So I tried out the Precision powder because Varget was hard to find a couple months ago. I’m shooting a 308 with a 165 Sierra GameKing as a hunting load. I loaded up a ladder test starting at 41.1 and stopped at 44.1 grains. My Varget load with this brass/bullet/primer/rifle combo is 43.8 grains. However, almost all the cases were covered in soot after firing and so was my bolt and chamber. I swapped powders and the problem went away so I know it’s not my brass prep. Everything I’ve read online says that a case covered in soot means under pressure. Everything that is “advertised” says Varget and Precision are almost a substitute. I’m almost to max published charge. Should I keep bumping it up to see if the problem clears? If so then that would mean the Precision isn’t as close to Varget as they say.
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First I turn on my scale and let it warm up for 20-30 min then I calibrate it. Then I will zero the scale with the pan on it. Pull the pan off and drop a charge into it, place it on the scale, and then use a powder trickle to get to to the desired amount. Then I will pull the pan off, let the scale settle, then put the pan back on to make sure it reads the same amount that I desire. Sometimes I will do this a couple times to make sure when I pull the pan off it goes to the same negative value as well. There is no wind draft in the room and my phone is well away from the scale. When I have found a load that works I am able to get an SD of under 5 pretty consistently. Velocity measured with a V3.
That’s very unusual. I’ve never experience that problem. What’s your neck tension?