Newb looking for some powder suggestions!

[rhinoortiz]

Hey all, My brother and I are new to this hole reloading thing so bare with me as i post this. Both of us have recently bought rifles for more medium to long range shooting. We've tested some factory ammo to see how they do and to break mine in since it was new. I got a savage 110 tactical with a 24'' heavy fluted barrel in 308 Win. My brother bought used a savage 112 FVSS with a 26'' stainless fluted barrel in 30-06 Spring. We've got an assortment of bullets that i thing will do well in both rifles. I'm still trying to find some 168 grain ELD-Ms because my rifle seemed to shoot those the best with the factory ammo but have not had any luck yet. Right now i have Hornady 168g BTHP, Hornady 178g ELD-M, Sierra 168g Match King and Sierra 175g Match King.

My question to you guys is what powders should i be trying with these bullets? What have you had good experience with?

Ive picked up a couple powders so far like Varget, Shooters world Match, Shooters World Precision and Cfe 223( also using for 223 rem)
I was thinking about trying to get H4350, Benchmark, or maybe one of the IMR Enduron powders to try as well.
Will these be fine or is there some other magic powder I'm missing that would be a better option, haha.

I know this is a pretty loaded Question and most answers will be very opinion based but any help right now would be greatly appreciated.

[Sir Toast]

Hey dude. Have you read a reloading manual yet? If not, please do. It is very easy to blow yourself up, along with people around you. Especially when you're reloading for 30-06, etc.

Sorry, there's too many issues for me to respond in one post.

Stay away from H4350 and Varget. That's my 2 cents.

[JackEllis]

I can tell you which powders I've used in a .30-06.

IMR 4064, primarily because it provides the most bang for the buck. About 1.5 MOA with Hornady 150 grain bullets, leaded and lead-free, which is good enough for the critters I hunt.

IMR 4451, though I have not really done enough testing yet but I have no reason to believe it won't perform satisfactorily.

I'm looking for loads that are good enough to hunt with. If your interest is long-range shooting you might want more consistency, but you'll get that from experimenting.

H4350 seem to be the "pixie dust" for .308 caliber handloaders but I've given up on it since availability seems to be hit-and-miss. It was the first powder I tried when I was still pretty clueless about reloading but about the time I used up the first pound of powder I was unable to find more so I've gone to others.

Definitely get a reloading manual or two and read them. Stick with the manufacturer's recommendations and learn how to read pressure signs. I have both the Lyman and Hornady manuals. IMR and Hogdon load data are available on the Internet.

[ar15barrels]

Hey all, My brother and I are new to this hole reloading thing so bare with me as i post this. Both of us have recently bought rifles for more medium to long range shooting. We've tested some factory ammo to see how they do and to break mine in since it was new. I got a savage 110 tactical with a 24'' heavy fluted barrel in 308 Win. My brother bought used a savage 112 FVSS with a 26'' stainless fluted barrel in 30-06 Spring. We've got an assortment of bullets that i thing will do well in both rifles. I'm still trying to find some 168 grain ELD-Ms because my rifle seemed to shoot those the best with the factory ammo but have not had any luck yet. Right now i have Hornady 168g BTHP, Hornady 178g ELD-M, Sierra 168g Match King and Sierra 175g Match King.

My question to you guys is what powders should i be trying with these bullets? What have you had good experience with?

Ive picked up a couple powders so far like Varget, Shooters world Match, Shooters World Precision and Cfe 223( also using for 223 rem)
I was thinking about trying to get H4350, Benchmark, or maybe one of the IMR Enduron powders to try as well.
Will these be fine or is there some other magic powder I'm missing that would be a better option, haha.

I know this is a pretty loaded Question and most answers will be very opinion based but any help right now would be greatly appreciated.

Varget will be good for the 308.
Depending on bullet weight for the 30-06, look at IMR4895 or 4064.

[rhinoortiz]

Hey dude. Have you read a reloading manual yet? If not, please do. It is very easy to blow yourself up, along with people around you. Especially when you're reloading for 30-06, etc.

Sorry, there's too many issues for me to respond in one post.

Stay away from H4350 and Varget. That's my 2 cents.

