Powder for heavy bullets in 308 win

[SamuelBerryhill308]

Hello all I have a new to me 308 win with 20 inch barrel and I've already done load work for it in 152 grain hammers and 168 grain amaxs but would like to try some eld x and couple other heavy bullets and I'm not sure what powder would be best for the shorter barrel.. that being said would I be better off sticking with the lighter bullets..also far as heavy bullets go my other 308 is 24 inch which my gut tells me to just use it for the heavy bullets and the short barrel for the lighter ones.anyways i have varget,4064, ram shot tac,n550,ram shot big game and w760 on hand that I can use but not sure what to try and start out any info would be great thanks

 

[hunter67wa]

I ran 180 AB with Varget and a 20"

 

[Black Hat]

How heavy are you going, anything over 190 is a waste of time in the .308win in my opinion.
ADI AR2208 or known as Varget is all you need.
I would pay more attention to twist rate as more critical than barrel length for heavy for caliber projectile accuracy.

I run 44 grains of ADI AR2208 and get 2660fps out of a 26" 1:10, using 185 juggernaut.

 

[.gacton]

What twist? Assuming 1:10. 178 ELD's would work fine with Varget out of your 20" barrel. I agree with what Black Hat said about weight. I run 150-185 in all of my .308's. 185 Juggernauts out of my 30" with Varget all day long.

 

[Black Hat]

Might also be worth taking into consideration your free bore and magazine length for COL, you can chew up some case capacity real quick otherwise unless you single feed it.

 

[sierracharlie338]

Might also be worth taking into consideration your free bore and magazine length for COL, you can chew up some case capacity real quick otherwise unless you single feed it.

This was the issue I had when I tried to load heavies in one of my 308. The freebore was off and actually had to change barrels cause it was cut so short (factory gun not custom)

 

[SamuelBerryhill308]

I ran 180 AB with Varget and a 20"

Ive been looking at these I've hear real good thangs about the 180 AB

 

[SamuelBerryhill308]

Might also be worth taking into consideration your free bore and magazine length for COL, you can chew up some case capacity real quick otherwise unless you single feed it.

I know what you mean this rifle is a remington 700 sps tactical with the 20 inch barrel.it has alot of free bore.the only bullets I can seat to max mag length and be at 20 thou off rifling is the 152 hammer hunters

 

[SamuelBerryhill308]

What twist? Assuming 1:10. 178 ELD's would work fine with Varget out of your 20" barrel. I agree with what Black Hat said about weight. I run 150-185 in all of my .308's. 185 Juggernauts out of my 30" with Varget all day long.

Yes it is 1/10 I've been looking at the 185 vld hunting bullets as well

 

[SamuelBerryhill308]

How heavy are you going, anything over 190 is a waste of time in the .308win in my opinion.
ADI AR2208 or known as Varget is all you need.
I would pay more attention to twist rate as more critical than barrel length for heavy for caliber projectile accuracy.

I run 44 grains of ADI AR2208 and get 2660fps out of a 26" 1:10, using 185 juggernaut.

185s or 190s will be the heaviest ill run in them.both rifles are 1/10 twist one is 20inch barrel and other is 24

 

[memtb]

A difficult conundrum. With the .308 Win.'s limited case capacity, combined with the additional length of a "heavy" bullet....sufficient quantities of a slower burning powder will be difficult to achieve. Perhaps, having a 'smith open up a much longer throat, for greater OAL, would give more powder flexibility and capacity!

I'll be following, with my limited knowledge.....my previous comment was pure speculation on my part! memtb

 

[JTComfort]

My Remington 700 5R-20" likes the 175 Berger OTMs and Varget in Lapua brass, CCI primers - very slippery, good in the wind and @2605fpsmv remain super-sonic out to 1068yds. The Berger factory loaded 175gOTMs are also VERY consistent and accurate as well.

 

[Michael Eichele]

I run 190s, 200s and 208s. H4350, VVN540, 550, RL17 are top choices for the heavies. Get a Wyatt extended box to seat them long. The palma case has slightly better volume than the Lapua LR cases. With a 27" 10x barrel I get 2650-2700 with 200 Hybrids and H4350. YMMV

 

[hunter67wa]

Ive been looking at these I've hear real good thangs about the 180 AB

I know they will open at 423 yards