Green, I owe you one for that thread between you and rifleman on the seating depth for the NEF .223s. I would have never gone that deep if i hadnt read you post. My SB2 "ultra" is now a sub MOA tack driver with Horn. 40grn. Vmaxs. I settled on 2.235" but damn at least on my rifle there was no way getting close to lands anyway it has such a long throat. If you havent done so the Winchester 45 grn JHPs rated at 3600fps in the 40 round white box are worth a try for no more that they sell for. thanks again.

Thanks for the thanks, I guess...

I have tried the Winchester "varmint packs" and found them a good value, and reasonably accurate. A good source of fired brass as well. The Winchester factory ammo has gotten so good as of late, I don't buy empty brass anymore, I just buy Win factory fodder and save myself the trouble of having to load and fire-form cases. As an aside, for 270 shooters, you may want to try the 130 grain Winchester Super-X power point (silver box, 11 bucks at Walmart). It's incredibly accurate for factory ammo--and has worked well in three .270's I'm familiar with.

I haven't heard from Rifleman in a while. I wonder if he ever got his NEF doing what he wanted it to.

The deep seated varmint bullet idea wasn't mine. I measured the OAL on a factory Hornady VX (V MAX) cartridge and found that the bullets were seated deep in the case neck. I called Hornady and asked why this was, and was told that more bearing surface helped accuracy. Those 40 grain Hornady .223's did shoot extremely well in my H&R. I checked with a Sierra tech, and he told me the same thing, and that bullet deformation was limited when the light varmint bullets were seated deeper in the case.

Seating close to the lands is fine for larger calibers, but for the fast .22's and light .243's, deeper seating seems to work best.

green 788

Dave Jenkins,

I know what you mean about the long throat. With mine it's like a bottomless pit. I settled on 2.240 in mine. I haven't tried the hornady 40 gr, only the Nosler. I went and got 2 of the 250 bullet boxes on sale from Natchez shooters supply so I'm set for awhile.

green,

Haven't been to the range much lately, mostly hunting jack rabbits when I've been out at all. I messed around with my scope mounts a bit on the NEF and had the groups down to 3/4", and if thats as good as it gets, thats ok with me. Then I more permanantly mounted the scope (after I made the initial changes I didn't loctite it cause I thought there might be more tuning), and I haven't been to the range since then to zero it and see where I end up. It's going to be mostly for coyotes so anything under MOA is good enough, any more is just bragging rights and showing off targets. (my opinion only). I also started working on some varmint loads for my 260 Rem, using 95 gr VMAX over guess what... Varget. That is getting to be my favorite powder. It works in everything I've tried so far. 223, 260, 270. I ordered more from the guy I bought my last from - $18.00/lb. I may really stock up this time.

Anyway, thanks for the help, I'll keep you posted, I may even go out today after church.

Dave

[This message has been edited by rifleman (edited 03-17-2002).]

[This message has been edited by rifleman (edited 03-18-2002).]

Rifleman,

I'm glad things are looking up for your .223. And Varget is an incredibly versatile powder, isn't it? I told my wife that when special occasions roll around, just get me another pound of Varget. I got a pound in November for my birthday, two pounds for Christmas, and another pound for Valentine's Day!

Take care, it's good to hear from you,

green 788

Green, Sounds like you could spare a pound then!! I have been burning W748 in mine just because I had it from load dev. with .308 light bullets in my 15' Encore setup. Layne Simpson really likes H's Benchmark in the .223 Rem. I'm surprised you don't support the local economy down there by shooting Alliant....
Rifleman, good to here from you. I read on another post that NEF is chambering for .17 HMR, wish I didnt have to send my frame back to get one but I learned the hard way that a good lockup is most critical.....