Need some recommendations for powder and bullets for .308win. Never reloaded it, but I have my dies on order.

Here is what I need:


Deer

Precision (up to 500 yards)

Thanks

I've used the .308 Win for high power rifle silhouette. The farthest target is 500 meters (@550 yards)

168gr BTHP Match bullets work great at this range. Even 165gr BTSP are pretty good.

I hunt with couple different .308 Win rifles. I find that 150gr bullets are a very good balance between killing power and velocity/trajectory.

Any decent 150gr will do just fine. I use Hornady 150s (3 different ones), Nosler and Sierra (2 different ones), all have performed well.

Motor

Varget powder pushing a 168gr Sierra Match King is pretty hard to beat.  I use this combo in my .308 loads I should in my CZ 550 Varmint rifle. Ringing steel plates out at 500yds is a piece of cake.

I would recommend one of the AMAXs.  They will perform very well for both hunting and target work.  Expansion, penetration, and weight retention on the AMAXs is similar to the Nosler Ballistic Tip, but the AMAXs tend to retain weight very well.  They are also very affordable, and will increase your ability to get trigger time.

150gr AMAX:  Least recoil, flattest, most wind drift, stabilizes with 12" twist
168gr AMAX:   A little less wind drift, still stabilizes for your needs with 12" twist
178gr AMAX:  Least wind drift, excellent penetration, most retained energy, normally needs an 11" or 10" twist

What barrel length do you have, what twist rate, what type of rifle?

Sierra Game King bullets are very accurate for me. 150's will work fine inside 250 yards on deer, 165's and 180's for longer distance shots on game. The 180 has been exceptionally accurate for me and you don't have to run it at top speed to get good results.

168 or 175 grain Sierra Match Kings are my accuracy pick. Look at 2550 to 2600 fps maximum with the 168's and around 2550 fps tops with the 175 from a 24" barrel.

Top powder choices include:

Varget
IMR-4064
RE-15
VihtaVuori N150

175 SMK over 41.9 gr of 4064.

+1 on the AMAX, my dad has been my 308 bullet tester and we run the 168 & 178 gr through our bolt actions and the 178 gr worked very well on deer.

I use Reloder15 and 175 Sierra Match Kings. I've heard good things about Nosler Custom Competition and Hornady AMAX projectiles also. I don't hunt, only punch paper

For other powders, try Varget, IMR4064, IMR4895


 

I'm a little old school but I use Sierra 165 gr BTSPs (game kings) for my hunting load and I use 168 gr SMKs for my precision shooting load out to about 800 yards.

Both rounds can be loaded to very similar velocities and have very similar trajectories out to a 500-600 yard practical hunting limit with a 165 gr .308. (On smaller animals like an antelope or one of these tiny, almost dog sized eastern white tail - for  a nice sturdy mule deer I'll limit it to around 450-500 yards.)  There is also seldom more than a half minute or difference when switching the zero from one to the other.

My powder choices are also fairly old school and I still prefer IMR 4064, although there's a lot to be said for RL-15 as well.

Now the qualifier here is that my field rifle has a 26" medium heavy taper barrel, so my powder choices also reflect the longer barrel and the desire for both good velocity for a .308 to maximize performance and  a very small SD in velocity to a maximize long range accuracy.  

i am starting to reload for 308 also.  gun is a 18" tOBR.  right now I have a box of 168 SMK's.  after that I am going to get 175 SMK's though.  

powder is what I am having issues deciding on.  I have been known to shoot summer (around 100) and into early winter (about 30 is where I cut it off for the most part).  also I have been known to bring my guns when traveling for work (like to take them to LV and shoot distance in the desert).  for these reasons I have been looking at powders that are more temp stable (8202, CFE223, and AR-Comp). and here is what I found:
-8202, gets touchy on heavy 308 projectiles.  not much space been safe and over pressure.  also I have seen some people complain about velocity
-CFE223, you need to develop 2 loads because there is a temp break that affects the powder.  forget what it is off the top of my head but due to that I decided against using it
-AR-Corp, this is what I am thinking right now of using.  temp stable and seen loads for 174's for it that people like

as for 174's over 168's, well it you start to load to long range ppl they will say there is an issue with the bullet design (the boat tale angle) that make the bullet to strange things at 1k yards at 308 velocities.  due to that I am going to swap to the 174's (for me there is little cost difference, I plan to go to the factory and pick up seconds of either anyways.  factory is 40 min away from me).  granite the only place I usually shoot over 300 is LV but I think it is still worth it.

maybe I am over thinking it but I just don't want to have 2 to 4 target loads for the same gun w/ multiple dope charts and zero's for optics.

168 Amax, with somewhere around 44gr of Varget or RL15. Very accurate from my 700.
On game the wound channel can be substantial with lots of fragmentation.

Will probably try SSTs at some point, the factory ammo worked well hunting a bean field.