7mm-08 with Varget

[ShadeTree]

I'm not a huge Varget fan and use it sparingly as I feel in many instances it can't do anything 4064 can't do. But where it works, it works well. 7mm-08 seems to be one of those combinations.

I got a M788 that I threw together a generic load for with Varget that worked well in 2 other 7mm-08's. It put the first 5 shots I took with it at 100 at just a smidge under an inch with that load. Not bad at all.

I've since ran some 130's through this gun and wasn't that impressed. Will deal with them later.

Went back to the 139 load with Varget and this time took a fairly big swing at seating depth just to see what happened. 5 shot group tightened up considerably.

The way they came from the factory bad trigger and all, the 788's still show why they garnered their much deserved reputation for accuracy.

 

[DrMike]

The accuracy is definitely present in that rifle/load combination. Excellent work.

 

[ShadeTree]

The accuracy is definitely present in that rifle/load combination. Excellent work.

Yep, not a bad combination at all. Short barrel or long barrel, 7mm-08's seem to like this recipe.

Biggest drawback of the rifle is triggers are not in the league of todays triggers. Like I remember on the one I had in 6mm, the trigger during that slow squeeze, feels like you're trying to budge a Mack truck. Makes the accuracy game a little difficult. In reality it's 4.5 lb according to my trigger scale, so not as bad as it feels.

The trigger assembly is not the simplest task to get apart on these rifles. I'll deal with that in the spring. A good hand polishing on the bearing surfaces should lessen the pull weight considerably.

 

[wvbuckbuster]

That is good grouping for sure. Have you tried Ram Shot Big Game? It does well for me as IMR4350 and H414. Tried Varget but have been using mine in the 6BR. Dan.

 

[fremont]

My standard go-to is 140 SPH over Varget.

 

[ShadeTree]

That is good grouping for sure. Have you tried Ram Shot Big Game? It does well for me as IMR4350 and H414. Tried Varget but have been using mine in the 6BR. Dan.

I have not and don't have any Big Game on the shelf. Tried 4064 with 130 gr bullets and couldn't get anything to work satisfactorily based on how this gun showed me it can shoot right off the bat.

Maybe it doesn't like lighter bullets, maybe it doesn't like flat based, or just a combination of that and the burn rate of powder used. Wasn't horrible, but not shooter grade. I'll attempt a different combo with those bullets in the spring.

 

[ShadeTree]

By the way that group is a good example of why I've been straying farther away from relying on 3 shot groups. Other than to check an already established good shooting load.

A 1 off snapshot of a 3 shot group by itself doesn't tell you much and can often give a false positive of actual likelihood of rifle accuracy. Unless those 3 shots can be repeated with almost non stop regularity.

The sequence of shots were such that I could've stopped at either the top 3 shots which measure in the low 3's, or take the far left shot of the top group and use it with the bottom 2. That 3 shot group measures in the low 4's. Both significantly smaller than the actual group size which is .716.

 

[desertcj]

By the way that group is a good example of why I've been straying farther away from relying on 3 shot groups. Other than to check an already established good shooting load.

A 1 off snapshot of a 3 shot group by itself doesn't tell you much and can often give a false positive of actual likelihood of rifle accuracy. Unless those 3 shots can be repeated with almost non stop regularity.

The sequence of shots were such that I could've stopped at either the top 3 shots which measure in the low 3's, or take the far left shot of the top group and use it with the bottom 2. That 3 shot group measures in the low 4's. Both significantly smaller than the actual group size which is .716.

While I agree with you, had I shot either one of those as a 3 shot group I'd be narrowing in on that recipe. You can always confirm with a 5 shot group or 2. I hear over and over that Varget is the powder for 7mm-08. I've had some OK results but I wasn't impressed with it in my rifle. I had a little better results with RL16. Still not satisfied with anything however.

 

[ShadeTree]

By the way that group is a good example of why I've been straying farther away from relying on 3 shot groups. Other than to check an already established good shooting load.

A 1 off snapshot of a 3 shot group by itself doesn't tell you much and can often give a false positive of actual likelihood of rifle accuracy. Unless those 3 shots can be repeated with almost non stop regularity.

The sequence of shots were such that I could've stopped at either the top 3 shots which measure in the low 3's, or take the far left shot of the top group and use it with the bottom 2. That 3 shot group measures in the low 4's. Both significantly smaller than the actual group size which is .716.

While I agree with you, had I shot either one of those as a 3 shot group I'd be narrowing in on that recipe. You can always confirm with a 5 shot group or 2. I hear over and over that Varget is the powder for 7mm-08. I've had some OK results but I wasn't impressed with it in my rifle. I had a little better results with RL16. Still not satisfied with anything however.

Yeah a really tight 3 shot group that felt right at each shot is likely that you're on to something, but I still don't trust them without farther testing. Been bit before with that assumption. When 4 or 5 shots group good, it is substantially more unlikely that was just a random happening within a larger group, in my opinion.

I'm not a Varget proponent, but I will say it's worked well in the only three 7mm-08's I've worked with. They all happened to be factory barreled Remington's, but I can't see what that would have to do with it. I hope you get yours working.

 

[diverdown]

Something you might want to know about Varget in cold weather. I used Varget in my 7-08 also and was hunting in Maine with the morning temperatures being 12 degrees. I had a chance at a very nice Buck and pulled the trigger only to hear a weak report. The deer ran off and I subsequently checked everything to see what happened. The round had a standard primer and I found that ignition in the cold weather was terrible. A considerable amount of unburned powder was in the barrel and obviously things would have worked better with a magnum primer. If I remember correctly Varget is a Ball powder and needs a hotter primer during cold weather. Just food for thought.

 

[desertcj]

Varget is not a ball powder and is also one of Hodgdon's "Extreme" powders meaning not temp sensitive. I'm not sure what caused your problem but it sounds abnormal. Then again, if I was hunting in 12 degree weather, I probably would go with a magnum primer no matter what powder I was using.

 

[ShadeTree]

Yeah Varget is definitely not a ball powder. Not saying this was it, but un-seeable moisture in the case can cause that. I know that from experience.

I plop freshly annealed cases into a tubberware container of water to cool them. Maybe isn't necessary but I do it that way. Usually give them several days to dry out before loading. This time it was maybe 24 hrs later. No moisture in them that I could see but I soon found out there was some in there.

 

[Rednek rampager]

41.5 Varget & a Winchester lg rifle primer is what I load for my buddies 7-08 Prohunter. He likes the 140 gn sph too.


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[diverdown]

I might add that since that issue popped its head I switched over to magnum primers for cold weather hunting (especially Maine) and the problem was eliminated completely.

 

[pharmseller]

Big Game. Get some and use a magnum primer. I get 2890 FPS with 140 Partitions and 2870 with 140 AccuBonds. Precision I won’t post for fear of being called a liar.