.308 Secret Sauce??? (Loading Question)

[Stallone A.]

I was just wondering if any of you guys can help me out with making a load for my .308?

A friend of mine is helping load some rounds however we have not found the secret sauce yet that my rifle likes.

 

So far it hates Berger Bullets we tried many different loads and seating depths but could not group anything more than a inch.

We are using VARGET POWDER.

 

My rifle loves Blackhills Gold 168gr A-Max however we are trying to build a better hunting round for my rifle.

As of right now we just purchased Lapua Brass and Hornidy ELD-X 178gr bullets? We have not loaded anything yet. I know its all trial and error but its expensive to figure out.

 

I have a Remington 700 action with a 20in Tactical Barrel 1:10 twist rate.

 

Any Help would be appreciated.

 

Thanks in advance,

 

[roninflag]

155 scenar a lot of varget. 210m

[DesertBull]

The amax bullet is a killer. Dont let the "target" label deter you.

 

44 grains of IMR 4064 with the 168 Amax works great in my .308. Work up to it though. Ive also had good luck with the 180 SST WITH 44 grains of RL15

[ctafoya]

My 308 likes the 168gn hornady balistic tips with hornady cases CCI 200 with 43gn H4350.

[CraigK]

I shoot 175gr matchkings and it shoots lights out with RL 15. I can't remember charge at this time, but shoots .5moa out of a factory tikka. My brother killed a few bucks with that bullet and it performed great.

[mfernaz]

My Ruger Precision .308 loves the 168 grain Amax over 46 grains of Varget , and seated to mag length. Half MOA or better. I'm doing a ladder test with the 178 grain ELD-X using varget. I'll keep you posted.

[lancetkenyon]

168 & 175 SMK is what we loaded for my son-in-law's .308 over Varget, WW brass & BR-2 primers.

I have used SMKs in various flavors for a lot of game. Never had one go far if I put the bullet in the boiler room. From .224 69gr, to .308 210gr. A bunch in between too. My longest kill ever was a .250AI pushing a 100 SMK on a coyote. 1327 yards. More luck than anything.

[maximus]

I use 150 gamekings, 45 grain imr4895 and the coal is 2.775

Unreal groups

[300RUM]

I have the same barrel length and twist as you. A few weeks ago I fired 180 NBT's with Varget and the load was over 1 inch. Velocity was 2550 fps. It was the first time I loaded with the heavier bullet so it could still be something a seating depth adjustment could fix. I usually fire 168 SMK with Varget or H4895 and get 0.5 MOA. When I first worked up the 168 loads I did try a powder that the gun did not like and would not group with. You might get a pound of a different powder and see if that makes a difference. When you look at the load data for different powders keep in mind they probably used a 26 or 24 inch barrel.

[STOMP442]

I have always had much better results with 4064 than varget in .308.

[10Turkeys]

Been years since I shot a .308, but when I did it was 4064 or 4895, which ever I had at the time. As a side note WW-748 worked great also, but was really temp sensitive.

[308Nut]

RL-15, 4064 and 4895 are also great choices. I've had good results with the 178 eldx.

[Stallone A.]

Ok, we just loaded some new test loads.

I will let you know how it goes tomorrow.

We are trying Hornady ELD-X and Lapua ?

 

Thanks for all the info guys.

 

Also Thanks to Maximus for giving me Six of your Sierra Game Kings to test out.

[Coues Sniper]

If you have a good load with the amax's, stop there. Excellent hunting bullet, and you can stop the money spiral testing new loads.

[Stallone A.]

If you have a good load with the amax's, stop there. Excellent hunting bullet, and you can stop the money spiral testing new loads.

Thanks Coues Sniper, Yes I have great groups with the A-Max Bullets however last season my son shot his bull elk with it. He dropped the elk in its tracks, he was flopping around for a couple of minutes so we got closer to put another round in him and he just got his footing and took off. Very Little blood (4 drops) and to make a long story short we could never find him. I feel if we had a better bullet like a Berger or ELD-X the initial devastation would have been greater and we would have never lost that bull. I have shot many Coues Deer with the A-max with no problems but an Elk is a lot bigger. I just never want to have that happen again...