69gr SMK and Benchmark + Varget + 68gr Hornady + 69gr Nosler

I'll load up my last ones with 25.9gr and see how that goes. I have the test rounds of the Hornady and Noslers ready to go. The forecast looks like a lot of wind till Monday. Here's a (crappy) pic of the 3 different bullets. Left to right 69gr SMK, 68gr Hornady and 69gr Nosler. The Hornady's have a wicked BC. I do have an old Chrony but I need to take it apart and check the wires as it's not presently working.

Different223bullets.jpg
 
Went out again tonight with some of the Hornady bullets reloaded. Over all I think the rifle likes these ones a little more than the SMKs, but I need to get out again and see. I'm going to try a load at 25.0gr and one at 25.2 to see how they group. The 26.2gr group would have been the best I think, but it's not and I know I did pull the two shots. It's .2gr over Hodgdon's max so I'm a little concerned and will have to get my chrony working before I go there again. The 25.6gr group also looks good and I know I pulled that one. The first three groups were shot back to back with only time to reload in between then I walked the 105 yards down to the target for a look and shot the next two one after the other when I got back. All in all I think this isn't too bad for a factory rifle that hasn't been bedded but does have an after market trigger installed.

Varget4.jpg


Varget5.jpg


I still have some of the 69gr Nosler Custom Competition to try and they are loaded and ready to go. Hopefully this weekend will work out weather and time wise for me. As before these are 5 shot groups.
 
KDX

How are you measuring powder? This might be a contributing factor in the flyers as well as your unbedded action.

Also have you tried 70gn Berger VLD's under varget. I have had good luck in my Savage Shilen 223 and it has a "mature" barrel. (+3000rds so far).

Although your 25.6 Varget Hornaday load looks like it might just need seeting depth tuning to be a BIG winner. The Joys of load developement. :D
 
I'm using a Chargemaster combo for powder. The flyers tonight with the 25.6 and 26.2 loads I called when I pulled the trigger. I knew they were going astray. I actually don't mind doing load development as it's interesting to see how a bit of powder can change the behavior of a rifle and bullet. I hate it when I know I'm the screw up behind a good group not being a great group. This winter this rifle will probably get a new barrel and a bedding job, and maybe a new stock too.
 
I went out for the last test with the Nosler bullets. As usual I underwhelmed myself. I reloaded some of the Hornady bullets with 25.6gr of Varget and will be trying them over the chronograph and at 200 and 300 yards when I get a calm day and some time. As before, these are 5 shot groups.

Varget6.jpg


Varget7.jpg
 
The Nosler's with 25.6 look pretty good. Not a lot of horizontal.

You may want to try double checking your powder charge on another scale after the chargemaster throws it. I do this with my Lyman DPS 3 and was pretty surprised with what I saw. This is especially important on smaller cases like the 223 rem. If you haven't read Mystic's thread on his development with the 90gn Berger's in his 223 I would reccomend it. Being 0.1gn off in small case like a 223 rem is roughly equivalent to being 0.3gn off in a 308win sized case.

Food for thought anyway, and it depends on what you are really working towards.

Either way, I am interested in how the Nosler's shoot. Cheap and easy to find with varmint potential! :D
 
I took the chrony out today and put some rounds from different rifles though it. With the 68gr Hornady HPBT and 25.6gr of Varget with a OAL of 2.334" (7 rounds with neck sized brass). The chrony was 10' from the end of the bench.
1 - 3071
2 - 2992
3 - 2992
4 - 3085
5 - 3064
6 - 3039
7 - 3061
Shots #2 and 3 make me wonder what is going on, but I guess that I'll never know that one.
 
CanuckWR said:
KDX

How are you measuring powder? This might be a contributing factor in the flyers as well as your unbedded action.

Also have you tried 70gn Berger VLD's under varget. I have had good luck in my Savage Shilen 223 and it has a "mature" barrel. (+3000rds so far).

Although your 25.6 Varget Hornaday load looks like it might just need seeting depth tuning to be a BIG winner. The Joys of load developement. :D
Click to expand...

Agreed. These bullets are so underrated. They have the same BC as 77 gr Sierra Matchkings, are shorter and weigh less.

My 1:9" AR loves them over 24.9 gr RE-15.
 
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I went out today and it was pretty windy. I shot these two groups at 102 yards with the 68gr Hornadys.

May132012.jpg


I then moved the target out to 300 yards and shot at the left most dot when the wind died down. I'll re check the 100 yard zero on a calm day.

300yardsMay132012-1.jpg


I measured the group and it's 2.896" which is OK I guess for a factory rifle that hasn't been bedded. I need a calm day and a target backer that doesn't flap a bit in the wind to see if I can do better.
 
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