Varget vs Ramshot TAC

[Wolfshead]

I’ve finally found what I believe is a good load for my Tikka T3X compact in .308 Win., using the Barnes 130 grain ttsx bullets.
It is with an upper load of TAC, and is traveling around 3160 fps at the muzzle.
Not bad for a 20” barrel.
I’ve shot a four shot group that will fit inside an inch at 200 yards, which I’m very satisfied with.
I’ve got to shoot it more down range to 200 and 300 yards but I think they’ll be ok for hunting.
I think I may have a load for Varget too, however I loose some velocity with Varget in the neighborhood of 150-200 fps.
My question is about temperature stability with the TAC.
Should I be concerned with temperature differences? I hunt in temps, which usually could be from 60-65 at the highest down to maybe 0 degrees.
I would really like to keep the muzzle velocity of the TAC.
If you’ve got experience with this I would love to hear from you!

 

[jimbires]

I think you're saying your long shot would be inside 300 yards . if that's true I would not worry about the ambient temp affecting velocity .

 

[RL338]

At what temperature did you develop this load. My hunting loads I like to be in the 50-60 degree range. The difference between you Varget and TAC load is a 100 yds in energy.
I run those 130s in my daughter’s 308 at 2900 fps and work well so your Varget one would be just fine.

 

[Wolfshead]

I think you're saying your long shot would be inside 300 yards . if that's true I would not worry about the ambient temp affecting velocity .

Yes shots would be 300 yds and in most likely.

At what temperature did you develop this load. My hunting loads I like to be in the 50-60 degree range. The difference between you Varget and TAC load is a 100 yds in energy.
I run those 130s in my daughter’s 308 at 2900 fps and work well so your Varget one would be just fine.

I believe the temperature was approximately 55-60 degrees.

I just really like the idea of them going fast so that they open well at the distances I shoot.
I’ve read some things that made me wonder about the temperature sensitivity.
I’m probably just over thinking this.
Thank you both!

 

[xphunter]

I’ve finally found what I believe is a good load for my Tikka T3X compact in .308 Win., using the Barnes 130 grain ttsx bullets.
It is with an upper load of TAC, and is traveling around 3160 fps at the muzzle.
Not bad for a 20” barrel.
I’ve shot a four shot group that will fit inside an inch at 200 yards, which I’m very satisfied with.
I’ve got to shoot it more down range to 200 and 300 yards but I think they’ll be ok for hunting.
I think I may have a load for Varget too, however I loose some velocity with Varget in the neighborhood of 150-200 fps.
My question is about temperature stability with the TAC.
Should I be concerned with temperature differences? I hunt in temps, which usually could be from 60-65 at the highest down to maybe 0 degrees.
I would really like to keep the muzzle velocity of the TAC.
If you’ve got experience with this I would love to hear from you!

Discover the changes for yourself!
Put some of your ammo in your freezer, and then chrono it, as this will give you hard data.
Also get your ammo heated to around 70 degrees, and chrono it.
What is the difference in drop with the velocity change with your TAC load once you know the two extremes?
Is there a accuracy change at the colder temps?
Recheck your Varget load to actually see how much difference there is.

Even if your Varget load is 150 fps slower, a deer is not going to know the difference at 300 yards.
You should get more hydrostatic shock at faster speeds, all things being the same, but your impact velocity's at either load are still going to be plenty high.
Once you discover the changes for yourself, then you will know for sure, and you will have fun doing the science in the process.

 

[JD338]

I don't think you will run into issues.
TAC works well in my 308 with the 130 TTSX.

JD338

 

[wvbuckbuster]

Not the TTSX but did work up a load using Tac and Nosler 125AB. Temp was about 75 and used it about three weeks ago at 40-45 degrees. Was in an area that a 300 yd shot was possible but the test material showed up at approximately 90 yds so it wasn't much of a test for accuracy, distance related to velocity due to temp change. The result was quite acceptable though.

 

[Wolfshead]

I unfortunately had to attend a funeral last week for the Mother of a friend.
I was able to get to the range after the services and test the load for accuracy.
It was a beautiful sunny day with temps in the 50-60s
My rounds were in the sunny vehicle for over an hour, which I’m sure reached into the upper seventies.
They averaged around 3170.
I was doing some fine tuning yesterday, and the temps were in the 40-50s and my velocity was ave. 3178.
I know not a lot of difference, but I love the velocity and with the distances being at 300 yards or so I’m confident I’m going to be fine.
Thank you all for the advice! It’s what makes this place one of the best out there!

 

[FOTIS]

Tac has worked great for me.

 

[Blkram]

One must remember that a lot of information comes from marketing hype that internet wizards like to jump on and repeat without first hand experience to verify actual results.

Trust, but verify.
As Ernie stated above, you have to perform the work yourself to know what the real world results will be in your rifle, when you are out hunting at different temperatures.
Then you can plan and act accordingly.

In another thread here, I was wondering about the real world effects on temperature and elevation on my various rifles and cartridges, as I hunt a wide variation of both over the course of the hunting season (August to November herre in the great white north).
The paper ballistics shows for the 7mm PRC (my newest mountain rifle for sheep/mtn goat hunting, that produces sub-MOA accuracy), that at 500 yards it is not enough (maximum variance of 2.1") that I will be able to hold for from field shooting positions between 2200' and 6000' asl (my typical hunting elevations), and 21 to 80 degrees F (my typical hunting temperatures). And with an 8" vital zone of a deer or sheep, as long as I do my part, even with that potential 4.2" circle around my aiming point, it is still well within the 8" vital zone
I still need to verify these at the range, but as my average shot distance over the past 38 years is only 132 yards, I will be fine in the field for most of my hunting, where I will see just 0.1" variance when shooting with a 200 yard zero.
I have also started to record the temperatures for my chronied data when shooting so that I can start to track velocity changes due to this factor. But I do not have a lot of this as yet, as I did not make it to the range as often as I would have liked this year...but I have started! Once I have more data, I will begin analyzing this to verify against the data that QuickLoad is providing for the paper ballistics.
I will note that over the course of a year, I do shoot my rifles throughout these temperature ranges at my range (2200' asl), but most groups are measured on paper at 100 or 200 yards. I do still shoot the iron targets from 200-450 yards regularly to verify that my loads are hitting the gongs ranging in size from 4" to 12" at these distances, while using the B&C or TDS reticle hash marks in my scopes on my various rifles, to constantly verify that they are still on for the appropriate distances, (and to keep my shooting skills tuned from the bench and off my shooting sticks).

 

[Wolfshead]

I’ll call this an update, but I haven’t done any other testing to verify whether it is temp stable.
270 yards ranged, around 30ish degrees out, six minutes legal shooting left, 1-6x24 Skinner lpvo

 

[wvbuckbuster]

Congratulations on your update.