308 Varget 150gr accubond puzzle UPDATE

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new210/22

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So Hornady lists 35.9-44.9 as the min and max for this bullet yet Lee and Hodgen have a start load of 44 through a max of 47. Can anyone reccomend a target range here?

Thanks.

UPDATE: My wife is right, I am an idiot. Interbond, the bullets I have are Hornady INTERbond. Thank you everyone for your feedback. I do intend to ladder test and find a viable node to explore further, I just want to skip the hassle of 13 .5gr increments, I am looking for a reasonable range to explore.
 
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Nosler manual for 150 gr accubond range is 42.5-46.5 max with Varget. COL tested 2.800. Nosler manual says 44.5 is the most accurate tested.
 
Hodgdon lists a compressed load of Varget with every bullet weight from 125 grs to 208 grs. That tells me that there is no unsafe load with Varget with any 150 gr bullet - you can't pack enough in to go over pressure.
 
sierra book is 41.4 - 44.8 and lyman book is 42.5 - 47.0 to me sierra and hornady loads are more accurate and more safe have fun
 
You actually should be getting the complete recipe. Hornady 7 uses Hornady/Frontier cases and Fed 210 primers; Hodgdon uses Winchester cases and Fed 210 primers; Nosler 7 uses Nosler cases and Fed 210M primers. So far as I know, Lee does not do any testing themselves - they just copy available data from various open sources.
Of course, only Nosler is giving you data for the Nosler Accubond bullet. Even if you use the exact components of a published recipe, you still need to work up to find the max. loads and appropriate Cartridge Over All Length for your rifle. If you are "red-lining" you will need to re-do the work up series even if you change from one lot of Varget to another.
 
new210/22 said:
So Hornady lists 35.9-44.9 as the min and max for this bullet yet Lee and Hodgen have a start load of 44 through a max of 47. Can anyone reccomend a target range here?

Thanks.
Click to expand...

You've got the "target range" already. Start below anyone's maximum and work up carefully. There is no other process you can trust, and you certainly shouldn't trust any load data posted on an internet forum somewhere. Get access to a chronograph if you can manage it; a chronograph is the cheapest way to get some "real" data to help make decisions.
 
308 brass variances can cause pressure issues. You will know if you have pressure problems after the first round. If so stop.

Likely with Winchester brass, you will be fine starting at 44-45gr of Varget but use caution. With military brass, start lower.
 
An accubond 150gr and an SST 150gr are not the same bullet, this is why you get different min and max from different books.
This is why I bought a Hornady manual and a Nosler manual and also check with Hodgdon and a couple other online sources when loading. If I'm using a Hornady bullet I lean towards the Hornady manual but still go through the other data and before loading.

If you're using a 150 accubond use the Nosler data (they publish it for free on their website) as a starting point and work up.
I'd start about 44gr and work up.
https://load-data.nosler.com/load-data/308-winchester/
 
The differences in the manuals reflects different components in different rifles. And your rifle is different, too.

I load 46.5 - in MY rifle. I worked up to it and have excellent brass life (Lapua).

Start low (44 gr), try 5 of each in 0.5 gr increments to get a quick feel for where pressure starts and what seems to shoot well.
 
tough to get more than 45grs Varget in there behind a 150gr AB. Such a load will be fairly compressed, and generate about 2800 fps from a 22" barrel

We load 43.6grs H4895 behind the 150gr AB in my father in laws pre64 308. 2850 fps
 
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