I'm thinking about getting one of the chronographs that connects to end barrel
My old school one is a pain.i carry saw horses and a piece of wood to sit the old chrony brand one I have.

I doubt you will find a big difference in pressure between the Core Lokts and Hornady bullets. You ain't gonna blow up a gun with a warm load. If you shoot and the bolt lift is sticky and primers are flat, it's a little hot.

I am using IMR 4064. My AR10 is down at Marks getting the rings lapped and cleaned and lubed really well. It seemed to like 44 grain of IMR4064 with a 150 Gr Hornady SP. I don't want to swear to that just yet, since the scope wasn't staying put. It needs a better trigger. It has the enhanced one from PSA. I will take it back out and test it once they are done with it.

I shot my 700 AAC-SD today. It was not a fan of 44 grain of IMR4064, but liked 46, again using the 150 gr. HSP. 44 grains is commonly recognized as an accurate load with just about any 150 gr bullet.


The 700 also really liked 44 gr of VVN135 and 45 gr of it with the same bullet. But I was getting sore from having shot my Ruger 308 Carbine, so I packed it up. Both of these loads shot around .6 to .7 MOA, which is a good grouping for this gun. I have not had much luck finding a load it liked and getting it sub MOA, although it does like Hornady Precision Hunter 178 gr ELD-X ammo. I do not like its on deer performance though.

I don't like the Rem X trigger, so it needs to go. I think if I had a lead sled I could get dialed in really well. I was just hunched over to far to really be comforable shooting the gun today.

The 45 gr load of VVN135 is one I found online. Guy swears its the shidizzle with a 150 gr bullet. I would have to say I agree. Its difficult to get concrete load data on the powder. But I did see one listing 45.7 as a max charge. And someone else that uses VV powder says you can exceed their max loads by a grain with no issue.

Alot of the 308 guys like Varget, but its not very easy to come by. VV is a little pricey, about $50 a pound locally. I like IMR 4064 alot. I have some BL(C)2 or whatever order it goes in I should try too. But I think I am going to load a bunch of the VVN135 at 45 gr and call it good for now.

Nothing dangerous at all with compressed loads. For many years I loaded my M77 Ruger 7x57 with 53 gr of IMR4350 under a 140 gr Partition. The powder would be halfway in the case neck before I crushed it down with the bullet. Used to love that crunching sound as I lowered the press handle. 😊 That was too many gunshots ago and I can't hear that wonderful sound anymore. 🥴

But it's better to use a drop tube as it will compact the powder in the case. Crushing the powder with the bullet will often result in varying OAL, which can be an issue if you are loading very close to the lands. This OAL variance can also affect accuracy.