I figured that I should follow up with my data for future loaders, since data is scarce in this regard. Obviously this information is for reference only and use at your own risk. The varget that I have was purchased as a pull-down powder and based on my testing against a pound of store bought varget, it's 10% hotter in my .223 so I always start an extra 10% low when using this powder.
For this rifle, After looking for brass for a few months - I bought some cases at a gun show of unknown provenance. These cases were mostly fire formed and all of them fit my die and case gauge. They were made from 219 zipper brass and some of them had the lettering worn down on the case head. These helped me set up an arrangement of dies to form my own brass from 30-30.
For the first trip to the range, I loaded some 52/53 grain match bullets with varget to test out the powder. The bullets were pulled down from other loads. I also loaded some cheap 50 grain hollow point blems that I had bought a while ago with 3031. I had neck fractures in about 1/4 of the cases with no rhyme or reason to it. For the 3031 with 50 grain projectiles, I started to see pressure around 27.5 grains at 3470ish FPS. Groups were mostly around 1.25" but I'm really getting used to this rifle so I'm sure I could do better.
Here's the data:
Keep in mind, this is a short chamber 219 Wasp
IMR 3031, 50 Grain HP Projectile, Unknown Primers, 219 zipper brass - some fire formed
| Load 1 | Load 2 | Load 3 | Load 4 | Load 5 | Load 6 | Load 7 | Load 8 | Load 9 |
| Shot # | 25.4 | 25.7 | 26 | 26.3 | 26.6 | 26.9 | 27.2 | 27.5 | 27.8 |
| Shot 1 | 3198 | 3256 | 3344 | 3333 | 3394 | 3440 | 3418 | 3470 | 3587 |
| Shot 2 | 3206 | 3157 | 3250 | 3298 | 3415 | 3397 | 3430 | 3444 | |
| Shot 3 | 3211 | 3230 | 3266 | 3323 | 3459 | 3474 | 3422 | 3461 | |
| Shot 4 | 3148 | 3220 | 3278 | 3365 | 3428 | 3475 | 3451 | 3550 | |
| Shot 5 | | 3254 | 3379 | 3298 | 3401 | 3438 | 3468 | 3461 | |
| Mean | 3190.75 | 3223.4 | 3303.4 | 3323.4 | 3419.4 | 3444.8 | 3437.8 | 3477.2 | 3587 |
| Median | 3202 | 3230 | 3278 | 3323 | 3415 | 3440 | 3430 | 3461 | 3587 |
| Min | 3148 | 3157 | 3250 | 3298 | 3394 | 3397 | 3418 | 3444 | 3587 |
| Max | 3211 | 3256 | 3379 | 3365 | 3459 | 3475 | 3468 | 3550 | 3587 |
| Standard Dev. | 29.0 | 40.2 | 55.4 | 27.9 | 25.7 | 32.1 | 21.1 | 41.8 | #DIV/0! |
| Extreme Spread | 63 | 99 | 129 | 67 | 65 | 78 | 50 | 106 | 0 |
Varget (Pull down) 52/53 Grain match projectiles, Unknown Primers, 219 zipper brass - some fire formed
| Shot # | Load | Velocity |
| Shot 1 | 21.8 | 2712 |
| Shot 2 | 22 | 2861 |
| Shot 3 | 22.2 | 2931 |
| Shot 4 | 22.4 | 2907 |
| Shot 5 | 22.6 | 2949 |
| Shot 6 | 22.8 | 2922 |
| Shot 7 | 23 | 2990 |
| Shot 8 | 23.2 | 3032 |
| Shot 9 | 23.4 | 3024 |
| Shot 10 | 23.6 | 3029 |
| Shot 11 | 23.8 | 3086 |
| Shot 12 | 24 | 3110 |
| Shot 13 | 24.1 | 3093 |
| Shot 14 | 24.2 | 3045 |
| Shot 15 | 24.3 | |
| Shot 16 | 24.4 | 3124 |
| Shot 17 | 24.5 | |
| Shot 18 | 24.6 | 3117 |
| Shot 19 | 24.7 | 3113 |
As mentioned, after the first range trip - I used the fire formed brass to set up my dies and formed some from Starline 30-30. For the second range trip I loaded the varget with the 50 grain HP's. When running a load ladder I like to shoot 5 rounds at each target, if they group up ok while running a ladder it's usually a pretty good indication that I can find a good load. Some of these ladder groups were under an inch. No brass failures occurred and there were no signs of pressure.
Varget (Pull down), 50 grain HP Projectiles, Unknown primers, Formed brass - not fire formed.
| Shot # | Load | Velocity |
| Shot 1 | 24.5 | 3030 |
| Shot 2 | 24.6 | 3100 |
| Shot 3 | 24.7 | 3055 |
| Shot 4 | 24.8 | 3138 |
| Shot 5 | 24.9 | 3145 |
| Shot 6 | 25 | 3200 |
| Shot 7 | 25.1 | 3198 |
| Shot 8 | 25.2 | 3210 |
| Shot 9 | 25.3 | 3264 |
| Shot 10 | 25.4 | 3246 |
| Shot 11 | 25.5 | 3230 |
| Shot 12 | 25.6 | 3290 |
| Shot 13 | 25.7 | 3272 |
| Shot 14 | 25.8 | 3290 |
| Shot 15 | 25.9 | 3324 |
| Shot 16 | 26 | 3353 |
| Shot 17 | 26.1 | 3317 |
| Shot 18 | 26.2 | 3359 |
| Shot 19 | 26.3 | 3395 |
| Shot 20 | 26.4 | 3412 |
I'm going to form the rest of the brass that I had bought for the project (about 250 more cases). Then continue to do load ladders with 10-round groups while fire forming, mainly just to enjoy shooting the rifle - because that's what it's all about!
I'm not sure where I'll head with my loads for the fire formed cases. Per my notes, in the virgin brass I wasn't quite compressed at 26.4 grains so I definitely won't be compressed in the fire formed brass (we all know that varget loves to be compressed for accuracy). I also have some of the sierra projectiles to use when working up a final load. I'll update with more data as time goes on, I do intend on continuing to increase the varget load until I find signs of pressure. I might also try some 40 grain projectiles to see what kind of velocities I can cook up.
And lastly, here's a picture of the rifle. I don't think I had shared it in this forum previously. It's a german schutzen action that had been converted to a bench rest rifle back in the 60's or 70's. I found it at a gun shop and had to have it, so this process has been a labor of love.
