Wait on H4895 or Switch?

[urbanrifleman]

I use the exact load on the bottle for my 308 hunting load, except with a Sierra bullet. It has provided very nice accuracy and velocity for that cartridge in my X Bolt. HOWEVER, you can probably guess this, it has been like hen's teeth to find in stock. I'm getting down to where I couldn't reload a box with what I have. But I also won't have to reload more 308s for , gosh, maybe 2 years. ( I don't go through that much)
Should I look for a powder that is more reliably in stock? If so, what might work closely to the same as H4895? I tried 4064 and Reloader 15 and they didn't match the h4895. I have several manuals , Lyman, Hornady, Nosler, the Hodgdon handbook, Sierra. I'm shooting out of a 22" barrel and I'm thinking that makes the faster powders work better, as 4064 and Reload 15 are slower.

Try TAC. Same burn rate. My customers love it.

 

[LVLAaron]

I looked at that one. It's under consideration.

It's the best powder you'll ever use.

 

[newbieshooter]

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[Juma]

748. Brilliant powder for 308. 2C.

 

[Davers]

I use Winchester's 748 or Varget in my .308, both produce fine accuracy.

 

[Dgd6mm]

Buy VV powder and save $200.00. It's a hunting rifle and it will be plenty accurate if you match the powder to the bullet.

 

[urbanrifleman]

It's the best powder you'll ever use.

Agreed.

Same powder used in 308 Gold Medal match ammo too.

AR comp is the best powder I've ever used. TS 15.5 is right there with it. As is r16. All are Bofors.

 

[mic2377]

If you don't want to change your recipe much try IMR 4895. A very forgiving and easy to load powder. Also N135 is a good option.

The other powders like AR Comp, TAC, etc are also outstanding but will require much more load workup.

 

[jelenko]

I am switching to VV powders.
Not that long ago, they were considered the best you could get but were too expensive.
These days they much less expensive than H495, Varget, AR Comp or SW Precision.

 

[Eric Leonard]

I use 8208 with 150s to hunt with

 

[ronemus]

N140 could be considered.

I saw that stuff was available. I thought about it. Didn't have the velocities that H4895 did, but, as they say "Your results may vary" Vita Vhiouri (or however) is serious stuff.
I saw that stuff was available. I thought about it. Didn't have the velocities that H4895 did, but, as they say "Your results may vary" Vita Vhiouri (or however) is serious stuff. Sako, Tika, V.V. Norma...Scandanavians don't FKK around.

If you want velocity, try N540 - the high-energy (5xx) series is good for an additional 100-200 fps vs. the 1xx powders.

 

[STOMP442]

So you have enough ammo loaded to last you two years? I say you have plenty to just keep on waiting if you wanted to. I wouldn't worry about switching until I was down to my last 50 rounds or so. With a new administration coming into office things may become much easier to find in that time period. Just my .02

 

[Mark611]

I'm gonna throw a couple of curve balls in this, there's 2 Accurate powders I have personally used and should be easy to obtain, A2495 very close to H4895, 1 step above H4895 on the burn rate chart, also A2460, 2460 is a ball powder, it is a fast powder, I ran 41gns of 2460 under a 175gn SMK and they aved 2690fps, too much for me! 39.5gns pushed the 175's 2580's right where I want it with my 25''HB target rifle, also 2495 produced the same velocities with 41gns, 2580'fps, from 20'' barrel with 42gns of 2460 and 42.5gns of 2495 run in the upper 2700fps to almost 2800fps with a 150gn SGK, I have also had to look for alternative powders even tho I still have plenty of H4895 Varget AR Comp and the like, I'm not planning to spend any more money than I have to on powders, YMMV

 

[joshb]

I got on the Varget bandwagon when I started loading for my 308. It served me well. As mentioned before, lots of powders work in it, which makes it an easy cartridge to load during these times of fluctuating powder availability. My most accurate load for a Sierra 168 is with Viht 135.

 

[mic2377]

I'm gonna throw a couple of curve balls in this, there's 2 Accurate powders I have personally used and should be easy to obtain, A2495 very close to H4895, 1 step above H4895 on the burn rate chart, also A2460, 2460 is a ball powder, it is a fast powder, I ran 41gns of 2460 under a 175gn SMK and they aved 2690fps, too much for me! 39.5gns pushed the 175's 2580's right where I want it with my 25''HB target rifle, also 2495 produced the same velocities with 41gns, 2580'fps, from 20'' barrel with 42gns of 2460 and 42.5gns of 2495 run in the upper 2700fps to almost 2800fps with a 150gn SGK, I have also had to look for alternative powders even tho I still have plenty of H4895 Varget AR Comp and the like, I'm not planning to spend any more money than I have to on powders, YMMV

The Accurate powders can be a good alternative too. I have used AA4064 in 308 and it shot very well, but my experience has been that their ball powders are fairly temp sensitive. The stick powders are similar to the IMR series but their burn rates don't exactly coincide with their number.

 

[RegionRat]

https://hodgdonpowderco.com/warnings/
Nothing wrong with looking at some of the Accurate powders.
Just make sure you don't score a deal on powder from one of these lots:

 

[J.d. Popkes]

Switch

 

[Dave Zander]

I saw that stuff was available. I thought about it. Didn't have the velocities that H4895 did, but, as they say "Your results may vary" Vita Vhiouri (or however) is serious stuff. Sako, Tika, V.V. Norma...Scandanavians don't FKK around.

N150 maybe a option and may give you higher velocity

 

[misser]

what about imr 8208 xbr ?

 

[jelenko]

Is that available more than H4895?