  Small arms propellant distributor Hodgdon claims that rifle powders in its
Extreme line have small velocity variations with both temperature changes and
lot number. This paper reports on the variations in average velocity of four
different lots of Hodgdon Extreme Varget tested in two .223 Remington loads.
Compared to the lot with the slowest average velocity, the other three lots of
powder had higher average velocities ranging from 23.4 ft/s faster up to 45.6
ft/s faster with a 69 grain Nosler Custom Competition bullet and from 7.9 ft/s
faster to 15.3 ft/s with the 53 grain Hornady VMAX. The mean velocity
differences between lots are slightly correlated between the two loads with a
correlation coefficient of 0.54. This correlation suggests that factors other
than lot to lot variations contribute significantly to the measured velocity
variations. Unlike the much larger lot to lot variations that were reported
previously for H4831, lot to lot variations in velocity for Varget seem
consistent with Hodgdon's marketing claims.
