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6BR--How Much Varget is too much....

HTSmith

Silver $$ Contributor
behind a 105 Gr bullet? I have two other 6BR's that are very happy with a load of 30.0 Gr of Varget. Both get about 2850 fps, even though one has a 26" bbl and the other a 30". I picked up another used rifle in 6BR with very lightly shot 30" Brux barrel last week. I worked it up to 30.0 grains of with no pressure and went to work on seating depth. I found a good spot (.030" off the lands) pretty quickly and I was happy until I got my turn with the club's Labradar.

The loads with 30 Gr of Varget were only doing 2790 fps with ES of triple what I get with my others. The throat on this barrel is very long--about .125". I'm wanting more velocity and I was hoping a little more powder would also help with the ES.

As I'm already above the Berger Book max, I'd like to hear from folks that are running more than 30 grains of Varget. You can PM if you prefer. Thanks much.
 
I had one that finally came together at 30.5 grns of Varget and 105 HVLD's. As long as your not seeing pressure signs you should be ok. My other 6 BR could not run that high of a node.
 
I am hesitant to post a load used by a friend who has a very accurate 6 BR. (Panda action/Krieger barrel). He has been shooting some terrific groups at 600 yards and I asked him his load. He told me that he was shooting 31.0 gr. of Varget and a 105 Berger. When I asked, "Is that load too hot?", he responded that it was the load that shot best. When I shot the 6 BR, I could not go above 30.0 gr. of Varget. I guess that is why one should work UP a load for HIS rifle and not depend on reported data. Good shooting...James
 
Thanks for all the info and keep it coming. I'm using CCI 450's and action is a Remington. Since Lapua 6BR brass has gotten scarce and expensive, I sure don't want to open up my primer pockets.
 
My last BR Barrel shot best with 30.6gns of Varget, no pressure signs, my current Barrel likes 30gns... They all differ and need testing individually.
 
I'm running H4895 in my wife's 6br. 29.0gr under a 105 Berger Hunting VLD with a CCI 450 primer is giving her 2836fps in a 26" Mcgowan barrel. I was having to push Varget to 29.7 to get that velocity and my ES was double what I am getting with H4895. Might give it a go.
 
dkhunt14 said:
The loads are dependent on barrels, throats, bullet and lot of powder. Usually the longer the throat the more powder it takes. You will have to test and see where you can go. Matt
Click to expand...

What Matt said is true. Plus there are other factors to consider:

1. Some barrels are "tighter" than others. My best shooting 6mm barrels have a lot of choke in the last 9" towards the muzzle.
2. Some bullets are "fatter" than others. 6mm bullets from different makers (and different dies) can vary by a half a thou over and under nominal diameter. You can really see the difference.
3. Some lots of Varget are faster than others.
4. Even with a relatively temp-stable powder such as Varget, the pressure will be different at 50 deg F vs. 90 deg F.

Advice: One other member talked about 30.6 grains Varget. I consider that a very hot load. And 31.0 grains is way TOO hot IMHO. YMMV.
 
I'm running 30.2 grains with a 28" criterion savage prefit barrel getting about 2850. I think I could get more but it shoots really well as it is. Using cci 450 primer lapua brass.
 
Thanks for all the input. I'm thinking at this point my issue must be related to my chamber (long throated) or maybe to the barrel itself, since I'm using the same lot of bullets and powder that gives me higher speed in my other two 6BR's. I'm going to go up a tenth at the time and see what happens.

I have some R15 on the shelf. Anyone have good results with it?
 
HTSmith said:
behind a 105 Gr bullet? I have two other 6BR's that are very happy with a load of 30.0 Gr of Varget. Both get about 2850 fps, even though one has a 26" bbl and the other a 30". I picked up another used rifle in 6BR with very lightly shot 30" Brux barrel last week. I worked it up to 30.0 grains of with no pressure and went to work on seating depth. I found a good spot (.030" off the lands) pretty quickly and I was happy until I got my turn with the club's Labradar.

The loads with 30 Gr of Varget were only doing 2790 fps with ES of triple what I get with my others. The throat on this barrel is very long--about .125". I'm wanting more velocity and I was hoping a little more powder would also help with the ES.

As I'm already above the Berger Book max, I'd like to hear from folks that are running more than 30 grains of Varget. You can PM if you prefer. Thanks much.
Click to expand...
Here's what I do. I start with a new barrel and new brass. I first measure the brass just above the extractor groove with a digital mic and note that number. Then I start about three grains lower than my previous best load seat a bullet into the lands fire and mic the case head expansion. I do not want to see anything higher than .0015 on that first firing. I then load that fired piece of brass and fire again not wanting to see any more expansion than .0005 more on the second firing. I keep doing this with a new piece of brass increasing by .5 grains till I see expansion greater than .0015 on the first firing or .002 on the second firing. This i consider my max load. By now I've fired enough rounds on my new barrel to consider it broken in so I go back and begin testing to see what groups the best with the lowest extreme spread and standard deviation that I can get. I don't let myself get caught up chasing velocity numbers. I've always found my most accurate load is well below max in my rifles. In my 6BR's it's usually between 30.0 and 30.5 grains of Varget/neck turned Lapua brass/cci450/Berger 105 VLD hunting.

Danny
 
dreever said:
Here's what I do. I start with a new barrel and new brass. I first measure the brass just above the extractor groove with a digital mic and note that number. Then I start about three grains lower than my previous best load seat a bullet into the lands fire and mic the case head expansion. I do not want to see anything higher than .0015 on that first firing. I then load that fired piece of brass and fire again not wanting to see any more expansion than .0005 more on the second firing. I keep doing this with a new piece of brass increasing by .5 grains till I see expansion greater than .0015 on the first firing or .002 on the second firing. This i consider my max load. By now I've fired enough rounds on my new barrel to consider it broken in so I go back and begin testing to see what groups the best with the lowest extreme spread and standard deviation that I can get. I don't let myself get caught up chasing velocity numbers. I've always found my most accurate load is well below max in my rifles. In my 6BR's it's usually between 30.0 and 30.5 grains of Varget/neck turned Lapua brass/cci450/Berger 105 VLD hunting.

Danny
Click to expand...
Thanks for sharing your method Sir. No guess work there. I like it. Now I have to get myself a digital mic. I'll also have to get an exacto knife to split those Varget kernels to get that 30.14 Gr load Mr. Stevens suggested. :)
 
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