varget metering
- Thread starter dakotasin
- Start date
- Status
Swamp Yankee
Member
It's not ball but it ain't bad either.
I have a Uniflow and it meters Varget pretty consistantly, certainly within .1 grains. I do still trickle in the charges used in making the 308 loads for my 700PSS.
Take Care
I have a Uniflow and it meters Varget pretty consistantly, certainly within .1 grains. I do still trickle in the charges used in making the 308 loads for my 700PSS.
Take Care
Kamicosmos
Member
same for me.
Lennyjoe
Member
I measure my rifle rounds manually every time for consistency. But for .223 Varget meters pretty well in my Lee autodisc.
wanderinwalker
Member
Varget meters well for me from a LEE Perfect Powder measure and flows well into .223 cases. Honestly, I'm not a benchrester in search of groups in the .1" range, I'm a Highpower shooter using a gas-gun looking for the X-ring, so I don't bother weigh charges or anything, even at 600 yards. The rifle and ammo will shoot 97%+ scores when I do my part, though I'm not 100% convinced it will at 600 every day.
Needless to say, I'm sold on Varget, and can live with the minor variations I get from the meter, though I'd estimate the range to be around +/- .1-.2 grain. It is also very temperature stable; my zero in July is the same as my zero in October, which was spot on in March and August, which is one more thing to keep in mind. Try it, you'll probably be pleasantly surprised.
Needless to say, I'm sold on Varget, and can live with the minor variations I get from the meter, though I'd estimate the range to be around +/- .1-.2 grain. It is also very temperature stable; my zero in July is the same as my zero in October, which was spot on in March and August, which is one more thing to keep in mind. Try it, you'll probably be pleasantly surprised.
Lennyjoe
Member
As am I. So far I use it in 22-250 and .223 loads.
Zak Smith
Member
I am using the cheap RCBS Uniflow for my long range 308 loads and Varget. It's consistently within 0.1gr around 45gr.
redneck2
Member
You should just get a $300 press (OK, maybe a little more). My Dillon 550 does nicely with Varget. I have a good friend that is very competitive in High Power. He uses Varget with a 550 and is trying for High Master.
Dave P
Member
"I have yet to find a meter that will meter Varget nicely"
Try the $20 lee measure - I sure like mine for long grain IMR4064. Varget should be easy!
Try the $20 lee measure - I sure like mine for long grain IMR4064. Varget should be easy!
Try a Quick Measure.
Mine will throw Varget or other (R22, H4831) stick powders with-in a tenth gr, usually right on and never cuts a granual. Ball powders ( I`ve only tried Power Pistol) meter dead on with almost every charge I throw.
I`ve only had mine 6 or so months now, but I`d never go back to my old Lyman 55the way it`s worked so far.
http://www.quick-measure.com/
milanuk
Member
I went thru and weighed, as meticulously as I could w/ my Redding #2 scale (magnifying glass set up to increase visual resolution of the pointer scale), 50 charges thrown by my Redding BR-30 w/ the full Sinclair kit. I also did the same for my Lee Perfect Powder Measure.
I did this for 50 *consecutive* throws, not throwing any ones that felt 'off' back. I know at least w/ the BR-30, if a throw hangs up bad it'll generally be light, and the next one (maybe two) will be heavy. But I didn't figure it was fair to pick and choose which throws I took and which I didn't; I wanted to see how well the measures threw mounted say... on a progressive press where I most likely wouldn't have the ability to feel a bad throw.
Long story short, they both threw w/ a 0.6gr extreme spread. If I'd picked and chose, the spread would have been much smaller, but that wouldn't have been consistent w/ the object of the test. I'd honestly thought both were much better than that, must have been selective memory or something of when I'd been throwing and weighing scales. When I got down to actually weighing and writing down every single throw... the results weren't all that impressive. FWIW, I believe there are people who have run similar tests on RCBS Uniflow and Harrell's meters w/ Varget and I've ran a similar test w/ N-140 on my Dillon 550 (similar short extruded grain) The stuff just doesn't meter all that well in the absolute sense.
That said... if the load is at a sweet spot or 'node'... throwing still seems to work pretty well, at least for what I'm shooting (Highpower); thrown charges shot along weighed in a .308 Win from 300 to 1000yds hasn't yet revealed a huge advantage to weighing, at least not in my score in F-class. Maybe a more experienced shooter w/ a more accurate rig would benefit from the advantage; so far I'm kind of on the fence as to whether I really need to do it (weigh charges). For my absolute 100% confidence match rounds, I do just to tighten the mental nut a little bit. For my practice rounds... I have better things to do that putz around weighing every charge.
YMMV,
Monte
I did this for 50 *consecutive* throws, not throwing any ones that felt 'off' back. I know at least w/ the BR-30, if a throw hangs up bad it'll generally be light, and the next one (maybe two) will be heavy. But I didn't figure it was fair to pick and choose which throws I took and which I didn't; I wanted to see how well the measures threw mounted say... on a progressive press where I most likely wouldn't have the ability to feel a bad throw.
Long story short, they both threw w/ a 0.6gr extreme spread. If I'd picked and chose, the spread would have been much smaller, but that wouldn't have been consistent w/ the object of the test. I'd honestly thought both were much better than that, must have been selective memory or something of when I'd been throwing and weighing scales. When I got down to actually weighing and writing down every single throw... the results weren't all that impressive. FWIW, I believe there are people who have run similar tests on RCBS Uniflow and Harrell's meters w/ Varget and I've ran a similar test w/ N-140 on my Dillon 550 (similar short extruded grain) The stuff just doesn't meter all that well in the absolute sense.
That said... if the load is at a sweet spot or 'node'... throwing still seems to work pretty well, at least for what I'm shooting (Highpower); thrown charges shot along weighed in a .308 Win from 300 to 1000yds hasn't yet revealed a huge advantage to weighing, at least not in my score in F-class. Maybe a more experienced shooter w/ a more accurate rig would benefit from the advantage; so far I'm kind of on the fence as to whether I really need to do it (weigh charges). For my absolute 100% confidence match rounds, I do just to tighten the mental nut a little bit. For my practice rounds... I have better things to do that putz around weighing every charge.
YMMV,
Monte
wanderinwalker
Member
I think there is some merit to the idea of the powder charge being a "node" or sweet spot. I've never weighed individual charges, even when working up loads. The biggest thing I will do is ensure that I am running around .5gr under the maximum load, so I am not too worried about an overcharge.
When working up loads this way, it seems I get some groups that hover around acceptable at some charge weights, and then they will either shrink into the range I am looking for or grow into disappointing groups, which will then lead to other experiments.
As for the consistency of my ammo, it will clean the 200 and 300 yard rapid fire targets with plenty of Xs, so it doesn't seem to be holding me back. I'm going to start pursuing my Distinguished points this year, and I would rather practice than weigh charges!
When working up loads this way, it seems I get some groups that hover around acceptable at some charge weights, and then they will either shrink into the range I am looking for or grow into disappointing groups, which will then lead to other experiments.
As for the consistency of my ammo, it will clean the 200 and 300 yard rapid fire targets with plenty of Xs, so it doesn't seem to be holding me back. I'm going to start pursuing my Distinguished points this year, and I would rather practice than weigh charges!
- Status
