What’s your go to for 69smk with varget powder?

[Nick_shoots_fast]

Finally getting around to doing a ladder test this weekend but need to make some loads up. 
 

Doing a ladder test to see what’s up but wanted to get a general consensus on what’s the “go to”. 
looking to push a 69smk for both accuracy and speed. 

[fbzero]

Using LC '92 brass, Rem 7 1/2 primer, and 25.3gr Varget at 2.260" OAL has been MOA to sub-MOA in my rifle and wife/dad's rifles.  That's Sierra's accuracy load from the data below.  I actually did ladder test it with my rifle and that was the most accurate loading.  Then I tested the accuracy in their rifles and had no problem keeping groups just a little under MOA, so I went with it.

http://accurateshooter.net/Downloads/sierra223ar.pdf

[Nick_shoots_fast]

50 minutes ago, fbzero said:

Using LC '92 brass, Rem 7 1/2 primer, and 25.3gr Varget at 2.260" OAL has been MOA to sub-MOA in my rifle and wife/dad's rifles.  That's Sierra's accuracy load from the data below.  I actually did ladder test it with my rifle and that was the most accurate loading.  Then I tested the accuracy in their rifles and had no problem keeping groups just a little under MOA, so I went with it.

http://accurateshooter.net/Downloads/sierra223ar.pdf

Thanks for the info and the serria page! My Lyman book is incredibly reserve and I don’t have a good chrono to measure rifles. I don’t want to get round really accurate but super slow. 

[Nick_shoots_fast]

Are you always matching head stamps on this brass?

[Chills1994]

1 hour ago, Atlasguy321 said:

Are you always matching head stamps on this brass?

Me?

Personally?

 

Yeah I will sort out by headstamps for rifle brass.

 

I do NOT have any particular load for .223 and Varget.

 

I prefer H335 instead.

[Nick_shoots_fast]

22 hours ago, Chills1994 said:

Me?

Personally?

 

Yeah I will sort out by headstamps for rifle brass.

 

I do NOT have any particular load for .223 and Varget.

 

I prefer H335 instead.

Is this something that you have tried out to see if there’s any accuracy issues?  I just made test ammo and I didn’t even bother looking. Just grabbed a handful of random brass lol

[chevrofreak]

You might get lucky, you might not.   I have a load with WC-844 and Hornady Zmax that shoot 1-1.25" groups with mixed brass, but occasionally I get a flyer that opens it up pretty bad that I am sure is due to the mixed headstamps. 

[Nick_shoots_fast]

On 11/27/2019 at 4:12 PM, Atlasguy321 said:

Thanks for the info and the serria page! My Lyman book is incredibly reserve and I don’t have a good chrono to measure rifles. I don’t want to get round really accurate but super slow. 

I just did a ladder test earlier today and 24 grains is shooting about 1/2 moa and very impressive. Do you think the velocity is to low to get the most out what the bullet is capable of at longer ranges?

[Chills1994]

On 11/29/2019 at 8:05 AM, Atlasguy321 said:

Is this something that you have tried out to see if there’s any accuracy issues?  I just made test ammo and I didn’t even bother looking. Just grabbed a handful of random brass lol

Nope...no testing.

 

I stocked up on a bunch of ammo cans full of factory XM855 and XM193 a year or two ago.  Some local dude was moving and didn't want to lug all that ammo to his new house.

 

So I just keep track of that brass that I shoot, and keep it in a zip lock bag from the range with an index card  in the bag.  All that factory ammo comes on stripper clips, so if I can remember while I am at the range, I will run a red sharpie marker down the sides of the brass of say the XM855.  The XM193 will say get a green sharpie marker stripe while still in the stripper clips before I load it into mags.  That all makes it easier keeping the brass separate when I pick them up.  Once in their dedicated zip lock bags, I will write LC 17...or whatever the year...and "1X fired"  on the index card.  Then put the index card in the zip lock bag.  

 

When I get enough of a particular year group brass together, then I will process it as a batch.  I have a 650 with a Swage It tool and and an RT1500.

 

I figure 69 and 77gr SMK's are the high end of .223 bullets.  You are paying a "Cadillac price" for them, so why screw up their accuracy potential by seating them on top of mixed brass.

 

But if you are looking for just "whammo blammo" , then bulk 55 grain FMJ's and mixed brass would be just the ticket.

 

FWIW, I don't like Varget because I think it doesn't meter as well through a Dillon powder measure as say H335.  One of these days I will try XBR8208.

[Chills1994]

That said...

 

Recently I did an experiment with brand new/virgin Lapua .308 brass and Varget.

 

I kept everything the same between say 2, 20 round batches except the presses and the powder charging .

 

One 20 round batch was done on my 650 with the regular Dillon powder measure.

 

The other 20 round batch was hand trickled up to the same charge weight and bullets were seated on a single stage RCBS press.

 

Get this... at 100 yards, the Dillon batch shot better groups than the single stage and hand trickled batch.

 

Seems very counterintuitive.

 

And doesn't make a lick of sense.

 

Sooo...yeah, at some later time I will have to try Varget again in .223 with the 69gr and 77gr SMKs.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited December 3, 2019 by Chills1994

[orangeman711]

Try 24.5grns of Ramshot Tac with a 69grn SMK JHP. Most accurate load I've found for my rifle. Good luck.

[MJinPA]

I just did a ladder test earlier today and 24 grains is shooting about 1/2 moa and very impressive. Do you think the velocity is to low to get the most out what the bullet is capable of at longer ranges?

25.3 of varget is my go to with a 69gr smk. It’s consistently 1/2 moa for me. Did you go up that far in your ladder test?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Nick_shoots_fast]

1 hour ago, MJinPA said:

25.3 of varget is my go to with a 69gr smk. It’s consistently 1/2 moa for me. Did you go up that far in your ladder test?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I started with 23.4 with .3 increments and got up to 25.3. The spread was tighter than 55g ball but wasn’t as impressive as the 24g group. I want to go back and revisit 23.9-24.2.  My concern is I’m never going to drop 24 grains consistently so I want to see what I’m in for if it’s a little high or low. 

[Nick_shoots_fast]

7 hours ago, orangeman711 said:

Try 24.5grns of Ramshot Tac with a 69grn SMK JHP. Most accurate load I've found for my rifle. Good luck.

ironically I have some of that! My dad just gave 1/2 pound of ramshot over thanksgiving! That’s almost scary that you just said that! Lol

[fbzero]

When I did my initial testing, I used mixed-year LC brass trimmed to the same length.  Since then, I have sorted it by year, though I'm not sure it has made a huge difference.  Still, I personally would not go so far as to use truly mixed brass because I expect the results would be mixed.  I'm fine using mixed brass for 55gr plinking loads, but when using SMK's, I assume we are loading for accuracy and that means removing variables.  I did not hand trickle each load though, my test loads were made on a Dillon 550 and were still accurate. 

All that said, the highest velocity is frequently not the most accurate load for your rifle.  It becomes a trade-off where you must decide what is more important to you.  I find that it is best to be honest with how much accuracy you really need for your application and go from there in regards to your loading process.  In my case, it makes more sense for my ammo to match the BDC closer even if it costs a pinch of accuracy.  You really should get a chrono at some point though, there's really no other way to know exactly what's going on without one   Good luck and be safe!

Edited December 4, 2019 by fbzero