remington auto reloads

[zacharoo]

I have a Remington 742 in 308  win. and a Remington model 4 in 280 rem.  I have 150 gr. bullets in corelock and hornady for the 308win. I have 139 gr. hornady for the 280 rem. I have IMR 4350 IMR 4895 and IMR 3031. Anybody out there have loads for each that won't beat up the actions. I want a good load but nothing near max. THANKS Zacharoo

[BBF]

Hi:
 I can't help you with a specific load but do have a 742 in 30-06. That rifle never gave me a moment of worry even when shooting max loads. That rotary bolt locks up tight. My suggestion would be to work with IMR 4895 with the 150 gr bullets. Should you ever go to 180 grainers the IMR 4350 might get you a better load.

 btw. If you ever have the chance of trying any of the ball powders( BLC-2, WW 748, H-380) with the proper buring rate, give it a try. The 308  works great with that stuff.

[stimpylu32]

zacharoo

The action is tougher than you think , start at the low end of the load data for each bullet / powder combo and work up from there , you should find a load that groups well somewere about mid way and well before you hit max .

I only have 1 rifle that does well with a max load , all the others do best at mid level loads .

stimpy

[Grumulkin]

I had a Remington 742 in 308 Winchester quite a number of years ago.  IMR 3031 didn't provide a particularly accurate load in it.  The powder I tried that worked the best was IMR 4064.  My best group with this powder was a 0.56 in. 5 shot group at 100 yards.

My 742 was quite accurate but the 742 has a very bad reputation for malfunction of the bolt rails.  In fact, after 3,000+ rounds, mine malfunctioned.  I sent the rifle back to Remington and they fixed it at no charge but, it being so many years since they were made, I doubt Remington would be so kind now.  I posted my round count on another board, and someone mentioned that my rifle must have been a very good one since many didn't last that long.

[Mikey]

zacharoo:  for the 308 - 45 gns of 4895 under that 150 gn slug is one of the Lyman accuracy loads.  3031 powder ranges from 40 gns at 2544'/sec to 44.5 gns at 2849'/sec and 3031 is a great choice for autos like yours.  4350 ranges from 46 gns at 2531 to 51.6 at 2770 but this is a compressed load and not the greatest for autos. 

Also for the 308, 3031 has an accuracy loading with the 150 of 44gns for 2800'/sec.  A good load.

Now, to get down to the 280 I had to subtract 28 from 308 but that didn't match up so I got this info from my older Lyman Manual:::::My manual shows, with the 139 gn slug, 3031 ranging from 41 to 45 gns at 2577 to 2801'/sec; 4895 from 42 to 47 gns at 2531 to 2808'/sec and with 4350 the range is 50 to 56 gns (compressed) at 2624 - 3000'/sec. 

HTH and good luck.  Mikey.

[warrior1]

if you are still lookin to experiment after trying the above loads look to varget or w748.
dan

[huntswithdogs]

My brotherinlaw had a 243 and his brother had a 30/06, both were the Rem Semis. They had to buy small based dies for the rounds to function correctly in both rifles.


HWD
 

[BBF]

small base dies is the way to go. We got three 30-06's in our home. One auto one pump and one bolt. For the bolt I just reduce the sizing lenght by one turn on the die. Never had any feeding problems with any of them.

[Lone Star]

Stick with powders in the medium burning range for a .308 gas auto.  Excess port pressure is what beats up an automatic action, and this 'usually' comes from using too much powder (although burning rate can effect it too). 


.

[BBF]

That is very important with M-1 Garand's  good burning speed would be IMR 4064 or similar.