Made the plunge, just wanted to say thanks

[Shooter_308]

Hey all, so I finally finished ordering all i need to start hand loading tonight, so it looks like i'll be starting in a week or so! I'm going to be trying 4 loads all together for 2 different twist rates/barrel lengths. One SPS-AAC 20"bbl 1:10 and one SPS-V 26"bbl 1:12

168/178gr A-Max, Varget Powder, New Winchester Brass, Federal 210m Primers, COAL set @ 2.800" to start, just trying to figure out where to start grain-wise for the powder ( i have to read and compare the Hornady/Speer/Hodgdon load data).

Basically though just wanted to say thank you to everyone who helped get my rig together, thank you to everyone's wealth of knowledge and input and dealing with my newbishness. Finally an almost life-long dream coming to be with help from a great community.

Thanks guys!

 

[NoFail]

Re: Made the plunge, just wanted to say thanks

Awesome that is great news and you won't regret it, if you are very careful!!!

I just loaded up both 168 & 178 Amax for my .308 this weekend. But used that CFE223 powder so I can't help you there. You'll get help here though.

But actually my Lymans 49th edition has the 178 gn A-Max listed. Using Varget, Suggested starting grains is 39.5 for a velocity of 2401 out of 24" universal receiver 1-10", 43,000 psi. And max grain load of 44, 2661 fps, 60,500 psi.

They have the Sierra 168 hpbt listed. For Varget, starting grains 41 for 2491 fps, 42,200 psi. Max load grains 45.7 which is a compressed load, 2766 fps, 61,100 psi. But just because the Sierra bullet is same weight as the Amax this info shouldn't be construed to be accurate for the Amax.


Edit: maybe I should have said Lymans used Remington brass trimmed to 2.005"
They used Remington #9 1/2 LRP's, and their bullet schematic shows OAL of 2.810".

 

[az_paul]

Re: Made the plunge, just wanted to say thanks

Congrats on another wonderful addiction of this hobby! I started reloading a few years ago and enjoy it very much. I'm using Varget in the .308 and 30-06 loads, but haven't done any accuracy measurements as of yet. Just using a steel target at 225 yards and listening for the ringing.

 

[Shooter_308]

Re: Made the plunge, just wanted to say thanks

Thanks for the info NoFail! i'm going to compare Hornady's info and the Speer against Sierra and Hogdons's data and see what i come across.

paul, what load are you running at that point?

 

[NoFail]

Re: Made the plunge, just wanted to say thanks

Yeah it's fun ain't it?
Just remember what somebody loads for their stick ain't gonna be the same in yours. If it was it would be too easy and probably not as fun

 

[Shooter_308]

Re: Made the plunge, just wanted to say thanks

Haha yeah, what i've come across so far is people starting loads with the 178 AMAX @ 38-39gr and maxing out at 45gr. I'm also seeing a consistent load around 42-43gr of varget under the bullet set at 2.800" COAL.

 

[NoFail]

Re: Made the plunge, just wanted to say thanks

Yes I think they start seeing some signs after 45 grains of that stuff and the 178's. I haven't used it yet. I'm a .308 rookie. But next one I try will be Varget or IMR 4895.
So far I'm into the IMR 4064, which I like, and the CFE223, which I'm working on, but I think I like it, velocities I chrono'd are awesome with the 168 Amax in my 16". The 178's I just loaded I have yet to try.

 

[1Sg (ret)]

Re: Made the plunge, just wanted to say thanks

Congrats on learning to roll your own.It is a lot of fun but will worry the shit out of you sometimes too.I load win and hornady brass mostly in my bolts and LC in autos.I had an sps tac .308 the load it loved was 45.5 gr varget with a 168hpbt bullet seated out to 2.825.It shot one hole groups.Start out at 43grs and work up.With the 178amax i found a nod 43.5 in win brass and 44gr in hornady brass.I shot the 44gr load out to 800 yesterday and had 3 groups under 5 in at that distance.Varget is great.RL 15 is another good powder for .308 and .223.Good luck with the addiction.

 

[Greg Langelius *]

Re: Made the plunge, just wanted to say thanks

Over the years, some fairly generic .308/Varget loads have appeared and reappeared here.

46.0gr and 150/155gr bullets.

45.5gr and 168gr Bullets.

45.0gr and 175gr bullets.

Obviously these are ballpark estimates, and they will respond to tweaking for the various rifles.

I don't like to make declarations about max loads, but I'd be careful; start 2gr lower and work up. Shiny ejector marks on case bases, and shiny rings around lower case walls, flat, cratered primers, stiff bolt lift (and other things) are signs of excessive pressure. Stop and re-evaluate your load at the first sign of any of these or other pressure signs (like diminishing or flat velocity increases as charges peak).

For my own purposes, I've come to prefer IMR-4064 for the .308. It's not (perhaps) as thermally stable as Varget, but it's damned acccurate for me (Savage 10FP). IMR-4064 charges need to be lower than Varget. I use 42.2gr with the 175SMK and Rem brass, and I don't like going any higher with IMR-4064/175SMK charges.

Greg

 

[Shooter_308]

Re: Made the plunge, just wanted to say thanks

NoFail, let me know how that goes for ya, Good luck with the load!

1sg - Yeah i've seen with the SPS's especially a lot of commonplace when it comes to pet loads settling around 43-44gr of Varget with the 168's. Thanks for the heads up.

Greg - Thanks for the info. I'm probably going to start somewhere around 40-41gr and work up from there. But like i said I gotta see where my manuals are placing the loads. Thanks for the info on pressure signs btw, good stuff to know.

 

[Greg Langelius *]

Re: Made the plunge, just wanted to say thanks

I dropped out of .308 shooting when I adopted the .260, but may be going back soon.

Glad to help. I'd like to see you succeed.

After several decades of handloading, my sincerest advice is to keep it basic/simple, and put your effort into doing the basics consistantly well.

I tumble my brass, F/L resize, decap, and recap it, (measure length), weigh charges, and seat bullets. That's it.

If you're shooting a SAAMI chamber, concentricity measures don't do a lot for you.

I've tried most of the additional accuracy tricks, and they work. But for my shooting abilities and needs, the work isn't justified by the benefit. My ammo isn't holding me back.

You may find otherwise, but I prefer to invest my time at the range, and not at the loading bench. At my age, it pays too little to expend the extra time; and the same could be true at any age.

 

[NoFail]

Re: Made the plunge, just wanted to say thanks

That's good stuff for any of us, Greg. What you said that's pretty much all I do too. But I like to weight sort the cases if shooting for groups, So that means means I pretty much do that always. I don't yet know if that's a waste of time but I had instruction to do that. I trim too, you didn't mention that, you don't trim?
Thanks Greg!!!

 

[Greg Langelius *]

Re: Made the plunge, just wanted to say thanks

I measure, I don't trim; I recycle. My cases seldom grow too long before I retire them. If i had to say why, it's probably because i try to do the absolute minimum brass workage when resizing (I back off the F/L die so it only sizes about 1/8" or so of the neck), and I try to stay pretty far away from max load territory.

I weigh cases once, right after fireform and prep. Anything outrageously off norm becomes a fouler case.