does this .308 load seem good?

[yzm19]

i loaded my .308win with 40grs of varget with a 175smk. i loaded others up to 44grs but 40 shot the best but man are the case mouths sooty! should i try some loads over 44 to see if i get less soot and better groups? im shooting a rem. 700 varmint .308 by the way.

[freelunch]

I usually load towards the high end for Varget in 308, which is 45.0gr; although I have a lot pre-loaded to the next accuracy node down at 43.6gr. The accuracy nodes above where you are now, are (plus or minus 0.1 or so depending on the rifle used): 42.2gr, 43.6gr, 45.0gr.

The way I understand it, a low powered load like yours may not seal the neck well and be sooty. Even the Hodgdon manual shows a start load at 42.0gr and max load at 45.0gr. However, if you want a low recoil, low velocity load, then you can probably live OK with the sooty necks.

[yzm19]

well i did not get good groups around 43ish like you said, mine where just ok around that load. i was wondering about finding a "node" up above 45grs. ill give it a shot. thanks