Hodgdon Varget is not a rifle powder that many will consider when reloading for the 300 Winchester Magnum. However, if you are looking for loadings for bullets up to around 168 grain weight it can be used to create loadings similar to the 30-06 that provide modest recoil, and which also help preserve the barrel from erosion.
Fast Facts
- Hodgdon Varget is a powder that can be used to advantage in the 300 Winchester Magnum with bullet weights from 110gn-168gn being listed in the official Hodgdon load data.
- Hodgdon Varget is actually manufactured in Australia by Australian Defence Industries and sold in Australia under the ADI brand name as AR2208.
- Author has spent time using AR2208 (aka Hodgdon Varget) in his own 300 Winchester Magnum with pleasing results.
My discovery of the use of “Varget” in my 300 Winchester Magnum occurred when I was confronted with powder and bullet supplies becoming difficult a few years ago. It turned out to be a great discovery.
But to understand why this was such a boon to me I’ll need to provide a bit of background.
I relocated to Australia in 2015 after spending a couple of decades working professionally in Asia. In Asia my opportunities to go shooting were pretty much non-existent despite the presence of wild boar roaming around on the island I called home. But moving to Australia brought the promise of being able to go hunting for Sambar deer, which I think are regarded as Australia’s premier deer species.
I discovered as I got back into the shooting sports that almost all the shooting ranges in the state I was living in were limited to rifle calibers up to 8mm. With that in mind I bought a current production Winchester Model 70 in 300 Winchester Magnum, fitted a nice Kahles 1.5-6x42mm riflescope on it, and proceeded to work up a loading using the 200 grain Nosler Accubond bullet driven by a powder sold in Australia as AR2225, which is sold in the United States as Hodgdon Retumbo.
The process of resettling into Australia, getting the rifle, and getting back into reloading, took me until 2019 and plans were underway to realize the Sambar hunt I’d long wanted to do.
However, Murphy’s Laws sprang into action in 2020: i.e. “Nothing is as easy as it looks, everything takes longer than you expect, and if anything can go wrong it will – and at the worst possible moment. World events stepped in and provided an insurmountable barrier.
So, with the possibility of Sambar hunting removed I was left with the need to amend any plans I’d made. I was also faced with the component shortage: the 200gn Nosler Accubonds ceased to be available, and powder became a challenge also. But what I had in hand was a decent quantity of the powder made and sold in Australia as ADI AR2208, a powder that is sold in the United States as Hodgdon Varget.
I had this powder on hand for my 9.3x62mm Mauser and so I spent some time looking at reloading information and discovered that AR2208 (i.e. Hodgdon Varget) had load data listed for light-medium weight .308″ bullets including the Speer 165gn SP. Speer 165gn SP bullets were surprisingly readily available, and reasonably priced. So, while I might never have considered that load combination prior to the component shortage, it became a very attractive option.
Just to clarify for readers, especially those in the United States and Canada, quite a number of the powders sold in North America under the Hodgdon brand name are actually made in Australia by ADI (Australian Defence Industries).
You can find a Revivaler post that explains this in more detail if you click here.
So, with a plentiful supply of AR2208 (Varget) and Speer 165gn Hot-Cor bullets, I spent some enjoyable time at the reloading bench, and at the shooting range, working up a loading that would produce decent accuracy and a point of impact as close as possible to that for the 200gn Accubond loading.
This proved to be reasonably easy to accomplish.
My tuned loading for the 200gn Nosler Accubond was 75.5gn of AR2225 (sold as Hodgdon Retumbo in the USA) using Federal 215BR primers in Remington cases, with a COAL of 3.34″. Muzzle velocity averaged 2,825fps.
The tuned load for the 165gn Speer Hot Cor was 56.5gn of AR2208 (Varget) using Federal 215BR primers in Remington cases, with a COAL of 3.34″. Muzzle velocity averaged 2.810fps.
You will find the ADI load data the 300 Winchester Magnum if you click here.
The load data for Hodgdon Varget in the 300 Winchester Magnum is shown below courtesy Hodgdon.
The 300 Winchester Magnum loading using AR2208 (aka Hodgdon Varget) and the 165gn Speer Hot-Cor provides some worthwhile benefits. Recoil is much reduced, down to just over 18ft/lb in my 9.6lb rifle: and cleaning is much easier.
ADI powders are made for military applications as well as sporting, just as the Du Pont IMR (Improved Military Rifle) powders have long been. So they have been designed with characteristics to reduce fouling and burn producing as little heat as possible.
By comparison my loading with the 200gn Accubond and AR2225 produces recoil of almost 30ft/lb.
As one would expect, the 165gn Speer bullet loading with AR2208/Varget is very pleasant to shoot and means I can do more shooting with the 300 Winchester Magnum than I might otherwise, meaning I have more fun with my rifle, and I get significantly more practice with it.
Its a discovery I’m rather happy to have stumbled upon.
For those interested in the ADI powders that are sold in North America under the Hodgdon brand name I’ve included below the chart provided to me by ADI.
Jon Branch is the founder and senior editor of Revivaler and has written a significant number of articles for various publications including official Buying Guides for eBay, classic car articles for Hagerty, magazine articles for both the Australian Shooters Journal and the Australian Shooter, and he’s a long time contributor to Silodrome.
Jon has done radio, television, magazine and newspaper interviews on various issues, and has traveled extensively, having lived in Britain, Australia, China and Hong Kong. His travels have taken him to Indonesia, Israel, Italy, Japan and a number of other countries. He has studied the Japanese sword arts and has a long history of involvement in the shooting sports, which has included authoring submissions to government on various firearms related issues and assisting in the design and establishment of shooting ranges.
