Looking for some advice on powder choice , reloading 308 for a BLR rifle I use IMR 4064 for the majority of my handloads in 308 , basically " middle of the road " charge I dont like heavy or "hot loads " just target shooting out to 400 yds .
It's up to your barrel, not you or any of us. Experiment. Handloading is hunting for what your gun likes the best. Happy hunting.
A LONG time ago when I started reloading I went to buy powder for my Thompson Center single shot handgun in .308. Tge owner of the store pulled a can of 748 and put it on the counter and WOULD NOT sell me anythibg else. He said 748 is and always will be the best .308 powder ever. Well I have to say I have loaded many rifles in .308 since then one a Savage Bat/s for an NRA LEO "precision rifle" course and would not even try another powder if it were free. Try it
I load a LOT of .308. (tens of thousands a year!) Some of it is specifically for my precision bolt guns, and some for my M1A rifles. A small portion is for both. With anM14/M1A platform rifle, one must be very careful with what powder is used, as pressure spikes can really ruin a day at the range-not to mention a wallet. A bolt gun is much more tolerant, therefore more powders become applicable. In my bolt guns I usually run 168 grain bullets) I (technically my rifle's barrel) really likes BLC(2). I have tried just about every powder there is, and BLC(2) worked best for me. Those are my most time consuming rounds to reload in that I take more steps in case preparation, powder weighing, bullet seating, etc. For my M14/M1A stuff (I shoot an NM M1A in High-power, and blast away with my full-auto M14) I use IMR4064 with virtually the same prep work. I load what I consider to be "blaster ammo" that I shoot out of my full auto M14. I don't do as much in case prep, use a powder thrower (and don't weight each individual round) because quite honestly, I don't need .375" MOA capable ammo when the giggle-switch is flipped to "on". I do load some with BLC(2) with a different powder charge so I can run it in both my bolt guns AND my NM M1A. About 95% of all my .308 reloading is done with 168 grain bullets, except for my "blaster ammo" which I use 147 grain stuff. I don't remember off hand what powder weights for the three different loadings, and it's raining like heck outside, so me going outside to the shed to check my charts ain't gonna be a happenin' thing tonight. Sorry. Long winded answer, but the bottom line is you will need to decide on a bullet weight according to what you expect the hunt/shoot, and then experiment with what powder your gun likes. There IS a marked difference in the performance of various powders!
I have used Varget and RL-15 with success. My 308 win BLR prefers 165 gr. projectiles. 165 Nosler BTs & Accubond - Varget 165 Hornady BTSP-IL & Sierra HPBT- RL15
