Replacement for Varget

[Jacks Grampa]

Since Varget seems to be on the shelf between the unicorn and the honest politician I'm looking for another powder. I'm loading .223 with 50 and 55gr. bullets. Thanks group.

 

[Highpower-FClass]

H322 works well for those weight bullets. Not that H322 is widely available either but a bit more so than Varget

 

[deadidarren]

You will get better speeds with 8208

 

[Liven The Dream]

Shooters World Precision or R-15​

The Target Shooters and I find this good.

 

[SeabeeKen]

IMR-4166 and Shooters world Precision were both made to be very close to Varget. Precision seems to to be a bit more temp insensitive thatn Varget according to a recent article by handloader mag. Ive had better luck with it than Varget. I have several rifles that really like 4166 also

 

[41magnut]

Sadly, most of the alternatives are almost, if not, as absent, as Varget.

My focus is for the 308W Palma ammo and I have promising results with AR-Comp w/ 155 gn Berger Hybrid.
I'm away from my desk , so I can't give you exact numbers. IIRC, ES was below 15, SD was well below 10, & average muzzle velocity was 2950. with very good accuracy (.75 MOA tested @ 200 yds from position).

Checking the numbers with several ballistic calculators, this load has retained velocity > 1300 FPS @ 1K yards. I'm planning to do some additional work in an attempt to get MV closer to 3000 FPS, w/o sacrificing accuracy.

 

[rijndael]

Sadly, most of the alternatives are almost, if not, as absent, as Varget.

4166 and CFE223 are fairly available.

 

[BillC79]

Looked at in detail HERE, mostly for 77 gr. H335 is a readily available powder that works well with light bullets so long as you don't need to worry too much about temperature sensitivity.

 

[r bose]

Since Varget seems to be on the shelf between the unicorn and the honest politician I'm looking for another powder. I'm loading .223 with 50 and 55gr. bullets. Thanks group.

Ramshot TAC all day long. Available at Powder Valley now and seems to be available just about anytime. Meters great thru any powder dropper, good speed and accuracy.

 

[paperpuncher]

H 4895 if you have it Its almost as hard to find as Varget

 

[krhuntin]

I have since switched to IMR 4064 and has been very comparable to grains and velocities.

 

[whatsupdoc]

Varget is not a good choice for 50-55gr bullets in a 223 its better suited for heavier bullets 75gr and up.

My first choices for 50-55gr bullets in a 223 is H335 and N133.
H335 meters superbly in a powder measure and N133 provides extremely low extreme spread.

For pinking I use H335 for more accurate ammo I use N133.

 

[JimSC]

Tac is fairly available also LT 30 and LT 32

 

[Jacks Grampa]

Thanks group. I have 4064, 4895 and 4166. I guess I'm not as powder poor as I'd thought. Sure glad I keep 2-3 years supply for times like these.

 

[rebs]

I use Reloader 15 and Varget for 77 gr SMK's

 

[Coyotefurharvester]

Use Benchmark if you have it.

 

[STOMP442]

IMR 4064 has consistently given me better accuracy and consistency than anything I have ever tried Varget in. H4895 has also worked well for me.

 

[DGP4]

Ramshot TAC in my experience is far better than Varget for 50-55 grain bullets.

 

[jk80]

For me, 335 has always been hard to beat in those bullet weights.

 

[Rsadams]

I use tac for my .223/5.56 stuff... You can get their data free on their website....it will like heavy 69/77 bullets better but hey beggars can't be choosers these days....