Advice for Speer 165gr BTSP and Varget

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JesseBergen

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I was hoping to pick everyones brain about reloading Speer 165gr BTSP with Varget for my 308 Win.

I recently picked up a box of these because I couldn't find 165 SGKs. I was planning on using Varget for a powder, but when I looked up loading data for them, Speer doesn't list Varget in the 165gr data, but it is shown in the 150gr and 180gr data.

Starting charge for 150 is 43gr, and for 180 is 40gr, so if I load the 165gr with 40gr at the COAL of 2.800" (which is shown in the 165gr load date) would it be a safe load to start with?

Im fairly new to this and don't feel comfortable extrapolating data on my own. I'll post the links to Speers data below.

Thanks for your help!

https://www.speer-ammo.com/download...fle/30_caliber_308_dia/308_Winchester_150.pdf

https://www.speer-ammo.com/download...fle/30_caliber_308_dia/308_Winchester_165.pdf

https://www.speer-ammo.com/download...fle/30_caliber_308_dia/308_Winchester_180.pdf
 
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My first bit of advice would be to go to a different powder than Varget. This is of course just IMHO and I'm sure there will be a lot of disagreement.

The burn rate of the powder is in the right ball park for decent performance butttttttttt???

I would suggest W748, which is in the same burn rate ball park. IMHO the advantage of W748 over Varget, is that W748 give much better consistency between shots and again IMHO is far more forgiving between ambient temperature variations. That may be due to a very clean burn??

My match rifles, chambered in 308Win all had tight chambers and out of more than a half dozen they all liked the same load with 165 grain BTHP bullets from just about any good manufacturer.

That load was

165 grain BTHP

47 grains W748

Federal Match cases

CCI BR primers

bullets seated to within .005 of the lands or actually being pushed into the lands when closing the bolt.

Velocities are just over 2700fps from a 24in bbl.


I don't believe you have a match grade rifle and likely not a tight match chamber, so take the powder weight back to 44-45 grains of W748 and add/subtract a few grains to find the accuracy sweet spot of your rifle. Switch the primers to CCI250 magnum.

You may have to adjust your load, depending on which brand of brass you're using.

Try to sort your brass by weight, this will help to keep performance consistent between shots as well.

If all you're worried about is field accuracy, mixing brass brands likely won't make a lot of difference out to 300 yards but could be a factor if your groups are over 2 moa.
 
Speer BTSP and Sierra GameKings are pretty similar shaped bullets and, by the way, awesome deer bullets.

I would load them with the same amount of Varget you use for your SGameKings minus 2 grains and work up by .5 increments from there.

Or, I would start at 41,5 grains.

Good shooting!
 
That is an excellent choice of powder and bullet.

Probably the best powder you can use for accuracy and temperature stability.

The book tells you what THEY did in THEIR rifle. Each rifle is different. Some are very different, so you must always start low and work up. There is no guarantee that their published MAX is ok in your rifle.

When I get a new rifle I load 3 or 5 rounds in 0.5 gr increments and test off a bench for accuracy and for pressure. I look for the slightest change in bolt lift resistance. I back down at least a full grain from that load. Be prepared to bring some rounds home to be pulled apart.

If I had your rifle, I would load 42, 42.5, 43, 43.5 and 44 and see what works the best, without any excess pressure.

As for the COAL:

Measure the magazine length. That is your absolute max OAL. Some rifles are as short as 2.825"

When you load your first round, seat the bullet long - at magazine max and gently chamber it. If you find resistance, don't bother closing the bolt. Note the rifling marks on the bullet. This will give you an idea of how much deeper you should seat the bullet. Seat that bullet a rev or two deeper and try again.

If the rifling marks are confusing, load another round and keep testing. A full turn on the seater stem is about 50 thou.

When you get to the point that you can chamber a round without getting rifling marks, seat the bullet a quarter turn deeper and note that length. Use that length in the future for that bullet. (Each bullet change will require a new OAL calculation.)

Once you have set the seater to the right length, go back and seat the bullets that were seated longer, as you did the test.

And finally, when closing the bolt to test for touching the rifling, put the rifle safety on. Or wear your ear muffs. A shot in the loading room is VERY LOUD. Trust me on this.

I have some 308s that take a bullet at 2.925, so find the proper length for YOUR rifle and bullet.
 
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