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Thread: Varget Powder Charge for a .308 ??

  1. #1
    Ronald
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    Varget Powder Charge for a .308 ??


    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.

  2. #2
    Basic Member scope eye's Avatar
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    47gr - 48gr start lower.

    Dean
    RUMs are like woman in Stiletto heals, you know they are going to put you in the poor house, but that has never stopped anyone from pursuing them.

  3. #3
    LongRange
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    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.

  4. #4
    Basic Member wingspar's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by LongRange View Post
    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?
    Gary...Will Fly for Food... and more Ammo

  5. #5
    Basic Member Robinhood's Avatar
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    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.

  6. #6
    Basic Member scope eye's Avatar
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    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
    RUMs are like woman in Stiletto heals, you know they are going to put you in the poor house, but that has never stopped anyone from pursuing them.

  7. #7
    Basic Member darkker's Avatar
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    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...
    I'm a firm believer in the theory that if it bleeds, I can kill it.

  8. #8
    Ronald
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    Thanks guys for the information. Off to the reloading Room. ~Ronald~

  9. #9
    Team Savage jonbearman's Avatar
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    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.
    Willing to give back for what the sport has done for me!

  10. #10
    Basic Member scope eye's Avatar
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    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.
    Last edited by scope eye; 05-25-2015 at 05:48 PM.
    RUMs are like woman in Stiletto heals, you know they are going to put you in the poor house, but that has never stopped anyone from pursuing them.

  11. #11
    Basic Member Robinhood's Avatar
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    can you say crunching varget?

  12. #12
    Basic Member scope eye's Avatar
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    That is what Hydraulic Rams are for.LOL

    Dean
    RUMs are like woman in Stiletto heals, you know they are going to put you in the poor house, but that has never stopped anyone from pursuing them.

  13. #13
    Team Savage mike21's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by scope eye View Post
    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/showth...Pressure-Signs

  14. #14
    Basic Member scope eye's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by mike21 View Post
    Mike I Take back all those bad things, I said about you.LOL

    Not for nothing but that one should be a Sticky.
    RUMs are like woman in Stiletto heals, you know they are going to put you in the poor house, but that has never stopped anyone from pursuing them.

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