77 grain smk with varget

Longshot

Longshot

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Ok anyone have a good recipe? This will be shot out of a 20 inch AR. I'll also be using federal small rifle match primers. 205 I believe is the number.
 
23.5 grains is the most accurate load I've found - slow and very mild, but it seems to do well if'n you spin the dials a bit more. oal of 2.255"
 
I had success with 77gr SMK's, 22.0gr Varget, Rem brass with CCI450 primers in a 1-8 twist AR and the same load in a 1-8 twist bolt gun.
 
beltfed said:
23.5 grains is the most accurate load I've found - slow and very mild, but it seems to do well if'n you spin the dials a bit more. oal of 2.255"
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Really? Is there a typo there, or is that really what you meant to write? 23.5 Varget with a 77SMK sounds like a prudent and good load, but the Hodgdon published max load is "23.7C 2737fps".
 
rnbra-shooter said:
Really? Is there a typo there, or is that really what you meant to write? 23.5 Varget with a 77SMK sounds like a prudent and good load, but the Hodgdon published max load is "23.7C 2737fps".
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26 gr of Varget will work with 80's;) Yes it is compressed but they shoot just fine out of my Sportco .223 with a 1:8' twist. No hard extraction or flattened primers. I think Syxx15 used the same load to win the .223 Challenge last year.
 
With 77 gr Scenars Lapua my MR-1 is printing the best group the barrel is 1 in 9, 25.5gr of Varget or 25gr of BL-C2, BR-4, both are extra accurate loads and over the P-35 they average at 2800 fps... JP.
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maynard said:
26 gr of Varget will work with 80's;) Yes it is compressed but they shoot just fine out of my Sportco .223 with a 1:8' twist. No hard extraction or flattened primers. I think Syxx15 used the same load to win the .223 Challenge last year.
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For the .223 Challenge last year I used Berger 80.5gr Fullbore Match bullet with 25grs or 25.5grs of Varget. I can not remember of the top of my head right now.

I tested some 77gr SMK loads for my AR15 with a 20" Krieger 1:7.7 twist barrel and I found that 24.5grs of Varget worked well. I seated them at mag length. I have to check my reloading notes for sure
 
I've gone as high as 24.5 grains seated to mag length looking to replicate the MK262 loading. 24.5 grains is a mildly compressed load with a drop tube. That load is around 2850 fps IIRC and is a hot load (at least in all my ARs I've tried it in).
I ran that load for a season then started playing with it and comparing it at different temperatures and ranges. If I was using it past 600m, I'd consider hotting it up a bit! But for 500m and rapids, it works great. I prefer the 205Ms but the CCI BR-4s are a very close second.
I'd recommend crimping too....
 
General info on the net seems to be 23.5-24.0 of varget under the 77mk. Guess ill start at 23.5 and work my way up. Beltfed how is recoil on these rounds for rapid strings?
 
If the SMK's shoot like Amaxs, you'll have a blast with them and varget :D

I run a bolt gun at 2.5ish" COAL and get 2924fps with 26.0 grns :) Obviously apples to oranges, but figured I'd jump on the "Varget Works" train.
 
Longshot said:
Yeah thanks. I love varget in my .308 and I know it works in .223s as well. Just wanted a starting point for a 77gr load.

Komb what is an OCW test?
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I also use it in a 308, and yes - it is ideal in .223 for bullets on the "heavy" end.

For my NM gun, I load 24.2 Varget behind 77s and 24.0 varget behind 80s. (Also with Fed Match SR primers..) I use once fired military brass, so case capacity is slightly less than commercial brass. Both loads cycle the rifle fine. The 77gr load is mag length, and it works fine in my NM upper, my "normal" 20" upper as well as my 26" "space-gun" upper. The 80s are for single feeding in the NM course of fire, and LONG - so I've never bothered testing them in the other guns.

Before meddling with the National match stuff, I fired 77s with moly in front of 24.4gr Varget in NSCC for 2 years with 2 different rifles in while back. The load was great, but I had some "moly difficulties" that would take a while to articulate - so all I can say is if you don't need it, don't use it in gas guns.

I chrony'd these loads a million years ago and I have notes somewhere -- I don't recall the numbers offhand. I think these loads give a bit more velocity from the lower capacity military brass than a similar load would give from commercial brass which has more room-- so you might want to keep that in mind when you start off low. If you're loading into IVI or LC brass, you might get what you want with LESS powder...
 
Longshot said:
Komb what is an OCW test?
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It's a method for finding the node (similar to a ladder test) that you can do at 100 yards without having to track individual shots.

Here is the general info:
http://optimalchargeweight.embarqspace.com/

Theory behind it:
http://www.the-long-family.com/OBT_paper.htm

An example OCW test I posted a while back:
http://www.canadiangunnutz.com/forum/showthread.php?t=289047&page=3

Some OCW tests I did in my AR with the 77 SMK, 70 VLD and AR Comp:
http://practicalrifler.6.forumer.com/viewtopic.php?t=1638
^^Dan Newberry's forum
 
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