42-45g Varget 0.5g increments all within 1 MOA 300

[lrgrendel]

Remington 700 308 Win.
Lapua unfired brass.
SMK 175.
Federal 210m primers.
Varget.
New ladder work.
All 7 shots within a 3" circle at 300 yds.

A bit confused!! Any constructive input please?

 

[MDM]

Re: 42-45g Varget 0.5g increments all within 1 MOA 300

I think you need at least 3 loadings at each charge weight. One shot for each charge isn't going to tell ya shit.

 

[heytonyman]

Re: 42-45g Varget 0.5g increments all within 1 MOA 300

Did any of the loads stack on top of one another or at least form a small cluster? If not, shoot it out farther. A good shooting .308 needs at least 500 yards to actually see the ladder effect of the faster charges and gather decent data. I'd also suggest refining your powder increments a bit to .2 or .3 grain jumps. Anything under 43 grains of Varget will likely yield an undesirably slow load. Load up 43.0-46. and watch for pressure along the way. As suggested above, load up 2 or 3 rounds at each charge and shoot 2 or 3 separate ladders while you're setup and compare the data against one another.

 

[JoeBUtah]

Re: 42-45g Varget 0.5g increments all within 1 MOA 300

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: heytonyman</div><div class="ubbcode-body">... Anything under 43 grains of Varget will likely yield an undesirably slow load. </div></div>

That's interesting; I've been happy with 42.5 gr of Varget behind 175 SMKs. Maybe it's time I bump things up a bit and see if things get better?

 

[heytonyman]

Re: 42-45g Varget 0.5g increments all within 1 MOA 300

It's certainly worth a shot Joe. I like to load up until I see pressure signs on the brass then back it off to the last node as identified by the 500 yard ladder test. Staying on this upper node yields higher case fill ratio's which are proven to yield better ES's and SD's. Not to mention higher speeds = less drop and wind drift. Use quality brass and press onward.

Tony P.