Powder recommendations for 15" Encore 308 shooting...

[parallaxbill]

....125 gr Hornady SST bullets?

[bradshaw]

Apr 28, 2024 15:19:40 GMT -5 parallaxbill said:

....125 gr Hornady SST bullets?

*****

parallaxbill.... you forgot to state purpose of load.
I’d search Hodgdon load data. Short of published data, my intuition points to IMR 4198, also H4198. Check powders in IMR 4198 zone, including ball powders.

Again by intuition, I would start at the lowest charge, possibly two grains below that, target @ 100 yards, then work up. To simultaneously chronograph & target yields more information than collecting that data separately.
David Bradshaw

[randominator]

I use a 130 grain in my 308 pistol loaded with TAC. I’ve also used BL-C(2).

[freeze]

I've not shot SST bullets, and don't have an Encore ....

But I have had good luck with Benchmark when shooting Speer TNT bullets.



Edit to add that this was from a 15" Savage Striker.


-Freeze

[parallaxbill]

Thinking of using for SC Whitetail.
IMR 8208 looks promising as well as Varget.

[bigbrowndog]

Load Data should have 308 pistol data, as does Hodgdon’s site.

Trapr

[x101airborne]

When I used to hunt hogs with Sierra 125 grain ProHunters I used IMR 3031 from my super 14 Encore 308.

[AxeHandle]

My first Encore was a 308. Still remember the nasty recoil of 172 grain GI Ball ammo in that thing. Don't remember the powder but do remember how much more pleasant my 125-130 grain bullet hand loads were to shoot in it.

[bradshaw]

Once handgun silhouetters, most of em, had their fill of Rocks & Dynamite, handloading settled down to the business of accuracy, with power enough to generally topple the ram @ 200 meters. The .308 maintained a steady following, including such IHMSA All-Americans as Russell Troup and Bob Thomas for competition in the Unlimited category. Properly downloaded the .308 Winchester holds dead nuts accuracy. Hornady, Hodgdon, and Speer CCI took immediate interest in steel shooting, yet their manuals did not fully reflect the trend to reducing loads.

For his Wichita .308 with 15” barrel, Bob Thomas favored the Speer 180 SP flat base over 30 grains of H4895 or IMR 4895. (I interchanged H4227 with IMR 4227, and H4895 with IMR 4895, in matches from local to international without detecting a difference in sight dope or accuracy, results backed on Oehler chronographs.)

Minimum IMR 4895/H4895 loads for consistency, flat base bullets
* 150----34 gr.
* 165----32 gr.
* 180----30 gr.

Lighter than 150 gr., I’d opt for a faster powder. All sorts of powders are accurate in the .308. Reduced loads narrow selection.
David Bradshaw

[parallaxbill]

Apr 28, 2024 17:07:18 GMT -5 bigbrowndog said:

Load Data should have 308 pistol data, as does Hodgdon’s site.

Trapr

I did find it on Hogdon's site. I don't know how it slipped my mind unless I was too busy going through my load manuals. 😁