Reloading all copper?

[Wrangler John]

Wrangler John
Great post but stability factor could be changed to Sg for gyroscopic stability.

I used S.F. as that is what the JBM calculator uses and I didn't want to get too confusing - besides my eyes cross when typing these posts, and that could attract gremlins. But you are right, next time I'll put Sg in parenthesis with a note. Thanks for the helpful comment.

[Wrangler John]

Wrangler John...good read, thanks!

Quick update...out of the faster turn ar barrel they behaved like I thought a blem should. A far cry from a match load but with relativity rapid fire (every 3 seconds or so) I maintained 6" group at 100 yards. Plinking loads they shall become.

One thing still bothers me, I saw no appreciable difference between any of the loads (varied COL and powder charge). Perhaps my cadence was too fast.

Sounds as if that particular bullet wasn't happy with your rifle. Some just won't shoot well in a given barrel, especially blems.

Some time try a box of Barnes .224 50 grain Varmint Grenades, in the 1:7" twist, it should work with W-748, or the Barnes 36 grain Varmint Grenade in the 1:12" Remington 700, although I use Reloader 10x for the lighter 36 grain bullet in the .223 Remington (remember the NATO chamber is a longer throat, yes?).

Below are the worst groups I fired with a Colt M4 H-Bar Elite with a 1:9" twist, 5.56 NATO chamber. Rifle was as it came out of the box, with a trigger that felt like a railroad tie breaking. The little diamonds are .5" on a side:



The photo below is from a Savage bolt action with a Pac-Nor polygonal rifled 1:9" twist varmint barrel. The bullet being a 40 grain Nosler BT Lead Free. Difference between the two 10 shot groups is the primer, with the Winchester Small Rifle primer winning the day. These bullets shoot really well across all brands.



Don't be discouraged after one brand of blem bullet. Barnes offers a wide selection of copper bullets from the Varmint Grenade to the MPG, TSX, TTSX, and more. The MPG is a Varmint Grenade type bullet with a canelure for use in semi-auto applications or tactical use where crimping in desired. I used the .308 MPG in my home made Remington 700 swap barrel rifle, the first load I tried produced the following 10 shot group:



So continue to experiment, it's most of the fun and education in shooting, although I could go broke trying all the different bullets available.