RL-15 vs. Varget

[greggrissom]

Could some of you guys that are more powder knowledgeable than myself, tell me the comparisons between the two powders. I heard they were close together performance wise. Likes and dislikes of each powder and so on. If you had to pick one, which one would it be. Thanks for your help

 

[gimpy]

I have had better luck with RL-15 for sure. Varget is less temperature sensitive, and performs respectably for me.

 

[1J04]

Here's a list of Burn Rates that may be helpful.

Burn Rate

 

[shoot4fun]

Burn rate really has nothing to do with the difference in these two powders. True they are close in burn rate but not close in temperature sensitivity at all. I have used both RL15 and Varget over the years and Varget is the winner by far for here in the south especially. Temps here go from near zero to 100+ during the year and my 308 Varget loads don't have near the elevation swing of my old RL15 loads.

 

[kd185]

just try and find either one of these in my area is impossible lately

 

[ptaylortx]

I've had bad luck with several RL powders. Very temp sensitive. RL 22 in my 300 win is .5moa @ 80 degrees and 1 moa below 50 degrees.

 

[flyrodder]

I can get significantly higher velocities out of our .270's with lighter bullets with Varget. In this environment, though, you may have take what you can get, and how well it works depends on what you are trying to do.

 

[bjay]

RL15 gave me better result on my rem 5r 308.
Question for everyone.. when we say temp sensitive are we talking diff result from 104 degree and 30 or colder?
Im from hawaii our weather dont shift like the rest of you.i use rl 15 and rl25.. our weather here stays.. tge coldest 67-68 and when it get hot 84 maybe will my result change? What about humidity?
Sorry OP not tryin to trash your thread..maybe the answer will help us compare the two

 

[greggrissom]

I'm from Mississippi and our weather can range from 100deg in the summer to 10deg in the winter. With that kind of swing I probably should stick to Varget, if I can ever get a load worked up. I recently had the good fortune of finding plenty of Varget so I will hold off on the RL-15. I've also heard good things about 2000MR.

 

[rdinak]

I bought 16 pounds of RL15 before the madness struck. My rifles like it..

 

[JGorski]

Could some of you guys that are more powder knowledgeable than myself, tell me the comparisons between the two powders. I heard they were close together performance wise. Likes and dislikes of each powder and so on. If you had to pick one, which one would it be. Thanks for your help

What cartridge would you be using these powders in? They both work wonderfully in my 708, but Varget will not shoot in my 308s, both have worked very well in my 06 & my 6mmREM.

 

[JGorski]

Could some of you guys that are more powder knowledgeable than myself, tell me the comparisons between the two powders. I heard they were close together performance wise. Likes and dislikes of each powder and so on. If you had to pick one, which one would it be. Thanks for your help

If I had to pick either one? W/o even trying it would probably be IMR4007SSC, or CFE, wink.

 

[M40_A1]

Compared against Varget, my .308 prefers RL-15 with 175 gr.SMKs at 70-100 degrees F. Haven't compared in lower temps as I settled on the RL-15.

Personally, I think temp sensitivity is not a deal breaker like everyone seems to think it is these days. No powder is absolutely temperature stable, so there will always have to be adjustments made anyway. Shoot and log, then make corrections next time for the temperature variations. Does it really matter if you have to come up one minute versus two, as long as you KNOW how much you need?

 

[TireMan]

It's been over a year since Varget has been in steady supply. Varget is clearly the favorite, but both have quality characteristics.

 

[greggrissom]

What cartridge would you be using these powders in? They both work wonderfully in my 708, but Varget will not shoot in my 308s, both have worked very well in my 06 & my 6mmREM.

I had a custom build done in 7-08 and it has less than 100rds down the tube. I am in the load developement stage right now. Roght now i'm working with Nosler 150gr LRAB bullets. Would it be possible to get your 7-08 loads?

Right now I have, besides these 2 powders, H4350, I4350, Win 748 and 760, and some TAC on the way. Would like to try N140 and 2000MR.

 

[JGorski]

I had a custom build done in 7-08 and it has less than 100rds down the tube. I am in the load developement stage right now. Roght now i'm working with Nosler 150gr LRAB bullets. Would it be possible to get your 7-08 loads?

Right now I have, besides these 2 powders, H4350, I4350, Win 748 and 760, and some TAC on the way. Would like to try N140 and 2000MR.

My load for 150NBTs is 39.5grs of Varget, shoots in the 4s at 100yds from my stainless synthetic, N140 is about the same burn rate, 2000MR will give you more velocity, I use it with 162AMAXs, very accurate out to 300yds, and around 2700fps, too.

 

[JGorski]

Oh, I'm using BR2 primers with that load, regular CCI primers should work just as well, 9.5 Rem primers like to be used in the 708, too, I run 39grs RE15 under 150MKs for my other load with 9.5 primers, again, in the 4s. Hotter primers arent as accurate from my experience, but still work, of course.

 

[Hunt]

I found RL-15 to provide better results from a grouping perspective. I haven't found it to be as temp sensitive as it's made out to be.

 

[archad]

I have used both before I discovered IMR 8208 BR does everything better for me YMMV.