270 and Varget Powder

[brantwalton1]

Loaded 47 Grains of HVarget and got the results that are in the picture. Anyone else loaded 270 with this powder. Shooting a Remington M-721 hunting rifle so not sure how good of a group i will get at 100 yards. Any info would be appreciated.

[HiBC]

I don't have a 270 but I have been loading over 40 years and I have used a fair amount of Varget.
IMO,varget is not the best match for a .270.It's burn rate is a bit fast.You may find pressures will spike pretty quick on you.
Varget is a Hogdon Extreme series powder,and I think it is very good stuff.If you move to the slower burn versions of Hogdon's Extreme series,I would think you would have better luck.
My first choices would be H4350SC and H4831SC.The 4831 is the slower of the two,and I would bias toward it for heavier bullets.
Having said all that,it does not necessarily follow that your group size has any relationship to the Varget.
Your groups may improve with a more appropriate powder,but there are so many other things that can all add just a little,and combined,its a lot.
On an older car,you may have a tired cat converter,bad plug wires,a plugged air filter,and low tire pressue,but it seems since the guy added antifreeze the mileage is down.
Guard screw tension,wood swell/warp,scope loosened,scope deteriorated,parallax,metal fouling,an unstable make do rest setup on the bench,a little flinch....all are possible.

[brantwalton1]

Hi BC,

Thanks for the reply. I have just started reloading and have read many post and believe i am going to try H4831 seems to very popular in the 270. I will use the varget in my 30/06 and see how it goes. If you have any more suggestions i would surely take them and do somemore research.

Thank

[HiBC]

Your loading manuals will help select powder.Hogdom makes a magazine format reloading annual that is inexpensive and gives current Hogdon data.I think you can try mfg websites(bullets,powder) to find load data.
I recommend buying a manual from the bullet mfg you will use.
Study the whole manual about process,cautions,methods,safety.Just because a bullet is a 130 gr does not mean all 130 gr data is safe.You need the data for your bullet,case,primer,etc.
This is a good place to ask questions.Good luck.
There is a H4831SC.The SC stands for short cut.The granules meter better through a powder measure.

[Jim243]

My first reaction to your photo, is it upside down? Actually when I look at the photo my reaction is that there is nothing wrong with the load or powder, it is the shooter that needs to take a little more time on the shot placement. For a hunting rifle any of those shots would have done the job, except for the one that's high (I turned the target around in my mind) where you pulled the shot.

I would not change the load at this time, but do it over at the 50 yard range and do not worry about changing your scope or sights. You will be shooting for groups not bullseyes. Use the bullseye as your point of aim and you should group 2 inches high. You are trying to see how close each bullet prints on the target next to the previous shot. I would use a little less finger on the trigger and just use the tip of your trigger finger and pull slowly straight back. If your trigger is not breaking cleanly you may have a burr on it and need a trigger job to get rid of any burrs. Take your time on each shoot and sight to the same point on the target each time. There is no bonus for speed in shooting for groups.

Good luck and let us know your results.
Jim

[TXGunNut]

Welcome to the asylum! +1 on Jim243's comments. I had a 30-06 that loved max loads of Varget but current rifles seem to prefer a milder load and Varget doesn't deliver an acceptable group in my rifles @ that velocity. A description of the bullet used will be helpful as well.
By all means, continue your research and get some trigger time. I just added a new loading manual to an impressive stack and I've found something useful in every one of them.
Have fun, be safe!

[GeauxTide]

.270Win = Slow Powders. RL-19, 22, H-4831.

[cornbush]

The powders I've had the most luck with over the years are.
H380
IMR and H4350
IMR and H4895
IMR 4831

I have loaded with all of the above powders with good results.
H380 has been responsible for probably 80% of the handloads down my barrel with 130's and 140's.
IMR 4895 gets the nod for my Speer 100 gr hp load.

Never used the Varget, where does it fit into the burn rate scale?

[cdoc42]

As I understand it, approximate burn rates can be found in the usual reloading manuals but should not be relied upon as never-changing; they may change slightly from lot to lot depending on pressure characteristics sought by the manufacturer.

Having said that, using one of the manuals (I forgot which one; it's been a long time) I marked all of my powders in the following fashion and have them on the shelves in a serial fashion, fastest to slowest, just to keep in mind where they generally stand in relation to each other. These are some pertinent to this discussion:

IMR4895: 70/106
H4895: 71/106
IMR 4064: 78
Varget: 79
IMR 4320: 83
H380: 87
H414: 90
IMR 4350: 92
H4350: 93
reloader 19: 95
IMR 4831: 96
H4831: 99
IMR 7828: 103
H1000: 104
H870: 106 (no longer available)

You may find a manual that lists IMR 4350 slower than H4350 but I doubt if you'll see these two having a number as high as IMR 7828. It's useful to use, say, if you're thinking of using H380 and you want to see how it compares to H4831 - at 87 vs 99 you might want to consider H4831 with a 150gr bullet in .270 and reserve H380 for lighter bullets like 100 grains. Notice Cornbush stated he uses IMR4895 with a 100gr Speer and that makes sense if you look at the burn rates.

Remember, a heavier bullet (e.g., 150gr .270) with a faster powder will give you less velocity and a lighter bullet (e.g. 100gr) with a slower powder will give you greater velocity, but it may be so great that its not stable in flight and accuracy suffers. The same slow powder with a heavier bullet will increase velocity but that doesn't really mean you going to see better accuracy. A 130 gr .270 at 2850 fps in your rifle may be more accurate than having it loaded to 3000 fps.

That's what handloading is all about: experimenting to fit your particular needs in your particular weapons.

[brantwalton1]

I loaded 4 shots of 47g Varget and 130grain Hornady SSTs. Grouped pretty well had a 1.5inch grouping. Reloading some more to see how they shoot.

[longranger]

Per Hornady's current reloading manual and my own experience with Varget, it shoots very good with lighter bullets in particular in .30 cal. < 150gr. bullets.not so good with the heavier bullets.