HANDLOADING THE WK- what’s working what’s not?

Smokinyotes

Smokinyotes

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HANDLOADING THE WK- what’s working what’s not?

With a couple thousand rounds through my WK I thought it was time to get serious about working up a handload for coyotes. So far the Federal Premium 55 gr BT are good enough accuracy wise but they are fairly expensive. The cheap AE ammo isn’t accurate enough for hunting and I don’t want to be shooting coyotes with FMJ’s.

Just wondering if anyone has found a good handload with 50-55gr bullets and decent accuracy. I’m hoping for 3200fps and inch or less groups.
 
Smokinyotes said:
With a couple thousand rounds through my WK I thought it was time to get serious about working up a handload for coyotes. So far the Federal Premium 55 gr BT are good enough accuracy wise but they are fairly expensive. The cheap AE ammo isn’t accurate enough for hunting and I don’t want to be shooting coyotes with FMJ’s.

Just wondering if anyone has found a good handload with 50-55gr bullets and decent accuracy. I’m hoping for 3200fps and inch or less groups.
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It’s too bad those WK’s are barely “minute of coyote” rifles. I was going to buy one until I heard several reports of 4-5” groups. Very poor accuracy in my opinion......:(

I think I will buy a new series Ruger Mini 14, hopefully they still shoot 1.5” groups. My previous one did, sold it to buy a WK, sounds like that was a huge mistake.

And so the debate begins......:)
 
Even with a bunch of ####ty bulk federal 55gr my initial testing was at worst 2MOA, so reports of 4-5" groups seems excessive to me ....

55gr and the 1 in 8" WK barrel twist do not get along as far as I am concerned.

Here is a 5 shot group of Hornady 68gr Match HPBT and 24 grains of Varget - 100 yards



Note also that the squares are .96" rather than 1". Must be how the printer scales my LGS target sheets he gives away when you buy stuff......

Bench rest, sand bags.

Note I have not run this load through my radar yet - I was going for group size first.
 
Paul_T said:
Even with a bunch of ####ty bulk federal 55gr my initial testing was at worst 2MOA, so reports of 4-5" groups seems excessive to me ....

55gr and the 1 in 8" WK barrel twist do not get along as far as I am concerned.

Here is a 5 shot group of Hornady 68gr Match HPBT and 24 grains of Varget - 100 yards



Note also that the squares are .96" rather than 1". Must be how the printer scales my LGS target sheets he gives away when you buy stuff......

Bench rest, sand bags.

Note I have not run this load through my radar yet - I was going for group size first.
Click to expand...


Very nice group Paul! Maybe the accuracy problem is the guy behind the rifle. Either way, I would like to hold a WK and shoot one myself before I put out a G-note.....:)
 
New shooter here m&p spotter 2 55 gr 1 in 9 twist just changed from 223 to 5.56 green tip over 3000 fps just chrono Inc them and find good prices on tenda on bulk good luck enjoy
 
Paul_T said:
Even with a bunch of ####ty bulk federal 55gr my initial testing was at worst 2MOA, so reports of 4-5" groups seems excessive to me ....

55gr and the 1 in 8" WK barrel twist do not get along as far as I am concerned.

Here is a 5 shot group of Hornady 68gr Match HPBT and 24 grains of Varget - 100 yards



Note also that the squares are .96" rather than 1". Must be how the printer scales my LGS target sheets he gives away when you buy stuff......

Bench rest, sand bags.

Note I have not run this load through my radar yet - I was going for group size first.
Click to expand...

This is actually excellent, I'm guessing .7 -.8 MOA ? Not bad at all for a semi auto that really is a production rifle, not specifically a precision rig. I was sitting on a fence about WK but it looks like the decision was made for me. I got rid of my VZ-58 exactly for the reason of inability of reliably mounting of optics and building an accurate round for it.
 
Thunderhog said:
It’s too bad those WK’s are barely “minute of coyote” rifles. I was going to buy one until I heard several reports of 4-5” groups. Very poor accuracy in my opinion......:(

I think I will buy a new series Ruger Mini 14, hopefully they still shoot 1.5” groups. My previous one did, sold it to buy a WK, sounds like that was a huge mistake.

And so the debate begins......:)
Click to expand...

I’m not sure where you heard 4-5” groups but if guys are getting those kind of groups it’s probably not the gun. With Hornady steel match and Federal premium 55gr bt my groups are about 1-1/4”. Even the cheap AE 55gr FMJ’s will do 3”groups.
 
Yes sir the gold medal match is what I’ve been using so far. I like it but the coyotes don’t. I just thought with handloading, I was hoping to shrink my groups a little.
 
Right on.

Good luck on the handloads quest. Hopefully it has same poi as a factory load.

I got lucky with my 45 acp handload - groups same as western munitions 230 gr ball- but that's a HG. Not a rifle
 
Smokinyotes said:
I’m not sure where you heard 4-5” groups but if guys are getting those kind of groups it’s probably not the gun. With Hornady steel match and Federal premium 55gr bt my groups are about 1-1/4”. Even the cheap AE 55gr FMJ’s will do 3”groups.
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Read it here on Gunnutz several times. 3” groups are terrible in my opinion. I don’t care what ammo it is. 1 1/4” is good, 3” is not acceptable for my liking.

