Velocity of a 168 Grain Hornady Match Bullet with 43.5 grains of Varget

[Frontier Firearms]

I was testing a load of 43.5 grains of Varget and a 168 Hornady Match bullet fired out of a Savage 10 FCP 308 Win 24" barrel. I should be getting about 2600-2640 FPS out of this load. The problem is that after shooting over 100 rounds of this load at ranges between 100 and 500 yards I am getting what seems to be trajectory that would be much flatter then what the load should be.


With a 100 Yard sight in I should be getting bullet drop of 15" @ 300YD, 34" @ 400YD & 62" @ 500YD. Instead I am getting 15" @ 300YD, 28" @ 400YD, & 50" @ 500YD. All shots are taken from a Lead Sled shooting rest yet the targets consistently show a much flatter bullet path then it should be.

I pulled a few bullets to weigh the charges again in case I may have measured wrong and had to much powder but in all cases it was the same. Has anyone here ever used this same load or even chronographed the speed and might know why it is shooting much flatter then published velocity with the same bullet and 2.5 grains more of Varget?

 

[Ishodu]

I am getting 2820 with the same bullet but with a 44.8g charge of varget in 308 as well.

 

[Doc M]

I don't have my loadbook in front of me at this very minute, but IIRC 44gn of Varget with a 168 SMK in my Savage 10FCP put me in the upper third of the 2700's. Somewhere in the 2760-2790 fps range, IIRC.

I got up to 2860 or so with 45gn - that number I DO actually remember - but found the load a tad less accurate than the 44gn and backed things off.

Your numbers don't seem totally off, but I'd suggest that you're in the low 2700's based on my own experience with Varget.

It should be noted that I got those numbers from Lake City 2005 cases, not thinner commercial offerings.

-M