Varmint Grenades

JoKa

JoKa

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Hi,

Just picked up some 30gr .224 Varmint Grenades. New Win Brass. and some Varget powder.

Equip used: RCBS Decaping Die with expander ball. Dillon 550B press and powder funnel. RCBS Seating die.

I went to go and load some up for a test and found that the bullets are Flat Base. I tried to chamfer the brass a lil to get the bull to seat proper but I am having a B*&ch of a time.

Anyone have any thoughts or tips for me?

Thanks
 
Hi. .223? New brass needs to be FL resized, checked for length, trimmed, chamfered and deburred as required, first.
You have a chamfering tool? It doesn't take much of a chamfer. Literally just enough to allow the bullet to go in.
 
if you run your powder die down a hair more to fractionaly bell out the case mouth the bullit will start in the case better. too much working of the brass thoe will shorten brass life if you dont anneal. your crimp stage will remove the bell.
 
I dunno, I use those same Varmint Grenades in the 22 hornet with no special handling considerations. I apply a light chamfer to all my brass as standard practise, and generally moly-coat my bullets.
 
No to derail your thread but info on VG's seems scarce.
Are you planning to shoot critters with them? I used some 50 grainers on a prairie dog shoot and was pretty disappointed with how they performed on Prairie Dogs. Accurace was okay but bullet performance was not. I have been told I was using too heavy of a VG for my rifle. Shooting a 1:9 AR15.
 
I have been using 36gr Varmint Grenades in my 221 Fireball and havent been bowled over by the performance. I swear a few went straight through without expanding at all. When they do work they are certainly no better than the ballistic tip type bullets.

Once I burn through the 500 or so VG's I will switch back to 40gr Ballistic Tips and not look back.
 
Suputin said:
I have been using 36gr Varmint Grenades in my 221 Fireball and havent been bowled over by the performance. I swear a few went straight through without expanding at all. When they do work they are certainly no better than the ballistic tip type bullets.

Once I burn through the 500 or so VG's I will switch back to 40gr Ballistic Tips and not look back.
Click to expand...
that's funny i heard exactly that from another guy who tried them in his 243

he wont use barnes products now..
 
When I went looking for a varmint bullet, I was told to stay clear of the Varmint Grenades. They were unreliable at best when used on Gophers, however, they seemed to work well on coyotes.
Being of a skeptical turn of mind, and being cheap, I checked and Barnes does nnot make .30 VG's anyway. Still, I went ahead and got some V-Max bullets. Loaded into my .308, they are pretty potent. They shoot well and give me good service. You have to be careful though, if a heavy tuft of grass or a lump of dirt is between you and the gopher, the bullet does explode and just sprays shrapnel on the gopher. I have about an 80% one shot, one kill record of hitting a gopher at 200yds with my rig. And that's not a precision rifle but it hits an inch at 200yds.
 
I use a Lyman VLD tool to chamfer every case I load in all calibers. I use 36gr. varmint grenade in my 220 swift. Excellent accuracy, loaded .020" off the lands, pushed at 4450 fps. I have shot several coyotes from 70 to 300 yds. and one magpie at 200. None of them disentegrated. The magpie had a normal exit you would expect from a 22 long rifle hollow point. On dogs, either slightly larger than caliber size after going through both shoulders on a broadside shot, to quarter size exit at 100 yds. facing straight on through the neck, exiting under the skull. Great for saving fur though!
 
While I am impressed with Barnes TSX and TTSX hunting bullets, I am NOT impressed with the Varmint Grenades. I have found them to expand violently one time, and fail to expand another. I tried them in my Swift, my 225 Winchester, and my 222 Remington.
They were not particularly impressive in any of these.
I have gone back to V-Max & Ballistic Tips for my Varmint shooting.
FWIW, I have some Wildcat 45 grain HPFB bullets that shoot extremely well in my 222 and expand very predictably.
Eagleye.
 
rookie wildcat said:
Loaded into my .308, they are pretty potent. ............................... I have about an 80% one shot, one kill record of hitting a gopher at 200yds with my rig. And that's not a precision rifle but it hits an inch at 200yds.
Click to expand...


Certainly I'm not the only one that sees the humour in this statement.........:p
 
Thanks again for all the tips. I think I will be trying something different as well as I STILL cant get the stupid things to seat proper.
 
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