Newbie

I have never reloaded before and am just getting started. I am trying to load 40 grains of IMR 4064. I have 150 grain Hornady sst bullets. It appears that the bullets are going to "sit" in the powder. Is this safe? And does anyone recommend a different powder or bullet? I am just making loads to practice for my trip to Africa. I am loading for the 308.

Now I am not the wizard of reloading, so....

Crunching the powder is a cartridge, hmmm. Gives me pause and I am not standing beside you.

Always start at the BOTTOM end of the suggested recipes on the reloading chart from the manufacturer.

Check your overall length of your cartridge and make sure you have not seated that bullet to far in.

A suggestion: Find someone in your neighbourhood that had reloaded and get some local help to walk you right through it.

4064 is a good powder for the 308.

I prefer Varget, others prefer RL 15.

So your powder choice is fine.

Looking at Hodgden's site they show a minimum of 43.0 Grains of IMR 4064 and a maximum of 47.7 grains for the 150 grain bullet in a .308.

Double check your manual for the 40.0 grain load. Double check and zero your scale to make certain your powder charge is correct. With 40 grains of 4064 the load should not compress the powder.

It is OK for the bullet to contact the powder. I like my loads to be at around 100% case capacity. Make certain you follow your load manual and again double check your scale. 40 Grains does appear to be on the light side.

As far as bullets most will work fine. I prefer North Fork, Swift, or Barnes TSX.