Does Varget work good for best accuracy? Is the powder worth trying over say H335?
Thanks for the info,
David

Absolutely. Varget burns cleaner than H335, and is far less temperature sensitive. The following load seems to perform very well in a number of rifles:

40 grain Nosler ballistic tip
Winchester (avoid Remington) brass
Federal 205 primer
27.5 grains Varget (compressed, shaken down)
Set overall length at a short 2.225"

This last step is important. Don't try to seat the lighter (55 grains & under) .223 bullets to approach the lands. You'll most likely end up reducing the load to get it to shoot well.

Let us know how it goes...

green 788

Green 788,
Thanks for the reply, I'm going for it and I'll let you know.
Thanks
David

I just loaded some .223 W/26gr. Varget and CCI Benchrest primers. Bullets-60gr Hornady HP,60gr Nosler Part., 62gr. IMI FMJBTSC, 62gr Barnaul (russian) FMJ. In a Mini 14 at a 100yds 1.5in are acceptable to me. I will
try them in my Rem. Mod. 788/.223 and they should be more accurate, hope so!

Compete hearsay you understand . . .

I've HEARD that Varget is a versatile powder, good for a number of applications but that it does not excell at any particular application.

That said, the other thing I hear about Varget is that it works well in .223 Rem. with 40 gr. Ballistic Tips.

My EXPERIENCE with Varget is that it bridges the mouth of the case and otherwise is more difficult to measure/load than sphericals like H-335, BL-C (2). For that reason alone, I went back to the spherical powders.

But I've been completely wrong before. I've heard rave reviews too. Hard to know what the "truth" is.

Tried them all, but in my .223's W748 still is the fastest and the most accurate. The hard part is getting enough in the case. 30grs. is about all I can get in a fireformed case.

Hey stronics, I've been trying some of the new Hodgdon Benchmark powder in my 223Rem with Nickle plated R-P cases, CCI-400s and the very inexpensive 50gr Rem PLHPs seated 0.015" Off-the-Lands. I tried both Partial-Full Length Resized and Neck Sized cases.

Last Tuesday in a very light sprinkle, in a 20" S&S M7, using the P-FLRed cases it made a 6-shot group of less than 0.3xx"(a spent 308Win case mouth). Going to the Neck Sized cases, the first 6-shots went into about 0.9".

Concentration went to pieces and both groups opened slightly when I put 6 more shots into each group. I've found these 50gr Rem PLHPs to normally run in the 6s-8s using H4895 & H322. WW-748 or BL-C2 are a bit faster and only open my groups about 1/10th.

Not sure about the speed on this Benchmark, but my rifle does seem to like it. I've only shot around 100 bullets with Benchmark though, so this information is based on limited experience using it.

Good luck with the Varget and let us know how well it shoots in comparison to other Powders you've used.

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Good hunting and clean 1-shot kills, Hot Core

For the record, one application where Varget definitely excels is in the .308 match load. Check out the thread "My Varget Load Testing," and others at the handloading section at Snipershide.com (click forums).

Many of us are getting .2's and .3's very consistently with the Sierra HPBT Matchkings pushed by Varget. It is the powder to beat in this application. IMR 4064 used to be.

green 788

I love Varget in my 7-08 imp but I have had better luck with AA-2015-BR 24-1/2grns 52 grn Calhoon bullets shoots in the .300s all day.

I second Frank's opinion of AA2015, at least with lighter bullets (53 grain and under), as best for velocity/accuracy in several 223's. Seems to run pressures up pretty quick with 55 grainers.

Varget never really performed that well in my 223's. Benchmark's trials are just beginning.

I'm itching to try green 788's Varget 308 match loads, if the weather will ever co-operate. Maybe we could all go to Saeed's and use his indoor range. Can you imagine having an indoor range? My wife would NEVER see me

R-WEST

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"the spotlight of truth will cause the cockroaches of deceit to run for cover every time"
Rush Limbaugh

I think Varget works better with heavier bullets in .223 than it does with light ones. I like 25+ grains of it with a 75 or 80 grain bullet. 25 & a 75 gets me over 2700fps out of a 20" barrel.

I've had very good results with
27.5 grains of Varget and a 55 grain Sierra Bliz (not Blitzking) in my CZ 527. IMO it is too slow for bullets much lighter. It meters well but you need a long drop tube to get it all in the case. Another plus, it has replaced several powders as I now use it for 75-80 grain bullets in 6mm Rem, all weights in 35 Whelen and up through 165 grain in 30-06. Excellent product!

wizard tuned me into Varget and 40 gr ballistic tips and they are just the ticket for my 223. My rifle liked 27.3 gr.

Dave