308 Powder

[willyp]

What is the best overall powder for a 308? I plan on shooting bullets from 125gr to 165gr.

Thanks in advance.

 

[rcmodel]

Get a reloading manual and do the ground work yourself with a pencil & paper.

I can recommend the Lyman #49, and/or the Speer manual.

But in the grand scheme of things right now.

Whatever powder anyone tells you to buy is out of stock and you can't get it anyway.

rc

 

[allaroundhunter]

What is the best powder? There probably isn't just one. Your gun will probably like 'x' powder with lighter loads and 'y' powder with heavier loads...

A reloading manual will help you with which powders to start looking for... But good luck finding some to buy.

 

[Kernel]

Reloader 15, Varget, IMR 4320, 4895, 4064, Accurate 2520, V-V N530, N135. That's the ballpark you want to be in.

 

[45lcshooter]

There really is no "best powder". I had this conversation with a couple friends of mine this weekend. A rifle will like a specific bullet and bullet grain, a rifle will like a specific powder, primers ehhhh I haven't really seen a rifle be picky. Yes that may sound weird but its true.

Yes a rifle will fire with what ever right combination of correct powder and bullet brass and primer. But to get to the root of reloading, is you either want to save money or better accuracy. A lot of people want both.

So when you want both, they have to expirement. Get yourself a manual, take it to a shop, look to see what powder the shop has to offer for sale(not sold out) and buy 2 or 3 pounds, and try them to see what you and the rifle come up with.

What ever powder your not happy with, you can sell it or trade it for what works in your rifle.

My rifles like IMR4895, Varget, CFE223, H380

 

[BoilerUP]

8208XBR is excellent with those weights in 308, meters well, and is temp stable.

H4895 and Varget are also good.

 

[kelbro]

H4895, Varget, and IMR4064 work well for me.

 

[wyohome]

I use 748...have for years. I do not need max loads, have no idea the pressure or velocity, but it works well in all of my 308s.

 

[StandingTall]

IMO, that's like asking "how many licks does it take to get to the center of a tootsie-roll pop". There are multiple powders you can use for .308 and everyone is going to have their own opinion of which one is the best.

Like rcmodel said, get yourself a reloading manual and do some ground work yourself. If you're going to reload, you need a manual anyway.

 

[Comrade Mike]

The best powder for .308 is the one that shoots best in your rifle. Sorry, none of us have a magic 8 ball that can save you the leg work of load development.

 

[Hopkins]

Since Varget is not available I'd go with the IMR 4064 for that range of bullet weights.

 

[Walkalong]

While there are plenty of good ones, it is hard to go wrong with IMR 4895, and I am sure H 4895 is as good.

 

[jmr40]

RL-15 or Varget are my prefered powders. I've found them to offer the best balance of speed, accuracy, and temperature insensitivity. But the great thing about the 308 is that it works very well with many powders. I've had good luck with 4064, 4895, Ramshot TAC, and 3031. I could make any of those work and be happy.

 

[jmr40]

The best powder for .308 is the one that shoots best in your rifle. Sorry, none of us have a magic 8 ball that can save you the leg work of load development.

get yourself a reloading manual and do some ground work yourself. If you're going to reload, you need a manual anyway.

Advice like this, while true to a degree is counterproductive. A fellow could spend thousands of dollars experimenting with different powder, bullet, primer, seating depth, and brass combo's just to find what works best in his rifle.

There is nothing at all wrong with asking for and giving details about what works best for you. Every load I use, in every rifle I own, was "borrowed" from someone else. There is no reason for everyone to re-invent the wheel.

While I'd never blindly use a load I picked up on the internet, or from some guy in a gunshop, if you ask enough people you start to see trends. It is no accident that the same combo's keep coming up time and time again that are working for many people. I'd still cross check any load I wanted to try with a manual, but you can really start narrowing things down. The 1st load you try might not work, or it may need to be tweaked slightly for your rifle, but you'll find one that works for you a lot faster, and cheaper, by asking for advice.

 

[LiveLife]

These are favored powders used for 308 pet loads at The Rifleman's Journal, a dedicated website for long-range (1000 yards) match shooting - http://riflemansjournal.blogspot.com/2010/01/reloading-western-shooters-pet-loads.html

- Hodgdon Varget
- Hodgdon 4350
- IMR 4895
- Hodgdon 4895
- IMR 4320
- Vihtavuori N150


I like to use H4895 and Varget for 308 loads with Hornady 168 gr HPBT Match bullets (Springfield M1A).

 

[Jim Watson]

As rc says, the best thing to do would be to list the powders mentioned here and go see what your dealer actually had. Panic demand has really distorted supplies.

 

[HexHead]

I've been using Varget.

 

[NormB]

Varget not available? I put an order in with midsouth in early January and got my powder last month. That's faster than ATF kicks out Form 4 approvals.