Hodgdon Varget

[JoeJames]

My cousin gave me a 1 pound canister of Hodgdon Varget powder yesterday. He had done some trading and came up with it. Gave it to me since he doesn't reload. In the Hornaday manual it appears to be comparable to IMR 4895 as far as grain weight - velocity goes, and claims to be easier in a powder measure. I have never tried it before. Just wondering what y'all's take on it is? In rifle cartridges I am mostly reloading 223 and 308.

[Ozark mike]

Works in 45-70 rifles cant help with those rnds

[EMC45]

Works great in 223 and 308. Varget is what Hornady uses for their TAP ammo. (Talked to Hornady direct and they told me that, only difference is a flash supressant in their powder)

[dverna]

Ideal for .223 and .308. It is my "go to" powder.

[Hutch556]

Varget is a fantastic powder for both .223 and .308. It’s one of my go to powders whenever looking for accuracy.

[ryanmattes]

I use it almost exclusively for .223 and .308.

For .308 I like a Hndy 168g AMAX with 41 grains of Varget.

The .223 load below was for a bolt gun, for my AR I usually do a Hndy 55g VMAX with 26 grains of Varget.

Depending on your twist rate, you may want to vary weight and charge a bit.

Sorry about my handwriting, at least I can read it.

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[JoeJames]

I use it almost exclusively for .223 and .308.

For .308 I like a Hndy 168g AMAX with 41 grains of Varget.

The .223 load below was for a bolt gun, for my AR I usually do a Hndy 55g VMAX with 26 grains of Varget.

Depending on your twist rate, you may want to vary weight and charge a bit.

Sorry about my handwriting, at least I can read it.

Sent from my Pixel 3a using Tapatalk

Thanks, I will try those loads. I have been loading the Spitzer 55 grain in my 223, and a 165 grain Sierra BTHP in my 308.

[tomme boy]

Varget was first marketed as a temp stabil substitute for imr4064. It works in 223 loads and works very well for heavy bullets in the 223

[ryanmattes]

Thanks, I will try those loads. I have been loading the Spitzer 55 grain in my 223, and a 165 grain Sierra BTHP in my 308.

I don't have any 165g loads recorded, but I do have the 168g Sie BTHP with 42 grains Varget with pretty good results (~0.5 moa).

My lyman book says you can load Varget from 41 up to 46 safely at 165g, but 46 would be compressed, so I've never tried anything that hot. Recoil doesn't bother me, but I'm not a power junkie, I prefer to find the velocity my rifle likes the best, and that's usually not the hottest load possible.

The .223 55g spitzers should be the same as the vmax, somewhere around 26 grains ought to do the trick. Ladder up and down a half a grain and you'll find the sweet spot.


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[LinotypeIngot]

A 75 or 77gr bullet on top of 24.0-24.5gr of Varget works great for .223.

[bpatterson84]

I've had good results with it in 458WM as well.

[Texas by God]

Varget probably holds the record for becoming a “classic” powder in the shortest amount of time. I keep several pounds of it because it has worked splendidly in .223 on up to 30-06 with no problems.

[farmbif]

one of the most sought after and popular powders works well in an awful lot of rifle calibers. if there was just one powder you could get for widest range of calibers I think it is varget.

[Dukeconnor]

You'll love it.
Just don't love it too much.

It disappears once in awhile.

[mrbigsteel]

I like it for .223 Remington.

[303Guy]

From what I can gather, Varget has a fast ignition and medium burn rate. Hodgdon say it is easy igniting which supports that. I would imagine this translates into consistent ignition. Anyway, I've had good results with it.

[Chad5005]

i load it in 308 with great results 45.8gr under 165gr hornady interloc

[Kosh75287]

I think the Aussies made this powder for their military demands with .223 & .308. While I have no trouble believing that the powder is OPTIMIZED for these two rounds, it's hardly out of place in a great many others. It seems to work well for launching lighter projectiles in the various "overbore" rounds, while still exhibiting burning behaviour suitable to the venerable M1 rifles still in use. If I was constrained to one rifle powder and one pistol powder for the rest of my life, Varget would be in the top 3 choices. Unique would be my pistol powder choice.

My Mini-14, AR-15, CVech 8x57mm Mauser, L1-A1 and National Match M1A ALL run well on it.

[uscra112]

Even works for cast-bullet load pressures in a lot of cartridges. Your problem will be that you fall in love with it just as the supply dries up.

[303Guy]

Would you believe it even worked in my hornet? Admittedly, I did cheat a little. I duplexed it with H4227. Zero neck tension and 50gr bullet. It was accurate and pretty fast. How fast I don't know but it was flat shooting and worked well on small game. I've lost the data so I don't know the ratio but I'm not recommending it anyway.

I have used it in the Brit with cast and it seemed to work well, delivering sub-MOA. I didn't pursue that but I might do so now.