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Old December 26, 2011, 10:06 PM   #1
SFW
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powders and reload manuals... a question...

So in recent load development, I have been using Varget powder. On the can, it lists max load data for a 150 grain .30-06 load. However, if I check in any of my reloading books (Speer, Hornady & Nosler) they don’t list Varget as a powder choice for the 150 grain bullet.

I have just worked up a load that my rifle loves for my .270 using a 130 grain Nosler BT/BT Hunter bullet. I used 46.0 grains of Varget, and the results were outstanding. Once again, none of my reloading manuals gave the option for Varget in this bullet weight. Why is that? This is obviously a great powder, which will do more than just light varmint loads… so why don’t manuals list it? Just curious…
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Old December 26, 2011, 10:40 PM   #2
MDS
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My Hornady 7th, shows Varget 41.0-51.6 for 150gr. 30-06 Springfield
My Speer 13th shows Varget 49.0-53.0 for the 30-06 Springfield 150gr bullet
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Old December 27, 2011, 08:04 AM   #3
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My Nosler manual doesn't list any load for Varget and the 130 grain bullet in .270.

Quote:
so why don’t manuals list it? Just curious…
Why don't they list every possible powder, caliber, and bullet combination? They want to publish a book that you can carry in one hand, so they list the best combinations that they've tested.

The best online compilation of data I've seen is the Hodgdon website. Just using the combination above, they list Varget in 8 different 270 loads. That should give you a starting point.

For .30-06, Hodgdon shows .30-06 loads with Varget from 110 grains to 220 grain bullets. There's got to be something there that you can use as a starting point.
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Old December 27, 2011, 08:26 AM   #4
SFW
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Thanks for the replies, gentlemen. I know that there are a ton of different powders out there. It just seems that Nosler would list the Varget in their manual. I can't imagine that my results are out of wack. The Varget works EXTREMELY well for both of the loads that I have been working on.
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Old December 27, 2011, 10:33 AM   #5
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SFW, I have Hodgdon 2011 manual and they list Varget for the 270 and for the 270 with 130gr Nornady SP bullet they list 19 powders. Nosler manual for the 270 with 130gr bullet they list 10 loads 7 of those loads powders are listed in the Hodgdon manual.

I like the manuals vs looking up loads on the computer but it helpful looking at the powder manuals cross check things.
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Old December 27, 2011, 12:03 PM   #6
Brian Pfleuger
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You are likely to find loads for more choices from the powder manufacturer than any other source.

Obviously, they want you to use as much as possible and will test their powder in as many different cartridges as they possibly can. They only need a couple bullet types for each caliber and they can test all their powders in a wide variety of cartridges.

The bullet makers, for instance, can only test their .308 bullet in so many combinations before it gets cost prohibitive.
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