Hornady 174 gn rn and Varget?

[aprayinbear]

I just picked up a box of Hornady 174 gr .312 bullets to reload for my .303 #1 MKIII. I have a can of Varget and am looking for a beginning load.

Suggestions? Hodgdon suggests a starting load of 38gr. varget for the sierra 174 gn .311 hpbt.

What do you think?

Information

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[vintage hunter]

I think you have a good combo there, start with the minimum and work up in 1/2gr increments until you find the sweet spot. I use Hornady 174 BTHP's and Varget in my No.4T and it's very consistant. Keep an eye out for signs of over pressure as you near the max charge, it's been said that the no.1 action is not as strong as the no.4. There's some interesting reading and photos in the last 2-3 pages of the thread Gallery of Dramas....Broken Enfield Parts up in the Enfield forum that shows what will happen when these old rifles are fired with reloads that exceed their mechanical limits.

[Ro-bert]

Hornady Manual (8th ed.) suggests for #3130RN and #3131BTFMJ from 31,6gr. (@2.000fps) up to max.39,1gr. (@2400fps) - which is very different from the load for sierra HPBT on Hodgdon home page


*load data without any warranty

[aprayinbear]

Ro-bert,

I flipped through the Hornady manual while I was as my local gunshop today and found the recipes you describe. Big difference.... but Hornady makes the bullets, so I will follow their lead and play it safe. And as a target shooter, if I can save a little powder and get reasonable accuracy, then all the better!

I'll do a range report sometime this week. Thanks for the input.

Happy Shooting!

---------- Post added at 03:43 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:41 PM ----------

The difference may be that the Hornady RN is actually .312 while the Sierra is .311 I believe.

Thanks Again

[Buntlineguy]

I have been using 40.0 grains of Varget with Hornady 3130s. Excellent results.
B

[Ro-bert]

.... but Hornady makes the bullets, so I will follow their lead and play it safe. And as a target shooter, if I can save a little powder and get reasonable accuracy, then all the better!

which is also my preferred approach

I'll do a range report sometime this week. Thanks for the input.
Happy Shooting!

[aprayinbear]

My .303 #1 MKIII Varget range report

Began testing my .303 (1917 vintage) with reloaded S&B brass, CCI BR large rifle primers, Hornady 174 RN bullets, and varget powder. Cartridges were crimped at the canellure for an OAL of 2.93. Listed below are my 5 shot results at 50 meters, open sights, from bench and bags.

32 grains Varget 2 "
33 grains Varget 2 1/4"
33.5 grains varget 2"
34 grains Varget 1 1/2"
35 grains Varget slightly under 1/2"

That's right .... less then 1/2" with 35 grains. I think I found my sweet spot!

Here's the pics.... remember these are 5 shot groups.

http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f3...r/IMG_2453.jpg
http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f3...r/IMG_2454.jpg
http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f3...r/IMG_2459.jpg

I'm a happy camper!

Happy Shooting!

[vintage hunter]

Dump the S&B brass, it is very thin and won't last long before you start having head seperations. Get some PRVI brass, good stuff. O BTW, nice shooting.

[aprayinbear]

Thanks for the PRVI brass suggestion. I'm going to order some asap. I had heard that the S&B stuff was pretty poor, but I found the ammo for verrrrry cheap and just hope to get several reloads by neck sizing only. By then I'll have a stash of PRVI.

Thanks Again

[Ro-bert]

...35 grains Varget slightly under 1/2"
...
[url="http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f341/aprayinbear/IMG_2459.jpg"]http://

Great!!
After few attempts I have also noticed that apparently Varget could be a good choice.
Regarding S&B, I fully agree with the "vintage hunter": too much work on brass that do not hold long. I have a batch of cases, where it is necessary to deepen every single primer pocket (to use with non S&B primers) .. and after 2x reloading - most of them are already cracked
PPU (prvi partizan), HXP, Federal, Winchester would be much better choice.
BTW after first firing i do always use only neck sizer (LEE Collet )