, but simple load development and testing will tell you exactly which powders and charges your rifle prefers, likely better than others' experiences.

There is a longstanding 4895 load for 308 Win from the days of the M14 rifle in US High-Power XTC with the very similar 168gn Sierra MK bullet (but probably using the slightly different, slower burning IMR version of 4895) that somebody might chip in with.

 

[D-4297]

The load Laurie was referring to was the Gold Medal Match Load of 42.5gr of IMR 4064 , or H-4895 behind a Sierra 168gr MK . Probably require a bit of adjusting of the powder load to match up to your barrel . The special "Gold" primer is not available for reloaders .

 

[D-4297]

From the FWIW Dept . If you can get hold of some Berger 185 Juggernaut Target bullets ,I'm running them with 43.4gr. of N-150 , setting the bullet .005 off touch . Shot a 198 - 8x this morning at Ben Avery and it was a bit breezy .