.308 questions

[armoredman]

   It looks like I might be starting to load .308 for myself. I've been making some loads for a buddy with Hornaday 150gr bullets that are absolute tack drivers in his rifle. Now, if the worlds turns JUST the right way, (fingers crossed so hard they hurt), I might gain access to a CZ 600 Alpha in .308. It has a 1-10 twist, 20 inch barrel. I have read that 1-10 twists are more effective with heavier bullets like 168-220 grain. I think 168 grains bullets are rather widely available, but not exactly sure where to start on this endeavor. So...first, purpose.
  For starters, this rifle is likely only to be used for target purposes. Longest range I currently have access to is 300 yards. I doubt I will hunt with it, as I am fat, old, and out of shape. truth hurts,. I know, the perils of being an administrator type - we get desk bound.
   Optics - none yet, looking at Riton and Acme on the suggestion of a military and police sniper. That type of recommendation I listen to - I have never ever used anything from either company, BUT I hear Acme makes great anvils and rocket skates, coyote approved.
   Powder I have right now, off the top of my head, is X-Terminator and TAC. Primers are varied standard and magnums...buying whatever was on the shelf during the plandemic. Brass...I have a bunch of brass my buddy dropped off, a lot of NATO but a lot of random civilian brass, too. I have the capabilities to trim and chamfer and swage out the crimp, so brass isn't an issue. I will run out of powder and primers way before I run out of brass!
   Bullets I have are 150gr Hornaday soft point #3031, (those I know exactly), I believe a box of 165 gr LeveRevolution bullets, (the guy didn't know they were really for 30-30), and some Hornaday 110 grains stuff...same guy. He doesn't reload, but I cannot fault someone who wants to donate to the cause. However, I am not limited to these, if I can order or purchase locally.
So, long and short, given the twist and barrel length, what would you suggest/what has worked for you before?
Thank you!

[Joe L]

AM--
My Savage .308 has a 1 in 10 twist 24" barrel.  When I first got it, I tried several different bullet weights and it definitely favored the heavier 168 and 175 bullet weights.  But I've only tested it out to 500 meters, after sighting in a 100 yards and dialing up for the distance.  I made several videos.  Then I went back to something I do well--pistol shooting! 
https://youtu.be/xvWuGnKXQK4
This was with 175 gr Sierra Match Kings in a load from Southwest Ammunition.  I don't think they are in business any longer, not sure.  There are other videos on the Rifle playlist, most done with the 175's. 
Can't wait to see how the CZ .308 shoots!  Hope you get one to try out. 
Joe

[M1A4ME]

My only real experience with the .308 is the M1A.  There's a FAL in the family but I never shot it much (not scope friendly at that time).

My M1A is not your bolt action rifle.  I worked with a lot of powders and bullets trying to make it shoot better than it did.  Finally settled on IMR4895 and Sierra 150 grain spitzer boat tails for deer hunting and anything else.

This was 40 years ago.

Bullet companies were Sierra, Hornady and Speer.  Sierra's were my choice as the rifle shot better groups with Sierras.  The 180 grain Match Kings gave me better groups than the 168 grain Match Kings.  The 150's killed every deer I pulled the trigger on (well, one wasn't dead but shot in the spine it wasn't going anywhere).

Primers were Federal BR primers at first and then CCI LR primers once the local store stopped selling the match primers.  I didn't see a difference in groups.

Powders were IMR4985, IMR4350, IMR4064, IMR4320, BLC2, H335, and maybe one or two others.  Best groups with the match bullets were with IMR4350 (not good for the M1A but 40 years ago there was no internet to find that out before breaking the operating rod) and best groups with the hunting bullets were with IMR4895.

I read the other day that IMR4895 is being discontinued.  However, the same thread (another forum, I think) said H4895 would work just as well with slightly different powder charges.  I have never tried an Alliant powder in the .308 but many people recommend some of those.

I can say that TAC gave me some good groups with Hornady 150 grain FMJBT bullets in the M1 Garand.  I've never gotten around to trying TAC in .308 but I'd expect it to do equally well in the "short .30-06" case.

Good luck with it.

Oh, I tried some 110 grain bullets back then (weird idea of shooting varmints with the M1A or 03A4) and never got decent groups with the light bullets.  Never bought anything lighter than 150 grains after that.

Only other thing I can add is that I never crimp the .308, .30-06 or .223 reloads.  No issues in the M1A, M1 Garand, AR15 or the bolt action rifles (03, 03A3, M1917, 03A4).

[Crawl]

IIRC, the Military M118LR round used to use RE15 powder (the best all around 308 and 223 powder I have ever seen, but it is temperature sensitive) and 175 SMKs.

IMR 4895 ought to do well too.

[skin]

 Let me start from the bottom. Primers, you don't need mag primers, but I use the cci mag primers. They tend to lower the standard deviation and extreme spread.
Brass, it's all good. I use lc, win and lapua.
Powder. For 150's to 175, I use imr 8208, tac and any of the 4895's. 8208 and tac are the best in my rifles.
Last are bullets. Sierra tipped match kings and berger work the best, but others of the same weight work well.
One thing to note is brass weight are different between brands but the internal capacity is really close.
 I've been a lover of the 308 win for many years. I hope this helps.

[huskerlrrp]

Let me start from the bottom. Primers, you don't need mag primers, but I use the cci mag primers. They tend to lower the standard deviation and extreme spread.
Brass, it's all good. I use lc, win and lapua.
Powder. For 150's to 175, I use imr 8208, tac and any of the 4895's. 8208 and tac are the best in my rifles.
Last are bullets. Sierra tipped match kings and berger work the best, but others of the same weight work well.
One thing to note is brass weight are different between brands but the internal capacity is really close.
 I've been a lover of the 308 win for many years. I hope this helps.

All my 308s are 1-10 Twist except my Steyr (1-11). I can't say I have found the twist favors lower or higher weight bullets. It seems I found a few good loads for a certain bullet and it "is what it is". I've also experimented with 195 and 208gr bullets with success.

I have had the same experience with Magnum Primers and the 308 (Lower SDs). I have to back off 0.2-0.3 grains to get the same velocity as a standard primer. They are my go to primer in 308 Winchester (Federal 215M in my bolt guns and Winchester in the AR10).

I have found Lapua to be the most consistent case, but Starline are nearly as good at much lower cost. I run LC in the AR10 (beats up brass). I have had some good results with the small primer cases and CCI 450 (magnum small rifle primer) as well. I've also had better accuracy with Sierra bullets and some Berger bullets than, let's say, Hornady. However, the Hornady groups aren't much worse and often will run ELDM series for the cost and availability.

I have had great luck with Varget, RL15 and Precision powders behind 155 to 175gr projectiles and RL15 has also worked well in heavier bullets (190-195) for me. I also got some interesting results with RL17 and 208 grain bullets, but I won't recommend that to others as it was temperature sensitive and at the fringe.

I won't post any of my loads here, but if you are curious I can IM some.