150 Sierra gamekings and varget powder

[Wayne.Dellio]

I have a staggered feed savage 16 308. I bought varget powder and 150gr Sierra gamekings. Has anyone else used this combo? How much powder and what overall cartridge length has done best?

[tiny68]

Try from 46.0 to 47.5 gr of Varget with Winchester brass. I seat them at 0.020" from the lands which is a COAL of about 2.925" in my son's factory sporter barrel. 47.0 gr is right at 2850 fps in his 24" barrel. Sub-1" at 100 all day long.

I know this is higher than some load tables list as max loads. But the Hodgdon site goes to 47.5 gr as a compressed load.

Luck, Tim

[Wayne.Dellio]

I don't know exactly what length I should use for the coal. I used an empty cartridge and seated the bullet just enough to hold the head . The I chambered it and measured it afterwards and got 2.86 for a chamber depth. Anyone else use the meth?n how accurate is it?

[tiny68]

I take a case and cut a slice length wise in the neck with a Dremel tool. I run the brass through my FL size, then lightly seat a bullet in the neck of the brass. Then chamber. Slowly open the bolt and push the round back with a cleaning rod from the muzzle end. Take the measurement 3-4 times with 3-5 different bullets. Personally I make all my measurements at the ogive with a Stony Point tool. A lead tip like the SGK will vary +0.025" or more in the same box of bullets.

Tim