Finally got my load right! 308 168gn bthp

RugerSlinger

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I have been working on my loads for a while for my Savage 10fcp-k in 308 and i finally think i got it. I received a tip from the smith that is building my new rifle to try IMR 4895 in my 308. So today i loaded up some brand new Hornady 308 match brass, resized the neck, trimmed to 2.06" , popped a BR2 primer in and dropped in 43.5 gns of 4895 in and set a 168gn Hornady BTHP Match and took it for a try. My first few groups were about .75" then my third group was a ragged hole under .5". that would be under .2" CTC.

Check out the pic
2011-10-01%25252015.43.57.jpg


The fine line squares are 1/2"

Happy Reloading!
 
Not surprised that you used 4895. It's one of the best (from an accuracy standpoint) powders ever used in the caliber.

Nice shooting.

B
 
I use 4895 and a 168 Sierra BTHP for my M1A in highpower matches. What amazes me is how you can hit a "sweet spot" with powder amounts, and a 1/2 grain higher or lower means less accuracy.
 
I was using varget, then i tried 43gns of 4895 and it was less accurate than the varget, then i tried 43.5 and it was sweet. I dont know if i will be able to get much better than this. Is it worth trying to tweek it a bit more?
 
I was using varget, then i tried 43gns of 4895 and it was less accurate than the varget, then i tried 43.5 and it was sweet. I dont know if i will be able to get much better than this. Is it worth trying to tweek it a bit more?

I am about to start reloading for my AR-10 using Varget, hopefully it likes it better than your Savage. My plan was to cross reference some book loads with some web loads, starting low of course, and work my way up at .5 grain increments to see how the rifle reacts and then home in on accuracy with some batches in .1 grain increments. I've read what USMA said in a few different places - that very small changes can make big differences, so I figure it's worth putting in the time to go this route up front so I can then get down to working on my skills with the knowledge that if the target looks like a shotgun was used it's ME and not the equipment [laugh]
 
I was using a load of 43gns of varget with no signs of high pressure. I tried it in commercial brass and military brass and found that the military brass had a lot less capacity and they were almost full. I think because of this i got better results with the military brass.
 
varget has given me really good results. with the 168s in FGMM brass.
42 grains was spot on for me. there's always room for tweaking, but it depends on what your goal is and what you're running it through.

being a bolt gun i would tweak it some more just to see what happens. you might get even better
 
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