Only my opinion.....:)
 
I'm getting 4 to 5 inch groups with blocky magpul iron sights on mine at 100 meters lol
Using bulk fed 62gr FMJ too.
Mine is more accurate than any rack grade AR15 I've shot by a decent margin. I'm actually surprised by the accuracy.
It's the magazine finicky part of the rifle that is driving me a bit sideways. Mine had a way too tight chamber and for some reason some rifles had a large void machined under the feed ramps which was causing projo to jam into and stick fast...
Kodiak fixed these issues on mine under warranty. Now it feeds a lot better but is still jamming with my STANAG metal type magazine's unless I push up on them while firing the gun. ...
I bought some MFT 10 rounders that are on the way in the mail. If it persist's it's going back again and I'm requesting a new rifle.
Shipping to them is on your dime for warranty. Still not impressed that it doesn't seem to work with any of my 3 different brand metal standard AR mags.
The plastic ones that come with it now feed 100% reliable since warranty work and when the rifle does actually feed, it's my new favorite gun as of now.
 
Smokinyotes said:
I’m not sure where you heard 4-5” groups but if guys are getting those kind of groups it’s probably not the gun. With Hornady steel match and Federal premium 55gr bt my groups are about 1-1/4”. Even the cheap AE 55gr FMJ’s will do 3”groups.
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1 1/4" is pretty much what I'm getting with the FP 55gr NBT as well. Plenty good enough for coyotes in my opinion.
 
I'm hoping 60gr nbt will be a winner with cfe223 preferably, I wish they had a little heavier bt bullet to try.
 
Its been a slow quest for me bench testing my WK. Can't get to the range too often, and after the first three trips realized the rifle had a loose barrel nut so I had been chasing my tail. All groups were around 2.5".
I'm trying to come up with a good economical bulk load, as well as a heavy match bullet load. I'm starting with the bulk hornady 55 SP and the Nosler 70 gr RDF.

Today was the first day shooting with the barrel nut tightened. Managed a 1.5" five shot group with hornady 55 gr and W- 748 powder.

The nosler 70 RDF got a 1.25" group with Varget but it was only 3 shots. Need more testing.. I really hope I can get that bullet to shoot as it has great B.C. and can load to mag length.

Its a tricky rifle to shoot accurately with that rough trigger and trying to use an AR stock off the bench. No doubt some of the poor accuracy reports are due to user error. My gun does also seem picky about ammo. Change the load a bit and the group changes dramatically.

Glad to hear reports of good shooters getting consistent 1.25" with good ammo. Do you guys have Wylde chambers? Mine is 5.56. Crimping bullet seems to help.

PaulT, thats awesome ! Need to get some 68 or 69's now.
 
flyinlead said:
Do you guys have Wylde chambers? Mine is 5.56. Crimping bullet seems to help.

PaulT, thats awesome ! Need to get some 68 or 69's now.
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Mine was sent back to be re-reamed to 5.56 after seeing pressure issues. Initial testing for me with the AE55 bulk was with the original Wylde chamber. 2MOA was what I was able to get.
FWIW I put an ALG trigger in it very soon after it arrived - the OEM trigger was too stiff and gritty. I broke it in with the OEM trigger then it was swapped.

I really think people need to look at heavier bullets with the 1:8 twist and the barrel length.
Am very happy with the 68's and Varget (no crimp) - was much better than factory ammo S&B Match 69's (the S&B were shot in the original Wylde configuration - have not tried them since the re-ream to 5.56....).

Will chrono my hand-loads in the spring, I've got too much other stuff on the reloading bench to mess with speed vs group size in this rifle at the moment.
 
flyinlead said:
Glad to hear reports of good shooters getting consistent 1.25" with good ammo. Do you guys have Wylde chambers? Mine is 5.56.
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Just like PaulT, my rifle was also sent back and had the chamber re-reamed due to pressure issues with the original chamber.

Just to clarify, the inch and a quarter I can do with the FP 55gr NBT are only 3 round groups because that is all I ever test my accuracy for in a rifle I only intend on taking out for the odd coyote hunt. 3 round groups are sufficient for my use so I never tried 5 rounds to see what happens.

That is also with a Timney 3lb trigger installed. I found the upgrade to a nice trigger shaved an average of over 1/2" off of group sizes. It could just be me but I can't shoot anything worth a hoot with a heavy gritty trigger like what comes in the WK.
 
My first WK was sent back and reamed to 5.56, it has a Geissele G2S trigger. My second one does have pressure issues only with Hornady varmint express 55gr vmax. I have decided just not to use this ammo. The second one has a Geissele SSAE trigger. This is a beautiful two stage trigger and don’t think it could get any better. I’m going to handload to try and squeeze the best accuracy out of it as I can as I want this for a dedicated 300 yard coyote gun
 
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