308 test - Varget vs. RE-17

[Keith Glasscock]

I’ve been watching intently the Reloader 17 (dis?)information available on the internet. My interest has been to make heavy bullets go well from my 308 Win. Having shot an entire season of F/TR with the 208 Amax pushed along by Varget, I felt I had a good basis for comparison.

First, the rifle: My rifle is a multi-purpose rifle. As such, it sports a 3 groove, 26” barrel by Benchmark. The rifle isn’t anything special from a custom standpoint, but it does shoot groups between 0.3” and 0.8” at 300 yards with alarming regularity. Total round count is currently 1500.

The test: SL, 77 deg F

I took a 5 shot string of my Varget powered 208 Amax load and fired it over my trusty CED M2. I immediately followed that with the Reloader 17 test loads. All rounds were .010 into the lands with an OAL of 2.980”. My case capacity is 58.1 gr/H2O. All bullets naked...

Varget:

2552 fps Average – ES 7 – SD 3 – No pressure signs now, nor during the season.

RE-17

44.0 gr – 1 round – 2438 fps
44.5 gr – 1 round – 2483 fps
45.0 gr – 1 round – 2511 fps
45.5 gr – 2 rounds – 2523 fps Av – ES 7
46.0 gr – 2 rounds – 2544 fps Av – ES 39!
46.5 gr – 2 rounds – 2589 fps Av – ES 25
47.0 gr – 2 rounds – 2602 fps Av – ES 19 – 1 leaking primer, 2 light ejector marks.
47.5 gr – 2 rounds – 2636 fps Av – ES 43! – High 2658 – Primers leaking, Ejector marks

Conclusions:

While RE-17 did show more velocity is possible than with Varget, the difference was far from what I expected. From a standpoint of pressure signs, the difference is only 50 fps in my rifle.

I also noticed different pressure signs than other powders. For example, I get a heavy bolt lift before anything else gets really bad with Varget. When I go past that, I get ejector marks. RE-17 started with leaking primers, then gave me ejector marks, but I never had a heavy bolt lift with any load.

 

[MrMajestic]

Accuracy?

 

[Keith Glasscock]

I didn't even attempt to assess the accuracy at this point. I had one ragged hole with 3 or 4 in it, but I can't even tell you which load(s) hit there.

My concern was more whether I could get enough velocity to look at shooting the 210 class bullets in the 2600 fps node.

If it's of any help, all 19 shots were directed toward a single point of hold at 300 yards. All of them fell inside of 1 MOA.

 

[Laurie]

If you really must use Re17, switch to Lapua small primer 'Palma' brass. You'll be able to work up to higher loads and MVs safely with 208-210gn bullets while retaining reasonable ES and SD values, although not as small as you get with Varget.

Whether you get up to the 2,600 fps mark with a 26" barrel depends on your chamber throat configuration. I run the 208 A-Max from a 30" Broughton at 2,620 fps with Palma cases, CCI-BR4s and Re17 at a COAL of around 3.00" just off the leade, but the chamber lacks the freebore to optimise velocities. To be running at 2,550 fps now from 26" suggests your throat is a lot more 'generous' than mine.

If your present load groups well, I'd stick with it. Nobody has said anything definitive about Re17's temperature tolerance, but I'd bet it's not as good as VarGet's, and that has to be a factor for many too. (Not much of an issue here for us in the UK, mind you!)

 

[DukeDuke]

I've had best luck using Winchester brass, due to the larger volume.

 

[FFL Medic]

I've been shooting the RL17 and the 210/208 combo for a while now, too. Bus, what is the Varget load that you are shooting? I've lately been shooting the 208 at around 48.5 grains and have had no issues. I also shot the same at 50 grains, and that was fine, too... in the winter. Everything that I have tested personally or read, folks are shooting anywhere from 46.5 to 48.5 without any issues. I never gave VARGET the fair shake I should have. I've got 8 pounds of it on the floor... duh.

 

[Keith Glasscock]

Okay, here goes - All normal cautions apply - Work up slowly! Pressure builds rapidly!

Naked 208 Amax, Win brass weighing 156.9 grains (I keep mine in tight lots) - FL sized, 42.7 grains of Varget from lot #4920, BR-2 primer, OAL 2.980" (jammed .010")

Having posted that, you should know that lot #4844 gave me the same performance with 43.1 grains of powder. I would suggest looking for a node in the vicinity of 41.5 grains - assuming you can get there safely.

This load is significantly outside of the node, and only gives me about half MOA accuracy.

For some reason, this barrel is rather fast compared to some others I know - be careful chasing velocity.

Keith

 

[FFL Medic]

I remember shooting a 210 Berger out of my AR10T 24" with Varget just to see if the 11.25 twist would stabilize the projectile. It did indeed. I think I had to extrapolate the load data, as there was (still is) no direct printed data from the Hodgdon manual. I'm pretty sure I shot 41.0 gr, and the speed was 2400 ish, and the accuracy was poor. Certainly not the fair shake.

I haven't nailed a specific load down yet for the 208s, as they seem to me to be a bit more picky as opposed to the Berger 210. Here's some that I shot the other day.