Mike “Duke” Venturino
Hodgdon’s Varget
This powder lives up to its name.
Duke’s M1D shot Varget powder better than any other propellant he
put in it. Duke shot this 100-yard group with his M1D using Varget powder.
I’ve got a new favorite smokeless powder. It’s Varget. That may seem odd to my long-time readers, since I’m obviously identified with black powder. But it’s true. Remember, one of my new shooting interests is with the rifles of World War II, and I’ve been finding Varget is a great one for duplicating the military ballistics of many of the cartridges used in the conflict.

Varget is an extruded powder imported from Australia by Hodgdon Powder Company. Its burning rate falls near Alliant’s Reloder 15 and IMR 4064, putting it in the “medium burn rate” category. The name Varget derives from Hodgdon’s feelings about this propellant. The VAR comes from varmint, meaning the company felt it was a good choice for the small- to medium-bore cartridges used for prairie dogs and such. The GET part of the name comes from target, meaning the company felt this powder was going to deliver fine accuracy. From my experience with it I feel they hit that nail square on the head.

M1 Garand

I actually developed my fondness for Varget in a roundabout way. Before acquiring and beginning to handload for an M1 Garand, I often said my favorite .30-06 powder was one or another of the 4350s. But all of my previous .30-06 reloading had been for bolt actions. In a fit of unaccustomed brilliance, before I started stuffing shells in my first M1 Garand, I read the “Loading for Gas Guns” chapter in the 5th Edition of Sierra’s Rifle And Handgun Data manual. Therein was the warning using slow-burning propellants in rifles like the M1 Garand can damage their operating rods. And, of course, all of us who began our reloading careers back in the 1960s (and earlier) remember the medium burning 4895 powder was developed specifically for the M1 Garand.

So I gave Varget a try in one of my .30-06 reloading projects, and bingo! It did great. I found a charge weight of 48 grains with 150- to 155-grain bullets almost exactly duplicated original military M2 Ball loads, the basic load with which American forces fought WWII. The M2 Ball cartridge was rated as having a 150-grain bullet at a nominal 2,700 fps. I found 48 grains of Varget with the 155-grain Hornady A-Max bullet gave 2,697 fps from my Model 1903A4 sniper rifle and grouped five shots into 1.75" at 100 yards. From my M1D sniper rifle, the same charge with Hornady’s 150-grain spirepoint bullet gave 2,614 fps and a 2.25" 100-yard group. (The gas-operated M1 naturally gives slightly less velocity than a bolt action with equal barrel length.)

There's More Handloader
in the January issue

• .303 Ball
• .223, Too
• 8x57mm

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2008 ISSUE HERE
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