Varget Powder Charge for a .308 ??

[Ronald]

Hi everyone, hey picked up some Varget powder today, 168gr serria match king bullets, and some lapua brass. What weight powder charge has worked great for you all. This is for my Savage Model 12 F/TR .308 with a NightForce BenchRest scope. Will be shooting a 600 and 800yard match in a couple weeks.

[scope eye]

47gr - 48gr start lower.

Dean

[LongRange]

the sierra book says...
168g SMK
26" barrel
federal case
start load for varget 38.7g 2400FPS
max load for varget 43.5g 2700FPS

im pretty sure a lapua case is going to have less case capacity than the fed case so id start around 41-41.5gs and work up watching for pressure.

[wingspar]

im pretty sure a lapua case is going to have less case capacity than the fed case so id start around 41-41.5gs and work up watching for pressure.

I’ve just reloaded my first reloads ever this month for my Hog Hunter in .308 and I see people say “watch for pressure” a lot. How can you watch for pressure?

[Robinhood]

Load 6 rounds of 44 grains(sighters) then starting at 43.4 grains, load 3 rounds of each recipe, working up in .3 grain increments until you get to 45.2. Load the bullets at touching the lands or 2.800. Set up 3 targets at 300 yards or further. Shoot 2 sighters of the 44. Then one of each load at the first target marking the location of each round fired. Repeat. Find the loads that are consistently close in elevation and horizontal. There should be a couple of loads that impact very close. Your best load will be very close to that. IMR 4064 and Reloder 15 are good in that 12twist as well with a 175.

[scope eye]

Thanks Hood, I have a nice progression or sequence of events, regarding pressure that I posted here in the past, did a search and did not find it.

Dean

[darkker]

If you don't have a strain system, then the ONLY way to watch for pressure signs is a chronograph; but you have to start low.
Remember that you have a mass produced firearm, with varying degrees of tolerances. Test equipment is done with SAAMI min spec bore,groove,chamber,throats.
What this means is your rifle won't match book velocities. The only way it will is if you have higher than book pressures. This is where most think they "have a fast barrel", they actually just have a fast lot of powder, and are higher pressures. So watch your velocities compared to book listed data. When the increase in powder verses velocity increase stop tracking, then stop loading.

It is common to get told to watch how the primers look, and measure brass growth. Neither tells you anything.
For the normal pressure range the 308 operates, VERY carefully calibrated copper crushers are known to inaccurately report pressures, by @ 15,000 psi. Very UNCALIBRATED primer cups, and cases made from multiple unknown alloys, don't magically report pressures...

[Ronald]

Thanks guys for the information. Off to the reloading Room. ~Ronald~

[jonbearman]

Someone said 47-48 of varget and that is 4 full grains over the book rating. The book is conservative sometimes but 47-48 would be not recommended until you try it by the book. Yesterday I was shooting a 7-08 and a full grain under max. It was right at top pressure right there so doing anything over book max is dangerous and unnecessary.

[scope eye]

That was me, I have always found you can go 10% over Hodgdon's max especially with Lapua brass, he asked "What weight powder charge has worked great for you all" well that is what works for me, I advised him to start lower.

Dean

PS: I get a lot of my data from reloaders nest, many of them have the same data as I do.

[Robinhood]

can you say crunching varget?

[scope eye]

That is what Hydraulic Rams are for.LOL

Dean

[mike21]

Thanks Hood, I have a nice progression or sequence of events, regarding pressure that I posted here in the past, did a search and did not find it.

Dean

Here ya go.

http://www.savageshooters.com/showthread.php?40735-Recognizing-Pressure-Signs

[scope eye]

Here ya go.

http://www.savageshooters.com/showthread.php?40735-Recognizing-Pressure-Signs

Mike I Take back all those bad things, I said about you.LOL

Not for nothing but that one should be a Sticky.