Varget powder for 243 winchester ?

rebrick99

New member
I went to the range today with my savage edge .243 rifle with a
Bushnell 6x24x power scope with mil-dot recticle. The load i was using was 38.0gr of varget with the hornady v-max 75gr bullet. I chronographed the load and was only getting 3,160
feet per second. I was shooting 3/4 inch 100 yard groups with some 2 shot groups touching.The problem is the velocity is no where near the velocity given in hodgdon manuel with a 75gr bullet.
Does anyone have a good load with the 75gr v-max that gets better velocity than 3,160 fps and is very accurate?
 
Varget does work good in the .243 but it's also at the top of the pressure range. Since some people consider the .243 a "short" life barrel, you might consider a different powder that may help the barrel live longer.

You might also consider that most people step back a grain or so when trying for the best groups, (the rifle will tell you what it likes). I have never had a dead coyote say the bullet wasn't fast enough. blue
 
A 75gr Vmax and 38.0gr Varget is my coyote load. Very accurate. I have not chrono'd it yet, but will soon.

38.5gr Varget and a Barnes 85gr TSX is just as accurate.

I've tried Varget in a Rem 700, Tikka, and Hart Rifles, all in 243, a Browning in 223wssm, and my Sako in 222mag. I could not get the groups in any of these rifles.
 
I've tried Varget, a bunch of it in my 243 - but hasn't been great. 58's were pretty good. Tried plenty of 70's, but not the 75 V-MAX. I do have a buddy shooting 38.5 of Varget with TSXs (85gr'ers - deer bullet), and that is looking real good. But I have a good combination coming together now in 85 HPBT's and 80 SBT's then for the smaller stuff, with 4064.
 
Originally Posted By: buckhalljrWatch for pressure signs and work up to 47 grains of IMR 4350.

It will be fast and should be accurate.


+1

We shoot 47.0g of the IMR 4350 with the Win primer with the 70g Ballistic tips in two Rem 700's, bullet just touching the lands. Accuracy is outstanding to say the least. This is the "most accurate" load listed in the nosler reloading manual.
 
Last edited:
I haven't had muck luck with varget in my 243s neither one liked it IMR 4350 and Ramshot hunter are what my rifles like with the 70 and 75 GR bullets . both show better accuratcy on the lower end of the scale somewhere around 42 gr
 
Originally Posted By: Va243hntr...Ramshot hunter are what my rifles like with the 70 and 75 GR bullets.

This is what the folks at Ramhot said when I called them recently. For a .243, Hunter is the way to go.
 
I find Varget with the 70 grain bullets get me faster then any other powder except H414, but I don't like shooting ball powders because they tend to be more tempurature sensitive and don't like ingniting as well as extruded powders when it gets cold out. Here is my load, you need to work up to it but it shoots like a house on fire and a laser. Don't use mag primers or winchester Large rifle unless you plan to drop the charge a bit they burn hotter. I have found the standard Fedaral 210 or CCI 250 work the best.
70grainsierrablitzking2.jpg
 
Originally Posted By: ackleymanOriginally Posted By: buckhalljrWatch for pressure signs and work up to 47 grains of IMR 4350.

It will be fast and should be accurate.


+1

We shoot 47.0g of the IMR 4350 with the Win primer with the 70g Ballistic tips in two Rem 700's, bullet just touching the lands. Accuracy is outstanding to say the least. This is the "most accurate" load listed in the nosler reloading manual.

4350 is the best 243 powder out there.......
 
I'll agree with 2muchgun that H4350 is one of the best powders for the 243. If your shooting the 70 grainers your accuracy loads will be around 3400 fps and the 75 grainers will be doing 3350 fps. I have found that the medium burning powders such as Reloader 15, Varget, and VV N140 seem to get the 70 & 75 grainers moving about 200 fps faster. They tend to be a bit harder on the barrel though if you are getting into rapid firing like you would on a prarie dog town. I have another load of the 70 grainers loaded with 45 grains of H4350 that gets me to 3400 fps also and it shoot hole in hole out of my rifle but I use the Varget now just because it gives me a slightly flatter trajectory. If you want a long range round, Hornady makes a 87 grain V-max that sports a BC(Ballistic Coefficient) of 0.400. That bullet with 42.5 grains of H4350 will turn your 243 into into a varmint AT&T long distance plan and allow you to reach out and touch one way out there.
 
Yep. The 87 v-max is a more than good 6mm bullet. I have developed loads in several rifles where I could switch out 87gr V-maxes with 85gr Barnes XLCs with no discernible POI difference. One for deer and such, one for yotes......
 
My 700 Remington BDL didn't care for the Varget, but it loves H414 at max load with 55 Grain Nosler Ballistic tips ignited by Winchester LR Primers in Winchester Brass. They chrono about 4000fps and MOA isn't a problem.
 
And that last post goes to show just how much two nearly identical rifles will like different stuff. My 700 VLS (which is just a BDL in different clothes) worked up almost immediately to like the Sierra 70 Blitzking pushed by 39.1 grains of Varget.

I wanted a lighter and a heavier load so I tried the 55 Nosler (never did get it to group well) and the 58 Hornady Vmax. I had given up on both of them for a while until reading on this forum about using a case full of 414 on the 58 Vmax. It wasn't bad but not smoking great. On a whim I tried Varget. I just shot a dime with it today at 100 yards.

This pic is my 14 year old son, 5 shots at 200 (yes 200) yards with one flyer. The kid can shoot better than me (Shh, I haven't told him yet).
justin200yds.jpg


Going coyote hunting next weekend. Guess what I'm using?

Oh, and the OAL is .03 off of the lands for my rifle.
 
Heretic ,I see in your signature you showed Mountain Lions called:1,taken:0 paniced and ran,
My question is who paniced and ran the lion or you?
confused.gif
 
I use IMR4831 with 47.0 grains and the 75's and it works great.
Check out Ken Waters pet loads,it has saved me pounds of powder and money developing loads for hunting to precision shooting. Hope this helps and the books are available at Midway and Brownells.
 
Back
Top