Powder choice for 18” .308 win

shooting an 18" .308 win, will be using 165-180gr in a 10 twist. What have yall found that works best. Thanks!

Edit : These are the powders I have available to use at the moment. I've looked through several manuals but I know sometimes people have found multiple powders that work well that aren't listed in a book.
Tac
IMR 4064
IMR 4895
Varget
Benchmark
H4350
H4831SC
H1000
Retumbo
RL7
RL25
RL26
N570
180 may be a bit heavy for Tac but it should be great at 168 gr and lower.
 
Is this for hunting or competition/playing? If the latter, the Sierra 155 Palma or 155 Tipped Match King are pretty hard to beat. BC's a bit over .500 and significantly more velocity than you'll get out of 168's or 180's of any sort.
 
Is this for hunting or competition/playing? If the latter, the Sierra 155 Palma or 155 Tipped Match King are pretty hard to beat. BC's a bit over .500 and significantly more velocity than you'll get out of 168's or 180's of any sort.
Main use for now is playing, but it will be used for a hunting rig also when time allows. Main reason for the bullet weight is that's what I had on hand besides the 215s, which weren't an option.
 
For a bolt action 16" hunting gun with the intent of taking game out to 500 yards, better to go with a heavy slower bullet or a lighter faster bullet. I'm using Varget with 180 Berger EH but only getting 2450ish for velocity.
Getting velocity from GRT and using Berger's website, at 500 yards the 180 berger is doing 1753fps and a 155 berger would be doing 1760fps. Seems like the 180 would kill better if they are going the same velocity.
 
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The .308 Win. has been a favorite cartridge of mine since I started shooting Palma a couple of decades ago. While I still enjoy shooting Palma, I just don't find the time anymore. But...

You also can't beat the .308 Win. for plain Jane hunting cartridge either. There are a dozens of bullets fully suited to use in a hunting rifle and you will not be under-gunned even when pursuing elk.

In an effort to control the number of components I'm buying these days, I've standardized on the Badlands 195 gr. SBD-2 for my .30 caliber cartridges including the .308 Win. Yes it is a heavy weight but performs well even out to 800 yards.
VVN-140
W-W 748
Ramshot TAC
IMR-3031 (the one we all forget about...)
IMR-8208 XBR (but can find or buy)
Alliant AR-Comp

When I only need a slightly lighter bullet, I switch to the Hornady 176 gr. A-Tip bullets.

There are lots of solutions for your testing. Enjoy the process!

:)
 

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