.308 Winchester and IMR4895

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Lake City Arsenal's loaded IMR4895 in their 7.62mm NATO match ammo since the early 1960's. It's excellent powder. Especially for bullets lighter than 160 grains.

But not quite as good as IMR4064 for accuracy with bullets in the 165 to 190 grain range. But you gotta weigh each charge as this powder doesn't meter all that uniform.
 
IMR 4895 worked well in my 308win, with Sierra 150gr. in a Rem.600 carbine. 20 shots, average under 1" @100 yds.
 
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IMR 4895 is an excellent powder for both .308 Winchester and .30-06, which it was developed for.

Hope this helps.

Fred
 
Good stuff!

44.8 grains of IMR-4895, 168 grain Nosler HPBT, Win brass, CCI LR Primer, col of 2.810 produced 4 shots in one hole at 100 yards, 1/2 MOA, the 5th shot was a 1/4" away from those. This is awesome powder and I bought 8 lbs of it.:D

My first load with IMR4895 produced better accuracy than any of my other powders, which includes 4064, H-4895 and Varget. Varget wasn't worth a damn in my rifle.
 
Does anyone use IMR4895 in 150gr .308 Winchester loads? If so, how does it work? Thanks.

Considering that the Nato round was developed using IMR 4895, it will work, and work fine.

I was testing 155 gr Match bullets, to find something around 2700 fps. 42.5 grains IMR 4895 with a 150/155 is easy on the gun, and accurate.

This load is appropriate for use in my M1a.

Ruger M77 26" barrel, 1:10 twist

155 Nosler Match 42.5 grs IMR 4895 wtd (lot L7926 mfgr 2000) TZZ Brass CC#34 OAL 2.750"

4 July 2009 T = 86 °F

Ave Vel = 2716
Std Dev = 33
ES = 113
High = 2794
Low = 2681
N = 10
 
How does H322 fare in 150gr .308 loads? I ask because H322 is cheaper per round than IMR4895. Thanks.
 
40.0 grains of H322 is cheaper then 47.3 grains H4895 alright.

But 9.0 grains of 700X and a cast bullet is cheaper still!

You got to ask yourself the question:
Are you looking to save money, or load for factory level performance?

Most of your questions today can be answered on the Hodgdon web site if you care to take the time to look at it.
http://data.hodgdon.com/main_menu.asp

rc
 
rc,
That is my point. I want to save money. My expectation for my ammo is to shoot the same as factory Remington Core Lockt or Winchester PP ammo. The cheapest powder that will allow me to do that is the one that I want. I am not shooting 1000yds at Camp Perry. I am looking to shoot a deer up to300yds. Will H322 allow me to do that when placed behind a 150gr .308 Winchester PP or Remington Core Lockt bullet? Thanks.
 
My expectation for my ammo is to shoot the same as factory Remington Core Lockt or Winchester PP ammo.
Hand loading will do better than that just about all the time.
I use 4895 with 150 grain FMJBT Hornaday bullets in Winchester brass and CCI large rifle primers and my FAL seems to love it. Not a match winning group by any means but I can hit want I am aiming at reasonable distances (out to 300m).
 
The faster ball powders in .308 can get a little hairy if you're not careful. They work pretty good with the lighter bullets but pressures start to spike early with 150+ grain bullets.

Watched a friend blow up an M1A shooting 190 grain Sierra's and AA2200. Hell of a combo.
 
OP - I understand that you may be new to reloading and have a lot of questions about it so that you "get it right" the first time. From a lot of the posts that I've read, it seems like the consistent main idea is to save money, which reloading does, but that "best, cheapest load" data can only be gained through experimentation. One rule of thumb when choosing a powder for a load is to have sufficient case capacity. Which powders have sufficient case capacity and are the recommended powders for a particular load? The ones listed in a manual. Which is why it is best to have several sources of load information. If the same powders keep showing up in different sources, this usually indicates that those powders have been tested and found to be among the best choices. Some powders may be less expensive than others, but basing this decision solely on cost per cartridge is a mistake if you require the performance that you've stated.
 
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