Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Mule Deer- 308 load w/ Varget

Mule Deer, My slipping memory tell me you had written something here or elswhere about the 308 load with 150 grn cup and core bullets and Varget you had settled on. I cant find mention anywhere so was wondering if I actually had read it.

I was thinking it was somewhere in the neighborhood of 46 grns but that is above Hornady and Sierra data but it is withing Hogdon and speer data so I wanted to check first.

I have tried 44 grns over a hornady 150 interlock and it shoots ok,but I was curious.

I'm not MD, but I do use a bit of Varget in the 308.

What kind of brass will you be using?

winchester brass is what I have.

I have great results with 44gr Varget and Hornady 150gr BTSP

Sierra's data was shot in Federal brass, which is thicker and lower capacity.

Hodgdon uses WW brass and shows 47 grains as tops with 150 grain Bal Tips. IME the Hornady flat base likes a bit more powder than that. This is with CCI and Federal standard primers.

agreed, I don't know why I keep looking for a better mousetrap though.

Have you clocked that 44 grain load?

I've clocked 47gns Varget with 150gn Speer in my Rem700 .308 22'bbl. Using Win brass 15 shots averaged 2727fps.

Yep, sounds familiar. The 44 grain load may be milder than they think.

With bullets shorter than the 150 Bal Tip that Hodgdon used, I'd have no qualms about carefully working up a bit over 47 grains in WW brass.

46grs is the magic number in my Ruger with the 150gr HFBIL and the Sierra ProHunter. I shoot 45.5 with the 165gr HFBIL and the Barnes 168 TTSX. I'm in the mid 2800's with the 150's and mid-to-low 2700's with the 165/168's.

And FWIW, I'm using WW brass and either WLR or Federal Gold Medal Match primers.

Various manuals show up to 48.5 grains of Varget as max with 150-grain bullets in the .308, due to differences in bullets, powder lots and brass. In my present .308, a Merkel K1 single-shot, I use 150-grain AccuBonds, and relied on Nosler data to work up the load.

The middle load in the Nosler manual is 46.5 grains for right around 2900 fps in a 24" barrel. In my rifle it grouped 3/4" or less and got just about 2900 fps (perhaps because the K1 has a 24" barrel, and perhaps not). Since a break-action single-shot doesn't have the extracting power of a bolt-action, and 2900 fps seemed to be sufficient, I stopped there.

But I've also loaded for a bunch of other .308's, finding that anywhere between 44 and 48 grains of Varget will generally shoot very well with 150-grain bullets--depending on the rifle, bullet, case and lot of powder.

that's gotta be a feel good rifle to take a walk with...

46.0gr Varget works well in my son's Ruger RSI with a 18.5" barrel. Almost forgot; 150gr Hornady Interlocks.

46gr Varget under 150 AB's works well in my Ruger RSI as well. Have used both Rem and WW brass successfully.

johnw,

Yeah, the K1 is a fine rifle to carry, partly because it only weighs 6-3/4 pounds with scope, and partly because it has reall nice walnut!

I'm planning to use 150s and Varget in an M1A with an 18.5" barrel. It will also be the first semi-auto rifle I've loaded for. Any advice? Can I simply load like I would for a .308 bolt gun as long as I full length resize?

Perhaps that 46.5 grain load is the one sticking in my head.

I havent clocked the 44 grn load I am shooting now but frankly if it is hitting 2700 fps I think I would be happy.


I have tried 130 grn ttsx with tac but really dont feel enough recoil difference from the 150 grn so not sure the extra cost is necessary. And also am not sure if TAC is as temp resistat as Varget.

TAC is pretty darn temp-resistent in the right application, which also applies to other temp-resistent powders. The first time I tested it in cold weather (right around zero F.) in the .223 the load averaged EXACTLY the same velocity as it did at 70. Of course anything within 20-25 fps is considered pretty much temp-resistent, but it impressed me anyway!

That said, 2700 fps with a 150 is plenty, and I have never been able to tell that much difference in recoil between the 130's and 150's either.

I'm not big on most European style guns but have to admit the K1 is a really nice looking rifle to me.

Using Winchester brass, Fed 210 primers and Nosler BT my 22" barreled rifle achieves 2814 fps at the pressure limit with 46.5 grains of Varget. A number of other powders gave higher velocities at the same pressure limit, but I'm still in the process of sorting through the accuracy element of each. The top velocity (2989 fps) was provided by 2000 MR.