I recently finished an ar15 build! RR trued reciever, R rvr lower, geisselle nm trigger, magpul prs stock, cle free float varmint hand guard, 22" krieger-cle 223 match chamber 1:8 .936 at muzzle with woa clamp on gas block. She oughtta be a sweeet shooter!
Tryn to find a SUPER accurate VARMINT LOAD. I’ve got varget and imr4895. Sierra 55gr bt blitz kings,62 gr barnes ttsx and berger 52 gr fb varmint bullets.
I wanna be able to hit a gnat on a cows nose at 250 yards.
What are ya’lls suggestions? Any bullet/ powder combos - not just my supply? Varmint loads only please.
I won’t touch those Barnes bullets because of the hit and miss copper fouling problems people report. Is the barrel cut rifled? If so, you could probably shoot Barnes with no problems.
Are you against shooting a heavier bullet? If I had that barrel, I’d be running 77 gr Nosler Custom Competitions. A 77 gr will be less prone to externals, like wind, from zero to 250. But if you’re really varmint hunting, you could go for a screaming velocity lighter bullet too.
Yeah cut rifling. I’m really wanting the 77 gr accuracy in a bullet that carries humane lethality. I’m
Pretty iffy of the accuracy capable from a barnes. To me it seems like all ya ever hear is sierra this and berger that. I do feel kinda partial to sierra though. But, only because of the 39 gr federal premium 204 load.
Ok… the reason I say Nosler over Sierra is the slightly better fragmentation. Hmm… there are so many sierra offerings from 52-60 gr… and i’ve not tried those.
Another noteworthy option is the Hornady VMAX bullets in 55 gr. Those things are laser beams. They have the nylon red tip, but I’m unsure if they’re a hunting rated bullet…
EDIT:
Straight from Hornady:
V-MAX™ Bullets
Hornady’s V-MAX bullets consistently achieve rapid fragmentation at all practical varmint shooting velocities.
We’ve shot those bullets… and they are impressive in accuracy. And as fast as you could get them going out of a 22 inch barrel, you will cover 250 yards with little trouble at all.
And as much as I hate the idea of Varget for AR. Your application is probably a great exception. You put those VMAX in front of a heaping serving of Varget with that long barrel, and LOOK OUT!
RE powders suck balls for temp sensitivity. And he already owns the Varget which is in the extreme series of powders.
RE15 does have a following for God knows what reason. Even the Mk118 mil data show it’s terrible, and the MIL still uses it. …if temp is at all an issue… keep that in mind.
If you really want to trim your Standard Deviations, Try one of the Russian Primers. Tula or Wolf. SRMs or .223s. They’re generally a mild primer with a magnum cup for AR use. They pair up beautifully with extruded powders.
Have to give them a shot. We’ve had the russians run rings around BR4s with H322 in .223. But I’ve not tried BR4 with Varget. You’ll just have to give them a shot.
Varget makes no sense with lighter bullets in .223. The velocities aren’t great and it meters terribly. Benchmark is THE powder for 40 to 55 grain bullets in .223 if you want accuracy, velocity, easy metering and temp. insensitivity.
Twm134, whats your take on h335 vs benchmark? Been studying the manuals and have noticed 335 and benchmark come up often labeled as most accurate load along with a few tac and a few of the vihtavouri. Take note i do believe i might be leaning toward that berger 52 gr.
Can Barnes Varmint Grenades be had as components? I found them the most accurate factory load in 6X45 (62 grain and with a Kreiger). Went on a Woodchuck Jihad after they started eating my car and, well, eight out of eight woodchucks did not approve. Can probably take that gnat off the cow’s nose with no collateral moomoo damage .
About a year ago I got a couple pounds of H335 free and worked with it a little with 55 grain bullets. The accuracy was good and velocities were at the upper end, however, it is dirty and I didn’t get great SD, maybe ~40 fps. Benchmark is usually half that or less. I didn’t work with it much though. Mostly loaded some blasting ammo for shooting at night. It was fun to shoot some drills with the tremendous muzzle flash. A lot of people say it works well for loads with lightweight bullets but I don’t think it will do better than Benchmark, especially if your temps vary much.
I don’t know but I’ve heard it’s primer sensitive and won’t work well with Russian primers, which is about all I use for small rifle anymore.
With a 22 inch barrel and a rifle gas length, you’ve already got it good with Varget… at least in theory that should be an excellent combo. Varget on a short gas system with a light bullet isn’t good, but on that gun, I bet it sings.
If you want something in the burn rate of Benchmark, I’d pick XBR 8208 instead. Benchmark has never blown my socks off, but XBR will shoot both heavies and 55s laser accurate.
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