.243 62gr Varmint Grenade Load Help

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jonnyo1

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Hey now,

I just bought some 6mm (243) 62gr Barnes Varmint Grenades. I am wondering if anyone has had any luck figuring out a load for it? I haven't tried anything yet as I just bought them, but figured I'd ask here to give me somewhere to start with. I'd appreciate any help.
 
Thanks I'll start around there and experiment with it. What kind of accuracy are you getting from these? I've read mixed reviews. I'm fairly excited about trying them.
 
I get around 1 MOA. They are not the greatest. Give em a shake, some of them will rattle. The core is cracked. But they r cheap. 65 gr v max r better. IMO.
 
Good to know. Definately not using these for long range accuracy, more for the interesting effect they have on gophers and such. Kind of a novelty at this point but who knows, I might like them. Once I get some test rounds made up I'll let you know my results. Thanks for your help.
 
Haven't tried them in .243 but was not impressed with the .224 version. Had good groups with some 55 gr 243 bullets in a friends rifle i worked up loads for. H4350, H4895 and 4320 all produced good groups, can't remember the velocities but he was happy.
 
So Rick I just started sorting and checking the bullets. 52 out of 100 are cracked core. I have them separated out but am unsure if I should bother loading them. Are they junk or are they fine to load?
 
I've played around with R-19 and the 62 Varmint Grenade. This was listed as the most accurate load on Barne's Loading chart. About 47.0 - 47.5 grains worked well. Prints about 0.5 - 1.0 moa. I am almost out of R-19 so I will try IMR-4350 next. 4831 should work very well also because it has a burn speed pretty close to R-19.
 
jonnyo1 said:
So Rick I just started sorting and checking the bullets. 52 out of 100 are cracked core. I have them separated out but am unsure if I should bother loading them. Are they junk or are they fine to load?
Click to expand...

Load them for targets. Not hunting. I shoot a group around 1MOA. Then a flier or 2. (Probably from the ones that rattle). I usually just use them for fouling shots and off hand shooting practice.
 
Finally got some loads made up and tested. Went with IMR4350, made 5 each of 39gr, 41gr, 42gr, 43gr, and 45gr. A couple grouped decently (3/4-7/8"), a couple not so much (1-1/2"). The best one was the 45gr load. 5/16" (4 shots) with one flyer (5th shot). I separated the cracked rounds out so I think I just pulled that one.
6mm 62gr Varmint Grenades
45gr IMR4350
OAL-2.228" (OGIVE)

Thanks again for your help guys, you made cooking this round up much easier.
 
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There's IMR4350 and RL 19 data on Barnes' site. Start load for IMR4350 is 43.0. Max is 47.0. Been using IMR4530 with 90 and 105's for eons.
Buckets of Barnes 62 grain VG FB data on Hodgdon's site too. Odd that they did not test IMR4350 though.
 
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