308 with varget and 110 vmax...3400 fps?!

[Tyler Kemp]

Hi guys, I just recently went prairie dog hunting and 155 Palmas from my 308 were disappointing in the splat department.

I called a buddy with quickload and from the sound of things in my 30" barrel I should be able to
load 51 grains of Varget and get 3400fps. Has anyone used Varget with these bullets? The velocity seems excellent and I was surprised Varget wasn't too slow.

EDIT: this load showed about 58,000 PSI of pressure

 

[Wyo7200]

Hi guys, I just recently went prairie dog hunting and 155 Palmas from my 308 were disappointing in the splat department.

I called a buddy with quickload and from the sound of things in my 30" barrel I should be able to
load 51 grains of Varget and get 3400fps. Has anyone used Varget with these bullets? The velocity seems excellent and I was surprised Varget wasn't too slow.

EDIT: this load showed about 58,000 PSI of pressure

In my QL, that combo (2.750 OAL, 58k PSI) comes up with 113% case fill... That is a lot of crunch!

Step    Fill. Charge   Vel.  Energy   Pmax   Pmuz  Prop.Burnt B_Time
 %       %    Grains   fps   ft.lbs    psi    psi      %        ms
+00.0  113    51.00   3439    2889   58463   5938     95.7    1.101  ! Near Maximum !

It would help knowing your components- Case capacity, OAL...

It looks like he was trying to put you on a node- This is the closest node you can probably get to without having a 113% compressed load.

Cartridge          : .308 Win. (SAAMI)
Bullet             : .308, 110, Hornady V-MAX 23010
Useable Case Capaci: 50.531 grain H2O = 3.281 cm³
Cartridge O.A.L. L6: 2.750 inch = 69.85 mm
Barrel Length      : 30.0 inch = 762.0 mm
Powder             : Hodgdon VARGET

Predicted data by increasing and decreasing the given charge,
incremented in steps of 1.0% of nominal charge.
CAUTION: Figures exceed maximum and minimum recommended loads !

Step    Fill. Charge   Vel.  Energy   Pmax   Pmuz  Prop.Burnt B_Time
 %       %    Grains   fps   ft.lbs    psi    psi      %        ms
+00.0  102    45.90   3097    2343   41341   5355     90.8    1.273

If you are searching for 6' high launches and explosions, I think you'd have better luck with a 204 ruger or something that has a higher bullet RPM rate.

 

[dejardinr]

In my QL, that combo (2.750 OAL, 58k PSI) comes up with 113% case fill... That is a lot of crunch!

Step    Fill. Charge   Vel.  Energy   Pmax   Pmuz  Prop.Burnt B_Time
 %       %    Grains   fps   ft.lbs    psi    psi      %        ms
+00.0  113    51.00   3439    2889   58463   5938     95.7    1.101  ! Near Maximum !

It would help knowing your components- Case capacity, OAL...

It looks like he was trying to put you on a node- This is the closest node you can probably get to without having a 113% compressed load.

Cartridge          : .308 Win. (SAAMI)
Bullet             : .308, 110, Hornady V-MAX 23010
Useable Case Capaci: 50.531 grain H2O = 3.281 cm³
Cartridge O.A.L. L6: 2.750 inch = 69.85 mm
Barrel Length      : 30.0 inch = 762.0 mm
Powder             : Hodgdon VARGET

Predicted data by increasing and decreasing the given charge,
incremented in steps of 1.0% of nominal charge.
CAUTION: Figures exceed maximum and minimum recommended loads !

Step    Fill. Charge   Vel.  Energy   Pmax   Pmuz  Prop.Burnt B_Time
 %       %    Grains   fps   ft.lbs    psi    psi      %        ms
+00.0  102    45.90   3097    2343   41341   5355     90.8    1.273

If you are searching for 6' high launches and explosions, I think you'd have better luck with a 204 ruger or something that has a higher bullet RPM rate.

Your .308 WIN is a very good dog gun. I use a Rem 700VS in 308, 26" barrell 1:10 twist (cryo treated and fire lapped barrel). I have good accuracy with Varget using 168G HPBT match bullets, but not much with any other bullet weight. Give up on 3400FPS; go to the Speer 125 TNTHP bullet for good splat results, or better yet the Speer 130G HP at a slightly higher cost. I push them at 2950FPS (well under the max) and get the same results as others using 22-250 with 52G HP's. Better yet I can shoot this load comfortably all day. My rifle likes WIN748 and HOD BL-c2. I use IMI match brass, Fed large rifle match primers and 47G 748 (130's) and 48G 748 (125's). Groups are 1/4 to 3/8" at 100 yds and there is no problem dinging dogs at 500 yds. Incidently, I use 180G bullets for hunting and tried many slower powders, Varget included. Not much in the accuracy dept, so for the heck of it I tried Win 748. 44G of 748 with Win cases, Fed large rifle match primer and Horn 180G SST's gives me 2640FPS and 3/8" groups at 100yds.