Varget shortage again?

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  • Park ranger

    Ultimate Member
    Dec 6, 2015
    2,315
    Reading other fourms where no one can find varget in stock. A quick check of midway, midsouth, and powder valley all show out of stock. H4895 is low too. If your local gun store has some, and you can't live without it, grab some. If your finding it's too late, N140 is great powder.
     

    alucard0822

    For great Justice
    Oct 29, 2007
    17,643
    PA
    Reading other fourms where no one can find varget in stock. A quick check of midway, midsouth, and powder valley all show out of stock. H4895 is low too. If your local gun store has some, and you can't live without it, grab some. If your finding it's too late, N140 is great powder.

    H4895 is my go to 30cal milsurp and 22-30cal precision rifle powder. Usually grab an 8# jug from Shydas, it goes really quick loading 308 for semis, only about 1K rounds
     

    Shamr0ck

    Ultimate Member
    Aug 6, 2011
    2,505
    Frederick
    Went through this several years ago and tried multiple other powders for 223 and 308. Reloader15 and tac worked just as well for me.



    TAC will measure more consistently In Volumetric measures than Reloader 15 as RL15 is extruded...


    Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
     

    pcfixer

    Ultimate Member
    May 24, 2009
    5,948
    Marylandstan
    Reading other fourms where no one can find varget in stock. A quick check of midway, midsouth, and powder valley all show out of stock. H4895 is low too. If your local gun store has some, and you can't live without it, grab some. If your finding it's too late, N140 is great powder.

    order online from Bass Pro shop Arundal Mills. then pick it up.
     

    dist1646

    Ultimate Member
    May 1, 2012
    8,761
    Eldersburg
    Talking to one of the powder guys at the show, he informed me that they did not make as much as they sold and the next run of VARGET will not be until November.
     

    Art3

    Eqinsu Ocha
    MDS Supporter
    Jan 30, 2015
    13,270
    Harford County
    Talking to one of the powder guys at the show, he informed me that they did not make as much as they sold and the next run of VARGET will not be until November.

    I heard the same thing...probably from the same guy. I can also verify that neither Trop Gun Shop nor Kinsey's Outdoor World had any on the shelves :eek:

    At least it sounds like it's coming back. I'll try to subsist on what I have until the initial frenzy is over when it does start showing up again :tap:
     

    Pinecone

    Ultimate Member
    MDS Supporter
    Feb 4, 2013
    28,175
    Problem is, now people will buy all they can get their hands on, raising demand, so make it harder to find.

    Then eventually, they will figure out they have a supply enough for 2 lifetimes, and it will be plentiful again.

    BTW, I have enough for 2 lifetimes :D
     

    dist1646

    Ultimate Member
    May 1, 2012
    8,761
    Eldersburg
    Problem is, now people will buy all they can get their hands on, raising demand, so make it harder to find.

    Then eventually, they will figure out they have a supply enough for 2 lifetimes, and it will be plentiful again.

    BTW, I have enough for 2 lifetimes :D

    So, you're that guy! LOL! Seriously, there are plenty of powders that are similar in burn rate and will produce excellent results. If I can't find what I use currently, I'll just switch to one of the other powders. If the powder is out of stock long enough, the switch will be permanent.
     

    Park ranger

    Ultimate Member
    Dec 6, 2015
    2,315
    So, you're that guy! LOL! Seriously, there are plenty of powders that are similar in burn rate and will produce excellent results. If I can't find what I use currently, I'll just switch to one of the other powders. If the powder is out of stock long enough, the switch will be permanent.

    I used up 3/4 of my palma gun's barrel life with H4895 because there was no Varget back in the day. Went just as fast and just as accurate (although maybe higher pressures). Once varget came back I tried it. A case full got me my 3000 fps, but it wasn't "better", but all the cool kids were using it so i figured why not.
     

    Pinecone

    Ultimate Member
    MDS Supporter
    Feb 4, 2013
    28,175
    It works.

    I was able to get enough during the shortage. And then when it was over, got more than enough. So I will keep using it.

    If I did not have it, I would use RL15 or H4895. I have some of each.
     

    ras_oscar

    Ultimate Member
    Apr 23, 2014
    1,666
    IMR 4320 has very similar burn rate on charts. Try it.!!! Varget 101 with IMR 4320 102 on chart

    Interesting. Are there any differences regarding change in performance due to temp, or the ability of the powder to remain stable during long term storage between the 2 powders?

    I was under the impression 4320 was an older formulation.
     

    Uncle Duke

    Ultimate Member
    MDS Supporter
    Feb 2, 2013
    11,668
    Not Far Enough from the City
    Interesting. Are there any differences regarding change in performance due to temp, or the ability of the powder to remain stable during long term storage between the 2 powders?

    I was under the impression 4320 was an older formulation.

    IMR4320 is indeed an older formulation. It has been doing a great job since 1935.

    Burn rate is indeed similar to Varget. Like Varget, it is an extruded powder, but it doesn't meter too badly as the kernals are fairly small as extruded powders go.

    Varget falls within the "Extreme" series of Hodgdon powders, and is thus less sensitive to temperature variations. If there has ever been a study done relating to longevity in storage, I am not aware of it and would love to see it.

    Try some 4320. I think your chances are better than good that your rifle will like it just fine.
     

    E.Shell

    Ultimate Member
    Feb 5, 2007
    10,248
    Mid-Merlind
    There are definitely plenty of powders that perform very well in the .308, which is one reason they call the cartridge 'versatile'.

    The singular advantage of Varget is that it is one of Hodgdon's 'Extreme' line of powders and is resistant to velocity changes caused by ambient temperature changes.

    For short/mid-range work, this doesn't matter and for the most part, cannot even be seen. For this reason, most shooters and hunters can get excellent results from a wide variety of powders and will debate the importance of selecting a specific powder.

    For long range, any changes in velocity obviously affect trajectory parameters to a much greater extent and velocity control DOES become quite important. One can certainly find and calculate the temperature coefficient, and they've done it for years, but when you can buy a powder that eliminates this unnecessary complication of an additional variable, it's desirability increases. This is Varget's attraction. I get groups just as tight or tighter with RE-15, IMR-4895 and IMR-4064, but they wander up and down the long range targets when temps change. I used to use a lot of 4895 and found it would give me several FEET of elevation (velocity) variation at 1,000 yards between a hot day and a cold day.
     

    Melnic

    Ultimate Member
    MDS Supporter
    Dec 27, 2012
    15,285
    HoCo
    Don't know if its still the case but I recall Varget was a popular hunting powder cause of temperature stability (EDIT: just like what Ed says).
    This is what I still use for my hunting loads.
    When IMR 8208 XBR came out, there I thought were ramblings of it replacing Varget
    Was at BassPro today and no Varget and no 8208XBR
     

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