Re: Totall newby that's kinds confused...
1. I think the very first step you need to do is DECIDE WHAT TYPE OF SHOOTING YOU WILL BE DOING. What are you going to be using the gun for? Hunting with a bit of target shooting, punching paper out to 600yd, trying to ring a steel gong at 1000yd? This will form the basis for your choices of components.
2. Pick a bullet you want to use based on your shooting needs. If you are wanting to do long-range shooting beyond 600yd, then you will want to consider either the Lapua 155gr Scenars, or Sierra 175gr SMK. There are other great choices from Berger and other bullet manufacturers as well, but the Sierra and Lapua offerings seem to be the most popular.
3. Get a reloading manual printed by the same company that makes the bullet you intend using. Not sure if Lapua puts out a manual or not. Sierra puts out a good one. So does Hornady. I have both. Pick one.
4. READ IT
5. Get some quality brass that will take a lot of reloadings. I went with Lapua. It is very consistent in case wall thickness, but it is expensive, and getting more so by the day. A good alternative would be Winchester brass. Not quite the quality of Lapua, but still very good stuff. Remington brass is not bad either, but it does get hard, needing more frequent annealing of the case neck. I looked at this as an investment. Quality brass will last a long time, especially if you buy it in bulk (500+ pieces at a time)
6. Pick a powder you want to use. Many good choices here. I went with Varget. It is <span style="font-weight: bold">(was)</span> readily available and temperature stable. Also, many said it provided excellent accuracy. Other good powders for the 308 include RE15, H4895, H4350, IMR 4064 among others. You may want to choose one that is readily available in your AO.
7. Pick a primer that is AVAILABLE. The popular primer has been FGMM 210M LR primers, but they are about has hard to find as hens teeth these days. I decided to go with CCI BR2 primers as they were much more readily available in my AO. Now it's almost impossible to find ANY primer, so I think availability trumps preference in this area. It will be a good idea to pick up at least a brick (1000 primers) as you will use quite a few in load work-up. It would really suck to work up a load and then not be able to get a component and have to do it all over again when you change to a different component.
8. Start loading about 10% below max listed charge for that powder/bullet combination.
9. Seat your bullets at factory COAL until you have found a tentative accurate load, then play with seating depth to try to fine tune accuracy some more.
10. Be safe/have fun.
Summary: my component choices are: Sierra 175gr SMK, Lapua brass, Varget, CCI BR2