.223 40 Grain Hornady VMAX load

paxfish · Jul 23, 2014

Gents - I'd like to give these a try this week on groundhogs.

The rifle has a 16" 1:8 Wylde chamber.

I have ARCOMP and Varget to choose from.

Have you seen any loads out there for this? Neither Alliant nor Hodgdon has a load for these powders....

armed ferret · Jul 23, 2014

paxfish said:
Gents - I'd like to give these a try this week on groundhogs.

The rifle has a 16" 1:8 Wylde chamber.

I have ARCOMP and Varget to choose from.

Have you seen any loads out there for this? Neither Alliant nor Hodgdon has a load for these powders....

How would you know? You clearly didn't use the hodgdon website, because there's a 40-grain varget load right there.

Go back and try again.

paxfish · Jul 23, 2014

bah - Missed it!

Thanks!

I was a bit surprised to see a Clays load in there. Looks to be a replacement for subsonic rimfire....

BradMacc82 · Jul 23, 2014

Varget (Lyman's 49th) - start: 25.6gr/max: 28gr *compressed load, 2.215" OAL

DaemonAssassin · Jul 23, 2014

Keep in mind that a 1:8 might be too fast and over stabilize the bullet. Resulting in a frag, shortly after exiting the barrel.

Sticky · Jul 24, 2014

I shoot 27.6gr of W748 behind a 40gr NosBT out of my 1:8 bull barrel and it shoot lights out...

armed ferret · Jul 24, 2014

DaemonAssassin said:
Keep in mind that a 1:8 might be too fast and over stabilize the bullet. Resulting in a frag, shortly after exiting the barrel.

No issues with 40's out of more than a couple 7-twist tubes on my end.

Hilarious on prairie dogs.

DaemonAssassin · Jul 24, 2014

armed ferret said:
No issues with 40's out of more than a couple 7-twist tubes on my end.

Hilarious on prairie dogs.

I like hilarious when it comes to prairie dogs. Especially when you get the "hole in one" shot. :lol2:

armed ferret · Jul 24, 2014

BTDT.

(shitty pic, sorry. dealwithit.jpg)

for those not in the know.......that's a hind leg on the right, nose on the left. flipped him up in the air when the bullet hit, and literally folded him in half as he went straight in his own burrow.

i'm still waiting on my PGA tour bonus check for the hole-in-one.

DaemonAssassin · Jul 24, 2014

armed ferret said:
BTDT.

(shitty pic, sorry. dealwithit.jpg)

for those not in the know.......that's a hind leg on the right, nose on the left. flipped him up in the air when the bullet hit, and literally folded him in half as he went straight in his own burrow.

i'm still waiting on my PGA tour bonus check for the hole-in-one.

Epic hole in one!

paxfish · Jul 25, 2014

BradMacc82 said:
Varget (Lyman's 49th) - start: 25.6gr/max: 28gr compressed 2.215" OAL

Thanks all - I loaded up 10 of them with 27.0 Varget, and will let you know the result. I need to get over to the range and re-zero first.

Hickory · Jul 25, 2014

If you get a chance, try some RE-7.
23 gr in my Contender shoots one ragged hole at 100 yds; don't know how it will work in your AR.
Since your barrel has a long throat to accommodate NATO 5.56/45mm rounds you would have to be careful of your cartridge overall length for best accuracy.

paxfish · Jul 28, 2014

The quest continues....

I managed to get to the range for an hour yesterday. I shot some 55 grain BlitzKings (my reference load) at 100 yards. Despite my lousy trigger and finger, the rifle tried to put all five shots in one hole. I did manage to throw one 1/4" right though....

Then I loaded up the 40 grainers (Hornady VMAX 40 Grain over 27 grains Varget)

They hit, but the rifles laser-like accuracy went to crap.

I may try the 55 grain varmint bullets next in my continuing quest. My goal here is to have an accurate bullet that disintegrates as soon as it hits anything.

I think the 1:9 twist is over-spinning the bullets....

BradMacc82 · Jul 28, 2014

It likely isn't over-spinning them, but you may be trying to push them too fast at 27gr.

I'd be willing to bet the group will shrink if you start backing them down some.

paxfish · Jul 28, 2014

I may just do that. I was actually thinking of bumping UP the charge (published MAX is 28 grains). The case plus bullet is full now though, so that would be a compressed load.

27 showed no pressure signs on the case.

I may try a 26 and a 27.5 - Would you expect powder charge to impact accuracy by the stark difference above?

Sticky · Jul 28, 2014

Yes... I load initial test strings from min to max in 0.3gr increments. Shoot that round of test loads, pick the most promising two or three and load them each again, plus a load that is 0.1 above and below that. After my second test string (all strings are initially 5 shot strings), then I pretty much know which one/s will be submoa. Those get one more 10 shot test string and then I have a load that is both consistent and lethally accurate. I can usually find two load levels, one low and one high that yield sub moa accuracy when loading this way.

I have seen groups like that above and below one string and the middle string be 1/2". You need to determine what load your gun likes for any given combination!

The 55gr Vmax or Zmax is a pretty explosive bullet.. I go for head shots most of the time, so I don't get body parts scattered, but a hole in one is very common with a head shot and a 55gr 223 load..

paxfish · Jul 31, 2014

Had a chance to try some last night. 26.5 and 27.5 grouped 5/8" and 1/2" respectively. Almost as good as my 55grain Blitzkings and good enough for hunting. I guess I just hit some nasty blind spot with that 27 grain load.

I loaded up some 26.5 since 27.5 was WAAAAY compressed in a 5.56 case. I'll post whatever info I gather on their efficacy.

Thanks!

.223 40 Grain Hornady VMAX load

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