Hornady 165gr SST or 168gr A-Max IMR3031 42gr 2600 FPS - I use the 165gr for my Ruger V/T 77 rated for Deer and Elk, (my son uses the 168gr in his Remington Tactical and only used for Targets)
Federal Big Game (commercial) uses a 165gr Trophy Bonded Tip - the box says 2700 FPS. They don't list powder but you can use that as a reference point.

My son's best friend brought a jar of Varget and we looked up a good load for the 168gr A-Max and I remember it being very consistent, similar to 3031 and he was accurate with it. I don't use Varget so I didn't capture the load data.

IMR3031 is easy to find, Varget not so much where I go shopping in the Dayton Ohio area.

Note 1: I get the most accurate shots with the 165gr SST with the COL set at 2.785" (OEM is 2.800") for my Ruger Target/Varmint rifle. My son's reloads are set to the same 2.785" COL and he is deadly accurate.

Note 2: My daughter has the Ruger American Rifle in .308 and she likes the commercial Federal Big Game 165gr Trophy Bonded Tip ammo.

BJung - now you have to decide what you are going to do. A one pound can of powder equals 7000gr and with a 42gr charge, you can reload 166 rounds.
Have fun, I'm looking forward to hearing what you decide.

Short story - my son, his friend and I went to the range and his friend wanted to make it a competition and said we each get 3 practice shots and one shot for the competition and the wager is $10 to see who get closest to the bullseye.
We set up our targets and I fired my first practice shot...I saw exactly where it hit and I said - can you guys check my target to see where the bullet hit...it was almost exactly in the center of the red dot.
My son's friend looked at it and immediately said you're out of the competition, you get your $10 back, it's between me and Jason. The guy on my right also checked and he laughed and said very nice shot. I'm going to tell you, that was the best feeling in the world...a near dead center bullseye and there were witnesses.

 

Hornady 165gr SST or 168gr A-Max IMR3031 42gr 2600 FPS - I use the 165gr for my Ruger V/T 77 rated for Deer and Elk, (my son uses the 168gr in his Remington Tactical and only used for Targets)
Federal Big Game (commercial) uses a 165gr Trophy Bonded Tip - the box says 2700 FPS. They don't list powder but you can use that as a reference point.

My son's best friend brought a jar of Varget and we looked up a good load for the 168gr A-Max and I remember it being very consistent, similar to 3031 and he was accurate with it. I don't use Varget so I didn't capture the load data.

IMR3031 is easy to find, Varget not so much where I go shopping in the Dayton Ohio area.

Note 1: I get the most accurate shots with the 165gr SST with the COL set at 2.785" (OEM is 2.800") for my Ruger Target/Varmint rifle. My son's reloads are set to the same 2.785" COL and he is deadly accurate.

Note 2: My daughter has the Ruger American Rifle in .308 and she likes the commercial Federal Big Game 165gr Trophy Bonded Tip ammo.

BJung - now you have to decide what you are going to do. A one pound can of powder equals 7000gr and with a 42gr charge, you can reload 166 rounds.
Have fun, I'm looking forward to hearing what you decide.

Short story - my son, his friend and I went to the range and his friend wanted to make it a competition and said we each get 3 practice shots and one shot for the competition and the wager is $10 to see who get closest to the bullseye.
We set up our targets and I fired my first practice shot...I saw exactly where it hit and I said - can you guys check my target to see where the bullet hit...it was almost exactly in the center of the red dot.
My son's friend looked at it and immediately said you're out of the competition, you get your $10 back, it's between me and Jason. The guy on my right also checked and he laughed and said very nice shot. I'm going to tell you, that was the best feeling in the world...a near dead center bullseye and there were witnesses.

Good job Sergeant York. The moral of the story is, "don't under-estimate the Old Man"

 

Sierra 175 MatchKing with 41 grains of Varget in LC brass with WLR primer at 2.80" OAL is a near exact match to the military M118LR load.

 

This is a good recommendation. Other shooters are using the 168 SMK. What is your opinion of this compared to the 175 SMK if I was to try one of the two first?

 

Thank you for the recommendations. The loads are for my nephew. For now, he has some Federal and mostly GFL Cases. Any comments about the Fiocchi cases? I plan to weigh the GFL cases and toss the outliers (or use them for short range 170gr cast bullet fodder to practice follow up shots).