Thanks for posting this, Yondering. It's good to compare notes.
I still have not tried Lapua brass, sticking with Starline for now. I don't know how case capacity between Lapua and Starline would compare, but I suspect the Lapua brass will hold more powder. I get some ejector marks at 28.0 grains of Varget and ended up dropping back to 27.8 grains. I was getting about 2680 fps (@15 ft from muzzle) when the charge was 28.0 grains, so I'd say we're fairly close on velocity with Varget. I'm not real comfortable with the idea of running Varget at 28.3 grains in Starline brass---at least, not this batch. I think I tend to be a bit more timid when loading for an AR than a bolt gun...
I did shoot my 6G again this last Saturday, and I got results that make me happy enough. I shot five groups of the Lever load, and the average was well under an inch. With the two most errant shots taken out of the 25 shots total, the average was under 3/4 inch. I modified my bench technique a bit and it seemed to have made for more consistent results.
I also shot five 5-shot groups powered by 27.8 grains of Varget with the 105, and they shot nearly as well as the Leverevolution loads did. I'm thinking that Varget may be just as good as Lever in this application, but I'll cast a vote for Lever based on the fact that it meters so beautifully...and Lever DID beat it out to some extent.
I am going to shoot the 29.5 of Lever load a bit more just to see if I can refine my bench technique a bit more, then go back to playing a bit more with 90-grain Accubonds. I got pretty encouraging results with them early on and I think I may be able to wring a little more out of them with a little more AR practice-induced confidence. I'm really curious as to how they would like to collaborate with about 30.5 grains of Lever.
