I have tried 15 different types of powders and all the match, Berger, Sierra, and Hornaday combinations I could dream of. I have a few different load combinations you can try. These work thru my Savage Varmiter and my SAKO TRG 22 .308. My best 155 grain bullet combo is 38.5 of VV N-135 and the VLD Berger bullet with federal match primers, Lapua Brass, neck turned to .014 and neck sized 3/4 of the neck length sized with a 335 redding neck sizing die. I can get all the homes into one but not under .340mm I would lke to find a real hot load but also accurate,. I have tried Varget. It is hot but acuracy is not real good. What's your best 155Grain load? My best 168 grain load is with the same brass as above but with 42 or 42.5 grains of N140, BLC(2), N-540 or 8208 surplus powder with either a Sierra or a LTB length tollerant Bullet by Berger. N-140 gives the best results. My smallest hole five shot group is .329mm at the widest area of the hole at 100 yards. What is your best 168 grain load? I am all ears for a 175 grain and 190 grain long range load. Give me your best shot!! Thanks. Steven Shaw

-- Steve shaw (Stevenshaw@cox.net), June 03, 2003

Answers

One of the best 308 168 gr match loads I've found is as follows: 44gr of accurate 2520 (known as the Camp Perry powder for 308's)as published by accurate arms! Federal match brass, CCI match primers- (don't be afraid to try match mag primers in their place)And finally seat your Hornady 168 A-max's as close to the riflings as possible! While 1in 12 twist rate usually stabilizes 168's you may option for a 1in10 twist (which will easily stabilize all bullets up to 220gr Sierra match kings) However if you truely wish to shoot very tight groups you must become bullet specific! That is to say, choose one bullet weight and set your barrel twist accordingly! I.E.-168's using 1in 12 twists... Finally if you refer to a "Relative burning chart" for powders, you will find many of the powders previously listed in the other references above! Accurate 2520 appears as #81 on my chart while being flanked by Hodgdons "Varget" and Normas "N- 202" Stay in this vicinity of relative burn rate and you can't go wrong! Good luck.

-- Mike Hinde (mike@jrharchitecture.com), February 18, 2004.

Steve:

I've just started to experiment with RL-15 and 175 Sierra's, but the best 155gr Sierra Palma load was

155gr Palma 44.4gr H-4895 Fed 210M primer WW match prepped brass OAL = 2.800"

This load gave me a group of 0.160"

And my best 168gr Sierra load was

168gr Sierra HPBT 41.0gr H-4895 CCI Match Primer LC72 brass Match prepped OAL = 2.800"

Gave me a group of 0.176"

There was the Palma match load published in Handloader magazine #152 (Jul-Aug 1991).

155gr Sierra Palma Bullet 44.8gr IMR4895 Fed 210M primer WW Brass OAL = 2.800"

This was a good load but not as good as mine, in MY rifle.

Peter.

-- Peter Griffin (ppc_ipsc@sympatico.ca), December 20, 2003.

I have a Savage Competetion BT 112 308 with a 1 in 10 twist. I shoot the Sierra 180 HP bullet with 40.5 grains of Reloader 15. My 3 shot groups are in the 1's, 2's and 3's on my best days and the 4's and 5's on my worst. I can always count on a 5 shoot 100 yard group just a bit under or over .500 but never coming close to .600.

RL15 is a super powder for 308 in my judgment.

-- Vincent Daniels (rlstr1300@aol.com), December 16, 2003.

my most accurate load for my 308 ia a 165 nosler balistic tip and 45.2 grais of varget with fedral match brass. will group 3 shots in a dime at 100 yds with my savage 116 it is a very accurate load in my rifle i know the savage is not seen as the cream of the crop but i think that for the price and its accuracy it is a very great rifle.

-- scott shawn (redneckokie2001@yahoo.com), December 04, 2003.

Savage 112 Long Action 1/10 Twist. 190 gr. Sierra HPBT 40.5 gn. of RL 15 for groups in the 1's thru 5's without working up a sweat.

-- Vinni Daniels (RLSTR1300@AOL.COM), December 02, 2003.

Looks like the accuracy you are getting is about as good as it gets. I'm not that good but I am pleased with what I am getting, please read on.

My best load for .308 is Lapua Scenar Silver Jacket 167grain, new necksized only Lapua brass, CCI primers and N140 at 41.5grains, col is set to my rifle which is slightly longer than standard with the bullets 5/1000 off the rifle lands. When fired through my 43 year old Parker Hale T4 rifle with heavy barrel and 1-12 twist I can get down to .75 of an inch for 10 round group at 100yards, not benchrest quality but pretty damn good for a gun that old. I too have tried the Varget and found it reasonable but not brilliant. I found that for some reason my gun just doesn't like 155grain bullets with a 100yard group being about 6 inches!! This rifle and load combo comes into its own at about 400yards with a 10 round group of 1.23inches, again remember that's a 43 year old rifle that cost me £350 / $586.

Ian H.

-- Ian Harrison (ian.harrison@georgiadesign.com), November 13, 2003.

168 gr.HPBT sierra, 42.5 gr. IMR4895, 1-11 twist

-- Pinetree Pete (CORCHAUG4@AOL.COM), August 20, 2003.

my .308 remington wont shoot 155grn'ers due to the twist , in short the round won't stabalize. i did get it to shoot MOA with 155grn Palmas using 48grn or AR2208(or as it is sold to the yanks VARGET)but that was not a happy load to shoot.

As for 168grn i have shot in the last 6 months one groupe at 300m of 11mm and another at 23mm using ADI Brass for the 11mm groupe and lapua for the 23mm one . The powder was 46Grn of AR2208(Varget)my rifle averages 30-40mm groupes at 300m when i am just playing

As for longer ranges i shoot these same loads in FullBore matches at least every month out to 1000m , the loads hold there groupe sizes in line with the MOA rule only getting bigger because i stuff up

also i FL resize every time tryed half necking but got on real results (over 400rounds)

also after spending a hell of a lot of money on projectiles i have ruled out all except Nosler J90 and Serria hpbt game king,match it dont matter they the same thing dif box . Even after i talked with serria they admint there only comp is nosler and i totaly aggre

sory about spelling its dam later here

-- Some AUSTRALIAN (dont.haveonce@WTF.com), June 28, 2003.

Ok, I have 2 loads that work super: 1 Lapua brass, out of the box or 1 fired.( neksized ) Fed 210 Large Rifle Vithau N140 42 grs Hornady Amax 168 grs total length of complete catr: 72,5 mm 2 Lapua brass, out of the box or 1 fired.( neksized ) Fed 210 Large Rifle Vithau N150 45 grs Lapua 167 grs Scenar total length of complete catr: 72,5 mm

Have fun Val

-- Val Sessink (v.sessink1@chello.nl), June 15, 2003.

Steve i find the best results with the .308 is getting the muzzle velocity in and around the 820-30 meters a second, i find this agrees with the trajectory.

I also use VV 550 powder, lapua brass,i only bump the necks with a Redding comp set up, topped off with a 180 Lapua scenar hollowpoint.

Sort your brass and bullets to the same weight and batch, bullet seating and run offs are very important when trying to tighten your groups.

But above all get you M/V to the 820-30 mark and you will find a difference.

Give it a try and i am sure you will tighten your grouping.

Best of luck

Regards Paul

-- Paul (leica@swipnet.se), June 04, 2003.