Tried Varget today.

I tried Varget today, for the first time. First thing I noticed was how much cooler the brass and barrel were as compared to IMR4895 and H335. I was going up in .5 grain increments under my 175 SMK's. I have a 1 grain range to focus in on now. If you have multiple groups under 1/2 MOA, do you pick the absolute smallest group or the one with the least vertical? I have not chronoed yet, so I do not have info on my velocity spreads.

I think at this point you back the target out to at least 200 yds and see if you see any difference in the different loads...

That is my next step as I have two loads now that I have to pick between...

I love Varget and the 175 SMK, it is working well for me too, as you know already! However, in my 'nodes' I noticed that as little as .1 grains had some significant effects on my groups... In other words, 44.7 and 44.8 were MOA or just under. 44.9 and 45.0 have got me to .45 MOA to .65 MOA.

Obviously the differences are going to become more apparent as the distance increase...

I tested from 42.0 to 44.0. 42.5 shot just over 1". All of my shooting was at 200 yds. The vertical on it was .64" if I remember correctly. 43.0 was just over 2", but 2 of them were .4" and the vertical was .34"! 43.5 was right at 1" but it was all vertical. 2 of those were under .4". I am going to try 42.5, 42.7, 42.9, 43.0, 43.1, 43.3, and 43.5. I am going to try these in 5 shot groups as well. That way, I can leave some room for error on my part and still have 3 or 4 shots for record. Y'all make mistakes don't y'all?

arnygollott3 wrote:In other words, 44.7 and 44.8 were MOA or just under. 44.9 and 45.0 have got me to .45 MOA to .65 MOA.

The book shows these loads as being compressed. Are you getting any pressure signs? I am seeing nothing at 44.0 and I can still hear the powder shake in the case.

put that varget stuff away and load imr 4064

If Varget doesn't pan out, I may try it.

Winchester Brass is what I am using and it is ROOMY compared to some of the others, requires more prep work but I can live with that.

At 45.0 nothing shakes around that is for sure. I am not seeing any signs of pressure but I have to be very close and I will not go up.

I choose Varget because it is very common, very stable for temperature, and has produced good results for many people, I just happen to be one of them. I know there are other powders that do well for others but Varget has worked for me.

I will try some other powders when I start stuffing these 208 grain Amax in my rifle...I am still researching and reading on this heavy hitter though... But at least I have one 'go to' load so far that has components that are readily available at most places.

There are people launching the 208 Amax at 2550+ fps with a .308 Winchester. That is impressive and I plan to play with that someday soon!

I was using Winchester brass as well. SGMJody prepped them for me. I think all he did was neck turn them. I have 200 Lapua brass I will go to when I finish load development.

Do a Google Search for 'Snipers Hide 208 Amax 308 Winchester' and you will get several threads of folks getting good accuracy and amazing speeds with the 208 Amax and RL17 powder. Some well into the 2600 fps range with 24" barrels!

RL17 is a bit temp sensitive so that is something that has to be considered, you might have a summer and a winter load. Varget does not pose that problem...but does not offer that performance either. Give and take always!

Lapua Brass and Winchester Brass do not compare for case capacity and what is safe in Win Brass could EASILY be over pressure in Lapua Brass.

Lapua has a good amount less capacity!

BE CAREFUL!

Maybe some one will find this useful big_smile

Here are some Lapua .308 brass weights and how much they can hold. These are all once fired and still with the primer I will do some new one when I get a chance.

Info borrowed from another thread http://www.700rifle.com/forums/viewtopic.php?id=908

Brass GR Amount of H2O held by case in GR
177.2 held 56.3
176.3 held 56
176.5 held 55.8
176.6 held 56.1
177.2 held 55.1
177.2 held 55.6
176.4 held 55.9
177.1 held 55.8
177.9 held 55.9
177.5 held 56

So average is 55.84

Winchester Brass

163.1 57.3
163.3 57.4
164.1 57.5
163.2 57.4
164.3 57.0
161.8 57.6
163.6 57.0
163.8 57.2
161.0 57.5
161.8 57.3

Average Grains held is 57.32

That's one reason I am staying well back of max. When I decide on a load in Win brass, I'm sure I will have to test around it in Lapua.

My 300rsaum loves varget behind 168gr nosler custom comp. match grade bthp

Got my next set of test loads loaded today. All but 15 of them are once fired, the 15 are new. I decapped and resized yesterday and SGMJody graciously tumbled and primed them. I loaded them to 2.800" again, but this time used a new Forster Ultra Seating die. Anyone use one of these? I miss the loading window from the RCBS but I have fallen in love with the accuracy of the adjustment on the Forster!

WOW is all I can say about the Varget! I had some outstanding loads based on extreme velocity spread. My best was 14 with another at 19. These were 5 shot groups. All loads produced 4 shot groups between .5 and .75 MOA at 200. The best produced under 1/2 MOA vertical for all 5 shots. For some reason, every group produced a first shot flier an inch or more to the left of the next four. I figure, in F-Class I will have sighters before my strings so I can discount that first shot flier. I did, however, include the shot in my velocity figures. Next up is to take the best three performers of these 7 and load 10 shot groups. The best of those three will be loaded up for Bogue Chitto. I'm running short on time! Good thing SGMJody has nothing better to do than help me out!

Next time you shoot groups. Try them in the OCW method. If shooting 42.5-43.5, have 7 dots on one big target set up. Shoot 42.5 at a dot, 42.7 at a dot, 42.9 and so on. Allow your barrel to cool the same amount of time in between each shot for the entire string and don't clean your gun until finished. Only shoot 3 round for each load. This will eliminate your flier issue. At the end, you will be looking for loads within a couple of tenth's in weight that group on the same side of the bullseye. Here is an example, 67.6 is my accuracy node.

I tried imr4064 and it was horrible with 168s 175s and 190s. I had best luck with varget with 175s and 210s