I have purchased several manuals (Lee, Lyman, Hornady, Hodgdon and sierra)
Ive read the hole lee book and looked at data in all of them.There is just so many powders listed to choose from between all of them. Just wanted to know if there are powders that i should try over others is all.
Why do you say stay way from Varget? Seem s to be the go to for a lot of people.

[rhinoortiz]

I can tell you which powders I've used in a .30-06.

IMR 4064, primarily because it provides the most bang for the buck. About 1.5 MOA with Hornady 150 grain bullets, leaded and lead-free, which is good enough for the critters I hunt.

IMR 4451, though I have not really done enough testing yet but I have no reason to believe it won't perform satisfactorily.

I'm looking for loads that are good enough to hunt with. If your interest is long-range shooting you might want more consistency, but you'll get that from experimenting.

H4350 seem to be the "pixie dust" for .308 caliber handloaders but I've given up on it since availability seems to be hit-and-miss. It was the first powder I tried when I was still pretty clueless about reloading but about the time I used up the first pound of powder I was unable to find more so I've gone to others.

Definitely get a reloading manual or two and read them. Stick with the manufacturer's recommendations and learn how to read pressure signs. I have both the Lyman and Hornady manuals. IMR and Hogdon load data are available on the Internet.

These rifles wont be used for any hunting, mainly target rifles. I was thinking about 4451 and 4166 since those are advertised as alternatives to Varget and H4350 and they both seem a bit easier to get. Im fine with experimenting. Ive been reloading 30-30 win. so far and when off the lee data. loaded charges from the starting up to the max recommended in .2 grain increments and settled on a good load with no pressure signs and decent accuracy so I'm fine with the hole process.

[rhinoortiz]

Varget will be good for the 308.
Depending on bullet weight for the 30-06, look at IMR4895 or 4064.

Why do you say depending on bullet weight? My lee book and the sierra app show both powders for the 168 and 175 grain bullets. Not trying to be rude or anything, just wondering. This is the kind of information i am trying to learn. I'm not so savy when it comes to powder and bullet combos yet but I'm slowly learning.

[ar15barrels]

Why do you say depending on bullet weight?
My lee book and the sierra app show both powders for the 168 and 175 grain bullets.
Not trying to be rude or anything, just wondering.
This is the kind of information i am trying to learn.
I'm not so savy when it comes to powder and bullet combos yet but I'm slowly learning.

Within a given cartridge:
Faster powders are generally better for lighter bullets.
Slower powders are generally better for heavier bullets.
4895 is a little bit faster than 4064.
4895 is THE go-to for 150gr loads in 30-06.
4064 is the one for the 168's and 175's.

In 308, don't even bother with anything other than Varget for 168's through 178's.

[rhinoortiz]

Within a given cartridge:
Faster powders are generally better for lighter bullets.
Slower powders are generally better for heavier bullets.
4895 is a little bit faster than 4064.
4895 is THE go-to for 150gr loads in 30-06.
4064 is the one for the 168's and 175's.

In 308, don't even bother with anything other than Varget for 168's through 178's.

Good to know. What about superformance? have any experience with it? where does it fall as far as burn rate? Is it worth trying? Out of all the factory ammo i shot the Superformance Match with 168 ELD-M shot the best in the 308. Gave me a 5/8 inch group at 100 yards!

[ar15barrels]

What about superformance?
have any experience with it?
where does it fall as far as burn rate?

I have not used it but it's way down on the slow end for a 308.

[rhinoortiz]

I have not used it but it's way down on the slow end for a 308.

Dang, way down there. Thanks for that list also. Just printed it out to keep on hand. Seems as most of the powders for 308 in my manuals fall in a small section of that list. Maybe between Benchmark and Power Pro 2000MR. Thanks for all the info. I really appreciate it.

[bigbossman]

I have used H4895 and 168gr Sierra MK bullets with great success out to 600 yards.

[baih777]

For my 308.
Hornady HPBT 168. 1-10 twist 24inch barrel.
Varget, Benchmark, RL15

[baih777]

Hornady 178 eld was hard for me to get a good load. The bullet is long and will have a lot of bullet jump before it hits the rifling.
Might work better in the 30-06.

[rhinoortiz]

I have used H4895 and 168gr Sierra MK bullets with great success out to 600 yards.

H4895 seems to come up alot in my researching. I might try and pick some.up to try. Heck, if it dosent work then I'm sure I'll load a cartridge in the future that it will work for.[emoji106]

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