What powder for .308 with .208 Amax's

[savage110]

As the title states, what's the go to powder when using .208's in a .308? Ill be using Lapua brass, wolf match primers and .208 Amax's.
How many grains should I start at?
Also, being new to the .308 caliber, what should I seat the .208's to and what should I be trimming my brass to?
Thanks and sorry for all the questions,
-Felipe

 

[Falar]

Re: What powder for .308 with .208 Amax's

If you're looking to push them as fast as possible go with RL17. I would advise reading MontanaMarine's thread in the exterior ballistics forum. Many of us have posted our results there.

Trim to length--this depends on your rifle. If you don't want to measure your chamber just make sure that it is consistent and less than 2.008

COAL--I'm assuming you will want to go as long as possible for more powder capacity. Measure the distance to your lands to determine the maximum COAL you can chamber in your rifle. If it exceeds the length your mag can support then your COAL will be determined by your magazine. Keep it .020" less than the magazine's internal length for reliable feeding. If you have a short throat (putting the bullets into the lands results in shorter than max mag length) then determine how far off the lands you want your bullets to be and set your COAL there.

Starting loads will depend on what COAL you end up going with. Since you're using Lapua brass (relatively small case capacity) then start low, 45gr if your COAL is in the 2.8xx range (RL17).

 

[savage110]

Re: What powder for .308 with .208 Amax's

Thanks for the info. You mentioned Lapua having a small capacity for powder, would you suggest a different brass for this load?

 

[Falar]

Re: What powder for .308 with .208 Amax's

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: AIAE</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Thanks for the info. You mentioned Lapua having a small capacity for powder, would you suggest a different brass for this load? </div></div>

I used Winchester for this combo, which generally has the most case volume in .308. At one time I traded all my Lapua for Winchester for this very reason (plus I didn't want expensive brass getting chewed up in my AR10). If you're happy with the Lapua go ahead and use it. The slight increase in capacity won't buy you that much more velocity.

 

[cookhj]

Re: What powder for .308 with .208 Amax's

i suggest using WIN brass too. i was using FED brass and i was getting pressure signs at 48gr. Falar suggested switching to WIN brass and i've been able to get up to 50gr without any pressure signs.