CFE 223 in .308 problem

BTW:
"(.2 below max in my lee manual)" isn't a significant variance from MAXIMUM.
0.2 grains is within some folks' normal loading tolerances in a .308 sized case.
 
Hodgdon says 51.5 grains is maximum with the 150 grain Nosler BT in a Winchester case with the mild Federal 210M primer. That's a Larger capacity case than the LC and a different primer and both factors could contribute to higher peak pressure. If the Hornady soft point is any harder or longer than the Nosler, that will raise pressure, too.

Regarding temperature stability, for whatever bullet you use, get in the habit of finding the difference in the same data's maximum and starting load velocities, then dividing it by the difference in the charge weights given for the two velocities. This will give you some number of feet per second per grain of powder over the pressure range produced. All else being equal, the lower that number, is the less sensitive the powder will be either to temperature or charge weight error.

All else is not usually quite equal, but this simple method still identifies potential accuracy powders pretty well by picking out the powder that is most forgiving. In this instance, CFE 223 gets 67.7 fps/grain, while Varget gets 49.7 fps/grain and IMR 4064 gets 50.1 fps/grain. On Hodgdon's list, at 67.6 fps/grain, only IMR 3031 comes close to the oad sensitivity of CFE 223.
 
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