308 Win ELD-X 178 gr

Worked up a load that shows some potential

Tikka CTR 308
20" factory barrel with suppressor
Lapua virgin brass
CCI BR2
43.8 gr Varget
0.030" jump

It does show some potential. Keep working on it, you are getting close.

Tikkas shoot good .

Is that a hot load ? Hornady data says max at 42.4 of Varget for 178 eld-x. I tried to use the same data as Amax and was blowing primers at 43.5 out of a AR10. Ended up at 41.6

It's above book max for Hornady. Hodgkin lists 45 g as max for both 175/180 bullets albeit those listed are not the eld-x. Nosler lists 43.5 as max. But, no pressure signs in my gun -- no primer flattening or cratering. No stiff bolt. As always start low and work up.

Did you go even hotter than that?

Seen more than one .308 shoot great between 44.0 and 45.0 of Varget with 178 A-Maxes.

Yep. Worked up to 44.4 in .2 increments without any pressure signs

The Amax data shows up to 45. That's why I started with 43.8 with the ELD-X. Happy spot for Rem R25 was at 44.6 with Amax. Was hard to find data for ELD for a while. Working up load for buddys Les Baer custom with essentially same specs at The R25. Loaded 43.8 to 44.6 by .2. First 43.8 blew primer. Thought OK bad something on my part. Sent second round and no blown primer but pressure signs out the wazoo. Went back and deconstructed all had built. Went to 42.4 and built another test group. Pressure at 42.4. Took all those apart. By then Hornady had published some ELD data that says 42.4 max (varget) on ELd-x 178. Went to 41.4 and built again. Found sweet spot at 41.6.

Keeping in mind this was with AR's and supressed. Out of the Les baer (and lead sled) was getting .255 groups at 100 yards. Did not test out past 100 as I was only the get it rolling huckleberry.

I believe the bearing surface of the 178 eld-x is quite a bit longer than the Amax.

My initial ladder done with Hornady brass had a node at around 41.5 and then 44.2 -- I started over when I switched to Lapua brass and high node ended up at 43.8 after working from 42.0-44.4 in .2 increments.

Gotcha. Thanks for the dope....Currently loaded ladder for 300WM with the 200 grainers. H4831 71.2 to 72.2 Looking forward to firing them off tomorrow and see where that's at.

Looks like I'm done

43.8 gr Varget with 0.030 jump

Yeah buddy!

Makes me so proud.

Thx, Coach!

Looks good, you meant .030 jump?

Yes 0.030 jump

Not trying to rob your post, but how would you compare the ELD's to Berger VLD's? I just swapped to ELDx's but haven't shot a deer with them yet.

I have not had a chance to use them on game yet.

looks low and right to me

On purpose, so he didn't mess up his aiming point...

Resurrecting an old post.

I'm looking at a Hornady loading manual and it shows the max as 42.4gr for Varget. I too am about to load the same powder and bullet combo in virgin Lapua brass. I thought I heard something before like lapua brass is slightly thicker with slightly smaller case capacity.
So can this combo (Lapua brass, Varget and 178gr eld in 308) go up to 44 to 45gr? Assume I'm going to follow standard safety protocols such as starting from low to high and climb slowly while checking for signs of over pressure.

Just start low an work up watching for pressure signs

Great bullet, shooting the factory load out of 16" Tikka CTR, definitely hammers game..
Same thing with an 18" gas gun..

The 178 AMAX was my favorite 308 bullet, one bullet, long range steel or game.
The ELDX hasn't disappointed

^^This.

And 45.0 gr would be the most I would load. You may see pressure before hand, no problem, just stop. Go home and pull apart the ones you didn't shoot. If all is well, shoot up to 45.0 gr. I've had many a .308 shoot at 44.2 or 44.4 gr, but none were on Lapua brass. I don't blame you for using it though.

Yep. Start low and work up. 44+ was with Hornady brass. When I switched to Lapua I had to drop back down. Ended up at 43.8.

I failed to mention, with Lapua brass, I'd start just under 43.5 gr, and go to 45.0 gr.

Like eld x just wish they made more mid weight bullets in caliber. I think a 150ish eld x would be greater for shorter 30 cals and 120-130ish for shorter creeds

155 AMAX

Sierra seemed to be targeting that area of bullet weights with the new GameChanger line of hunting bullets. The 30 cal being 165 and the 6.5 at 130

This is exactly what I was asking. Once again, I shall go through the proper procedure of shooting lower to higher. BUT i still don't want to waste time loading a bunch of rounds I can't shoot because the sets were loaded too high. The hornady book for 178 eld is 42.4 grains, which is lower than the start load you are suggesting. So are you saying that IF my rifle has no issues, than Lapua brass is generally ok with higher loads? Based on the hornady manual load data alone, I was going to load sets in 0.3gr increments from 41.4 to 43.5gr of Varget.

Fireman, I know how you do your ladder test process and finding a good load, but unfortunately I get very limited time to shoot so any going back and forth to pull bullets and load more and it wastes a whole day for me. I have a 1.5 and 3 year old girls and I'm trying to better than just be a decent at parenting, i have to take actual vacation days to shoot. The worst thing for me would be to arrive and I can barely shoot anything because I quickly reach a point of overpressure signs on the brass.

I ended up at 44.2gr of Varget, in Lapua brass, using the 178ELD-X. But my particular rifle seems to like hot and fast. I speculate that it has something to do with 5R rifling putting less squeeze on the bullet. Velocity is about 2715fps at the muzzle.

Would also like to add that I experienced early pressure signs on VIRGIN Lapua brass; but that cleared up after a couple of firings.

Dang that is fast. I’m right at 2600 with 43.8 out of tikka ctr 308 factory barrel.

What barrel length? Mine is 24"

Think I read somewhere that they need some velocity for expansion and the min velocity is low...


Put a 143 in a hog tonight. Blew a 1 in exit wood in the lungs and she still kept running for almost 100 yards. I shot her and she charged me and I could see the blood shooting out.

I know many have lots of reservations of going that high above published max. I've seen lots of loads consistently shoot great, and are safe well above book max. H-Varget in a .308 with 178's and H-4350 in 6.5 Creedmoor and 140's are pretty much known quantities. Thousands of rifles shoot terrific well above Hodgdon's published max. But if you're uncomfortable with going that far above published max, it is your call.

Load 3 shot groups. If shots #1 and #2 don't group well, move on, dont shoot the third. Shoot them at, at least, 200 yards if possible.

Gotcha, I start on the 300 yard line. I plan on doing something like a single shot from each set for a ladder test and then have 10 shots per different load to do two seperate groupings, regardless of ladder test results (barring any overpressure signs). Based on this conversation, i think I might narrow my range to somthing like 42 to 43.5 grains with smaller intervals or something like that.
As per usual, thanks to all who chimed in. This helps more than yall know.

KR,

Chad, and myself will step a cartridge like the .308 Win in .3 gr increments.

42.9
43.2
43.5
43.8
44.1
44.4
44.7
45.0

^^That is what I would do if you handed me your rifle. Many times 44.4 and H-Varget is the one, with a 178 gr. But again, I have not used Lapua brass, and that is a factor.