• Watch Out for Scammers!

    We've now added a color code for all accounts. Orange accounts are new members, Blue are full members, and Green are Supporters. If you get a message about a sale from an orange account, make sure you pay attention before sending any money!

who has success with 41.5gr Varget?

scissorhands

Sergeant
Full Member
Minuteman
Jan 23, 2013
159
6
49
Houston, Texas
I have been testing different powder charges for my .308. Seems the best is 41.5grains of target. Anyone else have similar findings? I have tried 10-12 different charges of varget and this seems to hold the best 5 shot group. Sesms a little on the low end, and thats why i a am posting this post.

Rem 700 .308 LTR
hornady match brass
federal match large rifle primer
Coal 2.8
trim length 2.005
168g SMK

tried in new brass and once/twice fired.... Thoughts?

Rob
 
Re: who has success with 41.5gr Varget?

With the same brass and a 175gn SMK I get great accuracy with 42.0gn of Varget.

Did you play with the Over All Length at all to see if that would help?My old 168gn load was 44gn of Varget.
 
Re: who has success with 41.5gr Varget?

my LTR shoots great with 44.2 Varget 175SMK and CCI BR2 primer. Using blackhills and winchester brass. Federal brass shoots well also but shows some slight pressure signs.
 
Re: who has success with 41.5gr Varget?

If it shoots it shoots!
Probably pretty slow though, if that matters to you.
You could extend your distance and see if it holds together.
 
Re: who has success with 41.5gr Varget?

You're probably getting 2450 to 2500fps out of a 20". This would be adequate for 800 yrds with a 168. I get 2600 with a 22" bartlien and 43gr of varget. I don't have a lot of numbers on varget b/c im using 4895. My most accurate loads run at 2550 using IMR4895.
 
Re: who has success with 41.5gr Varget?

I had a very accurate load for an 18" 308 of mine that was 41.7gr of Varget with a 168gr AMAX. That load shot crazy good but it was the low accuracy node for that rifle and 43.5gr of Varget over the same shot almost identically and gave me a bit more speed.
 
Re: who has success with 41.5gr Varget?

I had a node at 41.5 grains with 175 gr SMK's. I increased the charge and found another node with a greater charge weight. I shoot the higher weight.
 
Re: who has success with 41.5gr Varget?

I never succes with slow node.

My rifle prefer 43.5 of Varget with 168 SMK
 
Re: who has success with 41.5gr Varget?

Thanks for all the replies. I might try a few different loads with the varget again, but I have a few different powders (RL-15 and N150) I have not tried in the .308
Looks like I get t o spend more time at the reloading bench!

Rob
 
Re: who has success with 41.5gr Varget?

46grns of Varget is the listed max so you can work up from where you are now.
 
Re: who has success with 41.5gr Varget?

IIRC 41.5gr. of RL-15 is the Sierra accuracy load for the 168gr. MK in the 5th edition manual. This was the first load I shot though my new Savage F T/R. It was very accurate. I've since moved on to other bullets and faster MV's.
I'm not surprised at all that 41.5 gr. of Varget is working well for you.

B
 
Re: who has success with 41.5gr Varget?

45 gr varget
175 smk
Win brass
Fed 210m
26" tube 2732 fps.
 
Re: who has success with 41.5gr Varget?

I'm running 41gr with 180 SST. Slow but I don't shoot past 700m. Very accurate load.
 
Re: who has success with 41.5gr Varget?

My 5R likes 43.5 Varget under a 175 SMK. Nosler brass and a BR2 primer. 1/2 MOA and under all day long. Don't remember the speed on it. I remember it not being as fast as I wanted, but it shoots.
 
Re: who has success with 41.5gr Varget?

42 grains Varget with 175 SMK at 2.900 in my 700 will shoot 1/4 to 1/2 MOA. This was with a Federal LR primer but need to adjust for LRM primers since it opens up to around 1 MOA...