Its on the way ! my new BAR !

[highoctane]

Varget works really well in the 308 but don't overlook IMR-4895. My 308 loves IMR-4895 and 150 gr Ballistic Tips. I get 2810 for velocity and just a hair over half inch accuracy with that combo. That velocity should be right in the wheel house for the 150 gr BT.

 

[TackDriver284]

Nice rifle. Brings back memories when I used to have a BAR .243 back in the late 80's.
Varget, IMR 4064, RL 15, H4895 works great in my current .308 with 150 -180 grain pills.

 

[cjmac]

Would be shocked if it didn’t.

All my other guns love it !

 

[cjmac]

Varget works really well in the 308 but don't overlook IMR-4895. My 308 loves IMR-4895 and 150 gr Ballistic Tips. I get 2810 for velocity and just a hair over half inch accuracy with that combo. That velocity should be right in the wheel house for the 150 gr BT.

Only thing I didnt like about the imr4895 was it didnt seem to like a major temp swing. Where as varget i can hog hunt in the summer and deer in winter with same load . Granted, I didnt spend a lot or as much time with 4895 as I probably should have. I was given a lb of it to try long time ago .

All my custom 308s seem to like the 2600fps range on 168gr smk. Not sure on the 150s yet

 

[cjmac]

Nice rifle. Brings back memories when I used to have a BAR .243 back in the late 80's.
Varget, IMR 4064, RL 15, H4895 works great in my current .308 with 150 -180 grain pills.

How is the h4895 with temperature swings ? Iv been really tempted to try it but varget seems hard to beat for temperature swings !
But h4895 is labeled under there extreme powders same as varget i think ? Pretty close in burn rate I think also

 

[cjmac]

I have never had a problem with expansion with an AccuBond on smaller big game such as deer, or antelope, or wolf, regardless of caliber or cartridge, from 0.264 to 0.308. And I have seen expansion of recovered bullets up to just over 2X the original diameter, and have seen weight retentions of 90%+. I have yet to recover one with less than 90% weight retention...but this is just my experience. And the on-game performance on all game from antelope to bison, from 0.264 to 0.375, has been very good, for over 20 years!
As much as I like the Partitions, (and I have used them for years on all sorts of big game), from 0.264 to 0.358, I have found the AccuBond to consistently produce better accuracy, and be less finicky in quickly finding good loads in all of my rifles. And for my faster cartridges (2950+ fps), the higher BC was attractive should I ever need to make a longer shot (300+ yards).

Good luck in your quest for a good load in your new BAR, and may you have many great adventures with it!

Good to hear thay open on antelope! If it will open on them im sure it will on a small southern whitetail . If i understand right antelope are really thin skinned game ?

 

[highoctane]

Only thing I didnt like about the imr4895 was it didnt seem to like a major temp swing. Where as varget i can hog hunt in the summer and deer in winter with same load . Granted, I didnt spend a lot or as much time with 4895 as I probably should have. I was given a lb of it to try long time ago .

All my custom 308s seem to like the 2600fps range on 168gr smk. Not sure on the 150s yet

I understand powder sensitivity can be an issue if shooting long range, and that means different things to different people but I'm talking 800-1000 yds. I also understand that some make it a bigger issue than it really is. Most just parrot what they've read or heard about a certain powder

I've used many pounds of those "sensitive powders and insensitive powders" over the years. What I have learned from it is, that all powders have issues with it, some just less than others, however, among other things, case volume to bore ratio to bullet weight plays an important part in powder sensitivity.

I have a load for my 280 rem that uses one of those "sensitive" powders, IMR-7828, case fill is roughly 96%, and it shoots the same at 30 degrees as it does at 85-90 degrees. Contrast that to a load I use to have with RL-22. Shot really well but above 85 degrees you could throw the bullets at the target and get a better group.

I have another 280 load that uses IMR-4831, another widely accepted sensitive powder that changes very little, high 90's case fill. Matter of fact I shot it last week, 92 degrees, and there was no change in POI.

On the other hand I have another load, 7-08, that uses IMR-4895, case fill around 90%. It shows a little sensitivity and POI changes less than an inch. I also have a 308 load that likes IMR-4895 better than Varget. I get a little better velocity with IMR-4895, case fill 98% and about the same accuracy as Varget. I shot it yesterday at 90 degrees. Same ol 3/4 in groups.

All of the above loads have been tried at around freezing.

The vast majority of the time these slight changes mean very little out to 300-400 yds. Unless someone shoots these sensitive powders, in the TEMPS that they are going to encounter they really don't know how they will react.

 

[wvbuckbuster]

Id hope so as much as thay cost lol..
I've just always heard bonded bullets were too tough to open on stuff like small deer . Maby that was true back 15 years ago

You won't have any problem of the AB not expanding. My grandson used them on a bobcat at about 175 yds and it opened up quite nicely. Those BTs gets a deer's attention right now also. Good in a 308 Win for sure.

 

[Shakeyjake]

Nice rifle let us know how it shoots!

 

[TackDriver284]

How is the h4895 with temperature swings ? Iv been really tempted to try it but varget seems hard to beat for temperature swings !
But h4895 is labeled under there extreme powders same as varget i think ? Pretty close in burn rate I think also

H4895 is one of the top powder that is not sensitive to temp swings.

 

[cjmac]

I understand powder sensitivity can be an issue if shooting long range, and that means different things to different people but I'm talking 800-1000 yds. I also understand that some make it a bigger issue than it really is. Most just parrot what they've read or heard about a certain powder

I've used many pounds of those "sensitive powders and insensitive powders" over the years. What I have learned from it is, that all powders have issues with it, some just less than others, however, among other things, case volume to bore ratio to bullet weight plays an important part in powder sensitivity.

I have a load for my 280 rem that uses one of those "sensitive" powders, IMR-7828, case fill is roughly 96%, and it shoots the same at 30 degrees as it does at 85-90 degrees. Contrast that to a load I use to have with RL-22. Shot really well but above 85 degrees you could throw the bullets at the target and get a better group.

I have another 280 load that uses IMR-4831, another widely accepted sensitive powder that changes very little, high 90's case fill. Matter of fact I shot it last week, 92 degrees, and there was no change in POI.

On the other hand I have another load, 7-08, that uses IMR-4895, case fill around 90%. It shows a little sensitivity and POI changes less than an inch. I also have a 308 load that likes IMR-4895 better than Varget. I get a little better velocity with IMR-4895, case fill 98% and about the same accuracy as Varget. I shot it yesterday at 90 degrees. Same ol 3/4 in groups.

All of the above loads have been tried at around freezing.

The vast majority of the time these slight changes mean very little out to 300-400 yds. Unless someone shoots these sensitive powders, in the TEMPS that they are going to encounter they really don't know how they will react.

Most load development i do is in summer then try again in November when its temps we will be hunting in . Normally do t see much change

 

[cjmac]

You won't have any problem of the AB not expanding. My grandson used them on a bobcat at about 175 yds and it opened up quite nicely. Those BTs gets a deer's attention right now also. Good in a 308 Win for sure.

If it opened on a bobcat im sure itll open on small whitetail . And push through bine if needed . I remember the old corelokt when I was a kid . It would leave goofball size hole on deer im plenty happy with that

 

[cjmac]

H4895 is one of the top powder that is not sensitive to temp swings.

Im gonna try it in this bar