Who's book #'s do i trust?

[ShebasDad]

So I'm just a little confused here. I'm loading for a 308 using Hornady 178 ELD-M's and Varget. The Hornady book says 35 gr up to 42.4 gr. The Hodgdons web site says 45 gr is the max load.

I loaded up 15 rounds starting @ 42gr in .3gr steps per the Hodgdons #'s so I'd stay well under the max load and only 3 per for this go round. Mainly just to get started and see if they will work with my max mag length jump of .05 .

The rifle is a stock R-700 20" 1:10 using once fired Federal brass and CCI 200 primers.

I loaded up some 168's as well but I've never had much luck with them in this rifle. Those start at 42.5 up to 44.5 in .5 gr steps and Varget as well....

Since this will be my first time shooting MY loads I'm just a little nervous. Guess I'll just take it one round at a time and stop if I have anything unusual .

Thanks to everyone that took the time to post in the stickies .... unless I blow up myself then .... well time to get to the range and see what happens!

Bill

 

[BlackFenix]

I probably would have started at 39 gr and work up from there just to be safe. The rule of thumb is to start 10% below max just to cover your ass.

 

[predatornut]

I’ve noticed Hornady loads are very conservative. When working up my load I loaded a couple rounds in .3-.4 increments up to Hodgdons max watching for pressure signs (flat primers, hard bolt lift) and had no issues. I settled on 43.8.

Edit: I was loading for eld-x.

 

[Ledzep]

Probably looking at lot-to-lot powder consistency, difference in testing equipment, and maybe a difference in acceptable pressure being why there's different numbers.

There's a real possibility of breaking things just by running a warm load and changing to a new lot of powder. I try to buy at least 8lb kegs, if not enough powder (same lot) to toast a barrel when I buy powder. Same with bullets to a lesser extent. A 168smk isn't necessarily going to perform the same as a 168 ELD, HPBT, RDF, etc...

At any rate, I start 5-10% under max and work up in .5gr increments (1 round each) until I see pressure signs. I look to Hodgdon usually for a starting point, and it's sometimes helpful to scan through the reloading depot here to see what others are using (taken with a grain of salt).

 

[ShebasDad]

I probably would have started at 39 gr and work up from there just to be safe. The rule of thumb is to start 10% below max just to cover your ass.

I thought I was looking at it now the Hodgdons book says 41gr to 45 guessing those were the last #'s I looked at and started at 42. Thanks for the input.

Bill

 

[Rob01]

I start at 42grns with my 178 loads and Varget. I used 45grns with Win brass and 44grns with Hornady brass due to different capacities. Most find loads in the 43-45grns range. 42 is a good place to start. You can start lower if you feel the need.

 

[ShebasDad]

Well on the up side nothing blew up today!
I didn't see any pressure signs with my max load of 43.9 under the 178 ELDMs. For my first try at reloading I'll take it.

On a side note the 43.6 and 43.9 loads were abought 3/4 MoA and fairly level with each other I've got 25 more cases prepped so I'll try 5rnds each of 43.4 , 43.6 , 43.8 and 44 and see what happens.

Thanks again
Bill

 

[supercorndogs]

My max was around 43 in Lapua brass,

 

[918v]

You trust the book that uses the brass you’re using. You also need to look at the firearm the book uses. In Sierra’s case, they use different rifles. Some time ago they used a Savage and came up with a real low max charge of Varget. I think this was due to the short freebore of that particular rifle. Most 308s have a long freebore and you can get away with some healthy doses of Varget. I can load 47grs in Winchester brass under 168 in my rifle without pressure issues.

 

[Mordamer]

You trust the book that uses the brass you’re using. You also need to look at the firearm the book uses. In Sierra’s case, they use different rifles. Some time ago they used a Savage and came up with a real low max charge of Varget. I think this was due to the short freebore of that particular rifle. Most 308s have a long freebore and you can get away with some healthy doses of Varget. I can load 47grs in Winchester brass under 168 in my rifle without pressure issues.

Where did you hear that Sierra uses factory savage barrels or rifles? I have been in Sierra's test room and there was nothing but aftermarket barrels chambered by their own Smith and Remington 700 actions.

 

[918v]

I read it in one of their reloading manuals.