Please look at these two powders, they are not the same. Varget?

[demolitionman]

I was planning on loading up some 120AMAX's tonight to Hornady's specs but seating them a touch longer. On the back of their Factory Ammunition box the load says 39gr of Varget. So I pulled a bullet to measure and I realize their lots of powder may differ and they make up for the difference by adding or subtracting the pow to their lots to keep the pressures safe and consistent.

But interestingly their Varget doesn't match the powder inside my Varget bottle. The Varget out of my 1 pound bottle is on the left (green) the Varget, or so Hornady's box says, is on the right. I just wanted your input as I was kind of suprised by the color difference and the granules look slightly smaller than the Varget I have.

Check this out. That's not Varget on the right is it?

 

[FLIGHT762]

No, it's not the commercially available Varget. Ammunition manufacturers have access to powders not available to the reloading consumer. They load to pressure and velocity. Their lots of powder vary from lot to lot. Their powder may be a non canister type of Varget speed powder. Just go with what they recommend to you to use on their box.

 

[demolitionman]

No, it's not the commercially available Varget. Ammunition manufacturers have access to powders not available to the reloading consumer. They load to pressure and velocity. Their lots of powder vary from lot to lot. Their powder may be a non canister type of Varget speed powder. Just go with what they recommend to you to use on their box.

Thanks Flight.

 

[turbo54]

That isn't varget.

"Varget" is a specific product. If its LIKE varget but reformulated or modified, its not varget anymore.

Printing "39gr varget, 120amax, federal 210m, 2.800" on the box is no different than a generic safe load printed on the label of a bottle of powder.

Interesting... Hornady isn't actually publishing their secret factory load like they claim to be.

For what its worth, that looks like Reloader 15. But as the previous post mentioned, you just never know because manufacturers like hornady have the clout to have any powder they want formulated for them.

Bummer.

 

[demolitionman]

I compared it to my Reloader 17 and it looks similar but the RL17 didn't have any dimples in the ends of the granules like the Hornady pow does.

 

[seanh]

I think they just mean that 39grn of Varget under the same bullet will yield similar results.

Just do a ladder test, develop your load...then take a factory load- on the same ladder single shot per load target, and see where it lands.

 

[demolitionman]

Oh yeah, I'll get Varget, or 4350 to shoot 120's well with a little work. No problem there. I am just curious because I had purchased 2 boxes of this ammunition and had all sorts of cases getting jammed in my chamber, and I was dying to know the powder numbers of their Varget...but doesn't look like Varget at all. I will do a ladder test to check whatever pow I do end up putting behind my 120's. thanks you guys I'm learning!

 

[Deadshot2]

Only way you will ever know for sure is to shoot a round with Known Varget alongside a factory load claiming to be Varget. Use the same weight, bullet, case, primer combo, and see if the speeds are the same (or real close).

I never take it for granted that something is what they say unless it's coming from a sealed factory packaged bottle of powder. That and the fact that I haven't bought factory ammo for years. If I want "New Ammo" I merely start with new brass and load it with one of my proven recipes. May not be a lot cheaper but I don't have to deal with whatever tolerance they consider "good enough".