need dsecent .308 load with what I got

mwells72774

New member
Rifle has a 1-10" 22" barrel. not bull barrel but heavier than factory. Mossberg 100 ATR on .308

bullets:

110gr Hornady SP
165gr Hornady Interlock
168gr Hornady V-max
180gr Sierra RNSP and Spire Point

powder:

RL 7
RL 19
H4831
IMR 8020 XBR
IMR 4198
IMR 7828
WW 748
 

PawPaw

New member
Don't get wrapped around the axle on the fact that the data is for a different twist. Many of us shoot 10 twist barrels and the load data listed at Hodgdon is safe and effective.

Each barrel is different and the data you get from your barrel will be different from what Hodgdon publishes. That's why we do load development, to find out what works in our barrel.

I was doing some load development yesterday for a .308 with a new powder that Alliant is marketing. Of course I used their data as a starting point, but before I got to what they called a max load, I was surpassing their velocity by a small margin. Why is that? Because every barrel is different.

We can't tell you what load will shoot magically in your rifle, but Hodgdon can point you in the right direction. Trust their data.
 

5RWill

New member
Pick up some varget and use 39-45grs. 45 might be over max for 180 though so double check on that one. I've never seen a .308 that wouldn't shoot varget I've gone through 3 different loads through two rifles all shot sub MOA

IMO varget is the best all around powder for .308 based cartridges. I've run it through my .260, .243, and two .308s all shot great. And its not temperature sensitive. Its very consistent in all temps.
 
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Mwells,

Twist mainly affects how long a bullet your barrel will stabilize. Extra twist does use up a little powder energy, but not a lot.

The main thing that jumps out at me are that all your powders except the 8208 XBR are faster or slower than are usually most efficient .308. I've run Varget, IMR 4895, H4895, IMR 4064, 748, N135 and N140, Reloader 15 and a number of others that aren't available anymore or that aren't coming to the surface off the top of my head. For bullets about 140 grains to 180 grains, those will be easier to get top accuracy out of. I haven't tried 8208XBR, so I can't comment on ultimate performance, but that's the one I'd start with for your 168-180 grain load. For the 110's, your IMR-4198 will be just fine.

Expect that since your barrel is 22" instead of 24", you will get maybe 40-60 fps less velocity than the Hodgdon test barrel did. If your chamber is looser than theirs, it will likely be more than that, but some barrels shoot faster than others, too, so it's not certain. Having a chronograph is good for that reason.

There is an old rule of thumb for choosing powder for performance. Take a case that was fired in your gun, and before you decap or resize it, weigh it. Fill it with water, then push the bullet of your choice into the loose neck to the same seating depth you intend to use with it or to a manual's recommended seating depth for it. The excess water will squirt out. Dry oof the outside, remove the bullet and weigh it again. Subtract the first weight from the second weight to get the water weight capacity under the bullet. This tells you how much powder space you have. Multiply that weight by .85, then start looking through load manuals for the powders that give the highest velocity with that result as their charge weight. Since velocity and powder weight tend to climb proportionally, you can interpolate between two bracketing charge weight values to get a velocity for the exact 85% water weight. The powders that give you that tend to be good choices to work up a load with.
 
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