Time to buy powder. My 30-30 has been fed 3031 most of its life. But the LGS has Varget in stock.
I understand they are similar, but it there an advantage to Varget?
M

Varget is slower than 3031, more comparable to 4064. I tend to like the slower powders in the 30-30, but 3031 is never a bad choice

748.... (only because I have a 8# can of it I bought off a estate and I'll be loading that stuff till I die....)

I've been using H322 in my 30-30 with good results.

I like the slower powders in 30-30 for silhouette, also. My rifles have 24" or 26" barrels, so there's no point in using a faster powder that gets less velocity and produces sharper recoil. If I were loading for a 16" barrel carbine for hunting, it might be a different story. I also load ammo and use in a big range of temperatures across the whole year, so theoretically Varget would have the advantage of being more temperature stable since it's one of the Hodgdon Extreme series of powders. I haven't done any testing myself to see if there's less velocity difference than other powders, though. I found a few good loads with Varget and then just loaded up a bunch of ammo. Varget seems to be the most common powder in use at our local matches, but with the very large targets we shoot in lever action silhouette nearly anything that gets decent velocity without terrible accuracy will work.

If you pick up some Varget, here's a thread with a bunch of load data in it.

viewtopic.php?f=7&t=12598

Edit: I've also considered trying to work up 30-30 loads for lever action with IMR 4166, one of the relatively new Enduron powders. It's slightly faster burn rate than Varget with the same claimed temperature stability plus copper fouling reduction like CFE 223. I have most of a pound of IMR 4166 after trying it out in my 260 Rem for high power silhouette, but I have so much Varget and I already have good 30-30 Varget loads that there just isn't enough incentive to work up new loads with IMR 4166. If you're working up new loads anyway, you may want to try IMR 4166 if it's in stock locally.

I’ve yet to see 31-33gr of Varget behind any 125-170gr jacket not shoot 1 to 2 MOA in any decent 30/30 Lever Action. Although I’ve seen it shoot good, I’ve never seen 3031 or 4064 shoot quite that well in a such a large variety of rifles and projectiles.

I’ve only tried LeveRevolution in a couple Marlins and it shot very well, albeit both were using max loads with Hornady 160gr FTXs.... and that’s not a legal projectile for CLA.

My .02,

- Tim

Varget will give you better fill percentage and lower pressures at higher velocities.

Never tried 3031. My guns (26" Winchesters) like RL15 better than Varget. Then I tried IMR4166. Yummy!

DJA wrote: ↑Fri Aug 31, 2018 5:35 am Never tried 3031. My guns (26" Winchesters) like RL15 better than Varget. Then I tried IMR4166. Yummy!

What load(s) with IMR 4166 are you using in your 26" Winchester? I have a new one of those that needs some rounds through it.

Most of our local guys use varget, but I'm getting tighter groups out of my rifle with H4895.

Jason wrote: ↑Fri Aug 31, 2018 8:37 am
What load(s) with IMR 4166 are you using in your 26" Winchester? I have a new one of those that needs some rounds through it.

With 150gr Sierra flat nose, I'm just a hair under the starting load published in the Hodgdon reloading guide. Easy to shoot, accurate, and topples rams. I also use a very light charge under the 125gr flat nose for pickens and chigs. It's remarkably accurate despite leaving a lot of unburnt powder.