Primers and Powder for 308

[xsn10s]

If you're hunting out in California you'll have to use lead free bullets, or at least that's the last I heard. My only suggestion there is to make sure you start with a barrel completely cleans of all copper fouling prior to testing/ shooting. Some mono bullets, and some bonded bullets, don't play well with different copper jacket.

 

[KSB209]

Yea I am in the communist republic of CA. Fortunately we can still shoot lead at ranges (for now). All my rifles really like factory Hornady SST for accuracy so I will probably start with those. Eventually I want to load the Hammer bullets because I keep reading really good things about them and they are legal in CA.

just need to start and learn. Hopefully I can get going this weekend and load a few to take to the range the following weekend

 

[xsn10s]

This is what I'd do. I'd find a lead free bullet that your rifle likes and then look for a cheap alternative to load. Try to match the BC's and weight so you can come close to the same trajectory.

 

[KSB209]

thanks everyone for sharing your insight. The knowledge and willingness to help a new guy on this forum is pretty special

 

[lotech]

I've had very good results with CCI-200 primers and H4895 powder in .308 rifles. I've always handloaded bullets in the 150 -180 grain range only. Varget is a very close second to H4895 but I've never seen quite the overall accuracy with it that I've experienced with H4895. I use any brass that's not mixed, usually Winchester or Remington from the same batch.

 

[skipglo]

I've already read a few different posts from the search feature and just looking for a few pointers for a new reloaded. Ok so this will be my absolute first crack at reloading. Questions....
Primers - large rifle or magnum? I've read guys using magnum. I know a shop that gets them so I need to figure out which ones to buy. They are over priced but will break down 1000 count boxes (CCI primers) into packs of 100 for $15 each. Knowing I will not have a lot of powder to buy which primer would you use to start with? Seems like large rifle primers are a bit easier to get then the magnum.

powders - if you are going to over pay for a pound or 2 which powder? I think they were selling a pound around $

bullets seem to be pretty easy to find and I have about 50 once fired Hornady brass.

my goal is to just start loading. I'm there is going to be a learning curve but I have to start somewhere. I've got access to dies so I don't need to buy those yet.
Just been reading and watching videos and now want to get to loading and shooting.

yeah I know I'm over paying for this stuff but I want to learn and I can't do that sitting on my couch and playing on the internet waiting for prices to drop. That's why I won't be buying a lot of supplies right now. Just enough to get my hands dirty

Just starting stay safe....rule of thumb...if it doesn't say MAGNUM...use regular! When a load says MAXIMUM LOAD....start a little short of max.... especially until you have PROVEN YOUR SCALES ACCURACY....get a buddy to bring over a scale... or buy Two.....the risk is in overloading! Just me

 

[backwoodsshooter]

primer- anything large rifle

powder- IMR4064,4895,3031

projectile- i'm a big fan of the 175-180 stuff.

work you up a kid your rifle likes and roll on.

 

[jpfrog]

Federal 210, IMR 4895, 168 Amax, and Lapua brass have been very good for me in a few different barrels. I'm running low on IMR 4895 and haven't seen it in a while. I hope I can find some soon!

 

[Savage 12BVSS]

Have loaded and worked with 308's for many years, Varget-RL15-IMR4064 are all very good powders which your gun is sure to like. Lapua brass and either CCI BR2 or Fed. 210M will serve you well, Good Shooting and enjoy a very accurate cartridge

 

[KSB209]

I know better then to start at Max loads but how much powder (grains) do typical 308 shell hold? Max powder charge for different powders in my book are from 41'ish up to 49.5 grains. I understand some brass may be thicker then others which will not hold as much powder but as a rule of thumb how much powder can I expect most 308 shells to hold? And does it matter if you use a lesser charge and have a lot of extra room in the shell.

sorry for all the newbie questions I'm just reading and learning

 

[xsn10s]

I know better then to start at Max loads but how much powder (grains) do typical 308 shell hold? Max powder charge for different powders in my book are from 41'ish up to 49.5 grains. I understand some brass may be thicker then others which will not hold as much powder but as a rule of thumb how much powder can I expect most 308 shells to hold? And does it matter if you use a lesser charge and have a lot of extra room in the shell.

sorry for all the newbie questions I'm just reading and learning

That's a smart question, not a newbie question. There are variances with barrels, bullets, primers, powder, and brass so even if you have the same components as the load data you'll never know what you'll get. Others may disagree but when I stated out I looked at several different load manauls and started with the starting load and worked up. Usually I loaded for accuracy and stayed at lower nodes. I shot a lot down in So Cal and my ranges were usually 800 yards or less. So the lower nodes suited me just fine. At that time I shot Sierra's accuracy load which was a 168gr SMK and around 41.4gr IMR 4064. It was accurate, but slow. But it shot just fine out to 800 yards. I'd suggest to do the same. Start low and work up until you get some accurate groups. Many times the load manauls will show accuracy loads on the lower end, as well as near max loads. But until you learn how to load, and how your rifle reacts to loads I'd suggest stay low and look for mid range accuracy loads.

 

[Montana'eer]

I know better then to start at Max loads but how much powder (grains) do typical 308 shell hold? Max powder charge for different powders in my book are from 41'ish up to 49.5 grains. I understand some brass may be thicker then others which will not hold as much powder but as a rule of thumb how much powder can I expect most 308 shells to hold? And does it matter if you use a lesser charge and have a lot of extra room in the shell.

sorry for all the newbie questions I'm just reading and learning

That web article I linked to in post 2 has a table of powder and charge weights (pet loads), many from competition shooters. Years ago guys dug into Federal GMM 168 factory loads and figured out their secret sauce- so I used that as a baseline. Started at 43gr IMR 4064 (which is slightly above baseline) and 43.3 was the sweet spot. That was with virgin Peterson brass.

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On the above site on pg.1 there is a military spec sheet from 2009 that shows IMR 4064, 41.745gr under a 175SMK bullet.

Case capacity will vary by manufacturer and can also vary in the lot, and from lot to lot. Pick a good quality brass, get a Sierra load book or do some research- start low and work up. The .308 is fairly forgiving.

 

[JAYgs8163]

CCI large rifle non magnum primers with Varget is my go to load running 168 or 178 Hornady Amax or ELDX. Shoots little bug holes. 45 grains Varget

 

[KSB209]

Is 100 Rds of new Lapua brass worth $80? Got a bunch of hornady brass and was thinking I should buy more