I’m curious if anybody here is using Varget in the 30-06 caliber to push 155 grain sierra or similar bullets. I recently purchased the Varget to be used in .223 Remington but I could not resist testing it in the 30-06 as the Sierra and Hodgdon manual lists this as a viable combination. I started at 46.5 grains and worked up to 51.0 grains, just a tick over the recommended max of 50.7 grains. My OAL was 3.225” +/- 0.002” with the sierra 155 grain bullets leaving a fair amount of open space within the case after seating the bullet. The cases were virgin Nosler, FL sized for good measure and the primers were Federal 210M. From the experience I have with other combinations I can assume that due to the unused case capacity the ES and SD numbers will probably be more than with a powder that fills the case more completely, which can have an effect on consistency and accuracy on targets at longer ranges. I also saw no pressure signs at the top end of my testing I know that means I can proceed to slowly and with an abundance of caution increase my max loads while looking for pressure signs.
When I tested this combination at the range the other day it was very windy (lowest wind reading was 7.5 mph, average was in the 12’s and gusting to over 20 at times switching from full value right to left, no value coming right at me and back again) so my groups were not the greatest that I have ever shot. A proven load that shoots .5 to .75 MOA was shooting about grouping about 1.25 to 1.75 MOA. The 155’s sierras were grouping about the same at 1.5 to 2.0 MOA; all this really told me is that I need to practice shooting the wind more often and not much about how this combination might work on a calm day. I was at too short of a range to do a ladder test and did not want to waste the components for an OCW test given the windy and changing conditions.
I will not have an opportunity to head back out to the range for almost 1 month so my questions are this, is anybody using this or a similar combination in their rifle? If so what kind of accuracy have you been seeing and finally what was the max powder charge you ended up using?
When I tested this combination at the range the other day it was very windy (lowest wind reading was 7.5 mph, average was in the 12’s and gusting to over 20 at times switching from full value right to left, no value coming right at me and back again) so my groups were not the greatest that I have ever shot. A proven load that shoots .5 to .75 MOA was shooting about grouping about 1.25 to 1.75 MOA. The 155’s sierras were grouping about the same at 1.5 to 2.0 MOA; all this really told me is that I need to practice shooting the wind more often and not much about how this combination might work on a calm day. I was at too short of a range to do a ladder test and did not want to waste the components for an OCW test given the windy and changing conditions.
I will not have an opportunity to head back out to the range for almost 1 month so my questions are this, is anybody using this or a similar combination in their rifle? If so what kind of accuracy have you been seeing and finally what was the max powder charge you ended up using?
