No Lot# on Varget

[JMD82]

Just got a new 8 lb jug of Varget in today and noticed that there is not a lot# or date code anywhere…nada. Saw on other forums that it has happened in the past. Anyone here on the hide experience this before? If so; curious to know if it shot good or not. Maybe the guy in charge of stamping the jugs was off that week or something . Might crack it open this weekend and give it a shot. TIA.

 

[Cascade Hemi]

Times are tough and printer ink ain't free.

 

[mbeavers1]

Im sure itll shoot fine. Just may have to tweak load

 

[JMD82]

What I was thinking as well. Work back up to my normal load to see if there are any issues. Saw on other forums that it has happened a few times, but no one really went into details on the performance side of it…consistency, etc.

 

[Dolomite]

Same here got 2 4# jugs with no lot number. Lucky I had a new barrel and new load.

 

[supercorndogs]

Even just a quick five or ten round velocity ladder would give you an idea of how this lot compares to your old one.

 

[whatsupdoc]

I have had a recent 8lb Jug of H4350 come with a small orange sticker
with the lot number on it instead of the normal spot on the label.

Hodgon powder packaging is piss poor compared to others, the lot numbers rub off
with your finger and I have had many 8 lb jugs come with no second seal on the cap.
Not the seal that is stuck to mouth on a new jug but the one on the cap to reseal the jug once you
open it.

 

[bgavin]

I’ve gotten quite a few without second seal 8 and 1 lbs.

Got one with no seal. It was a 1 lb h4350 but in a sealed case. The other 9 had the seals.

 

[JMD82]

Thanks fellas. The seals and labeling look gtg, just thought it was odd that it was missing the lot# and such. I’ll run a ladder and compare it to the current lot I’m using.

 

[JMD82]

Just cracked open the jug and noticed that this Varget looks like crap. Now I’m a little concerned. Not uniform at all compared to the other jugs of Varget I have on hand.

First pic is of the jug without the lot# next to the current Varget I’m running. Second pic is of the jug without lot number. Third pic is current jug in use. I compared the jug with missing lot# to the other three 8 lbs jugs I have on hand and it is very noticeable. Anyone ever seen Varget look this bad?

 

[nn8734]

Just cracked open the jug and noticed that this Varget looks like crap. Now I’m a little concerned. Not uniform at all compared to the other jugs of Varget I have on hand.

First pic is of the jug without the lot# next to the current Varget I’m running. Second pic is of the jug without lot number. Third pic is current jug in use. I compared the jug with missing lot# to the other three 8 lbs jugs I have on hand and it is very noticeable. Anyone ever seen Varget look this bad?

Since you’ve opened it, load up a batch of 20-30 test rounds using the “unmarked” Varget and see what the difference in mean MV and precision is compared to a same size test sample loaded with your other, better looking Varget.

My guess is that the differences will be immaterial.

 

[JMD82]

More than likely what I’ll do. Start off with a ladder to see where it’s at on velocity and pressure then go from there. Out of all the Varget I’ve used, I have never seen anything like this.

 

[nn8734]

More than likely what I’ll do. Start off with a ladder to see where it’s at on velocity and pressure then go from there. Out of all the Varget I’ve used, I have never seen anything like this.

Ive never looked at the kernals of any powder long enough to care what they look like other than at a glance to confirm color and length/thickness of kernal is what it should be.

From your pics above, I would have loaded and shot it without a second thought. It’s standard for me to shoot the first 30 rounds charged with a new lot of powder over lab radar to see any major changes (just an example, 50 fps difference wouldnt get my attention but 150 or so would as would significant pressure signs at the same charge weight but with the new lot).

I wouldn’t worry about it unless your test data tells you that you should. In the unlikely event that it does, my next step would be to call Hodgen to see what your options are.

 

[Mr. F]

Id normalize it to your RH and done. Looks good to me on the pics.

Even if the speed is off at first, lot to lot consistency has a lot to do with humidity levels. If the composition is different but you get normalized data for your average humidity/temp you'll get that jug shooting just like the old one

 

[JMD82]

So I had the opportunity to try out this new jug of Varget yesterday. The environmental conditions were spot on compared to previous test conditions. This new jug produces slower velocities from why I can see. My normal max charge on the old lot was at 45.5 grn (heavy bolt lift), but was non existent with this new jug. I could go a little higher on the charge to see if my max charge has increased, but then I will be running an extremely compressed load. Below is what I noticed from the data by running a few short ladders and then loading up to my normal charge.

Test on 1/1/2023
44.7 grns. AVG: 2714
44.3 grns. AVG: 2689

Previous tests show that my high node is at 44.7 on the old jug of Varget and this load produced velocities in the 2760 range at the same environmental conditions. In order for me to get back up to that range I will have to increase my load to almost 46.0 grns if I would guess. Not to comfortable doing that since it will be an extremely compressed load. I settled on this charge so I could ring out the most velocity as possible while staying in a node.

The reason I threw in some loads at 44.3 is because I noticed another node between 44.0 - 44.5 grns. The AVG on this load was 2689.

Previous test data shows that this lower node was between 43.0 - 43.5 grns. and AVG in the same 2680 - 2690 area. Never spent a lot of time on this charge since I was mainly focused on the higher velocity node.

I think the only thing I can do is run this new jug without lot# and date code at a slower velocity and a charge of 44.3 grns to stay in middle of the lower node.

Good thing is I still have 10 lbs of the previous lot of Varget on hand.

Just in case if anyone is curious… 308 Win, 178 ELDM, Lapua Brass, CCI 200 LR Primers, Varget of course, all cases annealed after every firing, FL resized with the proper shoulder bump, necks are bushing sized, and mandrel used prior to bullet seating.