I am going to post this also on the Varmint forum.. but I thought I'd also pass along the info here..



Powder Tested: Unique

Firearm Used: Ruger 77 Mk 2 Sporter, 22 inch barrel

Caliber: 223 Remington

Cases: Lake City

Primers: Winchester Small Rifle

Bullet Tested: Win 55 grain FMJ


6 grains:
a. 1747 fps
b. 1823 fps

7 grains:
a. 2028 fps
b. 2010 fps

8 grains:
a. 2127 fps
b. 2140 fps

9 grains:
a. 2273 fps
b. 2276 fps
c. 2262 fps

10 grains:
a. 2404 fps
b. 2405 fps
c. 2403 fps


Results:

1. As shown, velocity spread was reduced to almost zero at a 10 grains charge.
2. This was shown that Unique is a good powder to duplicate the performance in a 223, from that of a 22 Win Mag right up thru a 218 Bee and a 22 Hornet.
3. The 10 grain Charge, meant that a pound of ‘Unique’ would be good for reloading 700 rounds!
4. This load with a 55 grain FMJ was a very accurate and useful round.
5. Barrel heat: 30 shots in a row out of a sporter barrel, still didn’t result in an overheated barrel, so this load would also have good use in a varmint shooting scenario involving high rate of fire.
6. With the 55 grain bullets, one would have an easily obtained point blank range of 200 yds or meters with this load.. which is where about 90% of all the sage rats and prairie dogs that I usually take are at.

As a point of interest, I did some quick chronographing of loads with other bullets below 55 grains to check their usefulness. 10 grains of Unique seems to be the accuracy ‘sweet spot’, and also the point where deviation spread was at a minimum.. another indicator of its accuracy ‘sweet spot’

Here are load results with a charge of 10 grains of Unique, with the following bullets…

1. Calhoon 30 grain HP
a. 3077 fps
b. 3077 fps ( again)

2. Hornady 35 grain V max
a. 2846 fps
b. Errror Reading

3. Calhoon 37 grain HP.. ( a strongly recommended load!)
a. 2911 fps
b. 2918 fps

4. Sierra 40 grain HP
a. 2770 fps
b. 2767 fps

5. Winchester 46 grain HP
a. 2641 fps
b. 2613 fps

6. Speer 50 grain TNT
a. 2545 fps
b. 2541 fps

Max charge for Unique was 11.5 grains in this rifle. Using these bullets. However, best accuracy was at 10 grain charges and the gains weren’t worth the extra risks in my opinion… if you want more velocity, use a slower powder.

The goal was an economic load, that provided great accuracy, with readily available bullets ( with the exception of the Calhoons)

In my opinion the 35 grain V Max is too short a bullet for my liking…ON the contrary, the 37 grain Calhoon is as long as the Nosler 40 grain Ballistic Tip, just as accurate and is very explosive. This load also gives it very good velocity for a low dollar load.

My goal also was to duplicate the 22 Hornet, with a better accuracy rate than many Hornet’s give. This succeeded quite well in my opinion. It will also give a better barrel life on the old barrel than will other loads. Something we high volume shooters have appeal to us. Barrel heat is also substantially less, or takes much longer to reach the “cooking†point on the barrel.. where it is hot enough to brand cattle.

This is also an experiment to see if I can stretch the life out on a barrel that has seen at least 10,000 rounds down it already. Ironically, some of these loads in 223s with shotgun powder, can tighten up groups substantially once the accuracy of a 223 barrel has started to go south ( in a bolt gun that is.. recoil is not enough to cycle an AR)….

With component prices skyrocketing, we varmint shooters have to get a little more crafty about stretching out our shooting dollar. This little experiment, showed that it could represent an economic, accurate varmint load, that worked well in high volume shooting environments.

Cheers
Seafire
June 26, 2007

Nicely done. roger

Seafire, maybe I missed it, but what kind of accuracy were you getting? The 223 is a pretty accurate round while the Hornet....well.... it varies..so the standard may not be real high if you get my drift. If this is accurate ie MOA then this exercise is wonderful! I have been thinking about a Hornet, but if your experiment give good accuracy then...
Peter

Roger,

thanks!


Peter,

I base accuracy on what I consider minute of sage rat out to about 250 yds ( 200 in this case) regardless of the caliber I am shooting..

I consider a CZ527 in 22 Hornet to be accurate.. I don't consider a Ruger 77/22 in 22 Hornet to be accurate...

Accuracy was very acceptable in this rifle, as the barrel has well over 10,000 rounds thru it..and I kind did this to stretch out the life in it, just to see what I can get out of it...
replaceing the barrel or the rifle isn't a big deal.. the experiment is...

Also I won't bother posting results if the accuracy wasn't something worthwhile.. ie. usable...

I am also a firm believer that rifles and rifle barrels can vary dramatically with a load when it comes to accuracy....

That takes a lot of bullets down range to just see what it does in ONE rifle...

I am off to the range soon to test it out in another rifle, that has a lot less mileage on it..and we will compare how well the load does with that rifle..as compared to the Ruger...

I'll either post it or PM you with the results...

cheers
seafire

quote:

Originally posted by Peter:
Seafire, maybe I missed it, but what kind of accuracy were you getting? The 223 is a pretty accurate round while the Hornet....well.... it varies..so the standard may not be real high if you get my drift. If this is accurate ie MOA then this exercise is wonderful! I have been thinking about a Hornet, but if your experiment give good accuracy then...
Peter

Pete,

I tested the 40 grain load with 10 grains of Unique today.. with the shot out barrel it gave about a 2 inch group at 100 yds.. if the rifle had a decent trigger, it would have been tighter....

on a varmint barreled Ruger VT, I got groups that could be covered by a nickel at 100 yds..

Tomorrow I am going to test it in the field on some sage rats...

The load is definitely a keeper in the two rifles I shot it in!

Mr. Blue Dot:

Very interesting approach and valuable information! I am running out of Blue Dot and was considering soem remaining N110 for the .222. Maybe I should try some faster powders like N320 or Red Dot, both on stock and waiting to be used up beause we have a storage limit on powder.

Yesterday evening I shot another pig with the "blue dotted" .338 WM, this time it went downhill 60 meters because no bone was hit except the exiting rip, it was however a perfect kitchen shot with no meat wasted.

Hey Seafire, A GREAT Report! Lots of useful info.

Seafife Do you tip the rifle up before you fire to get the powder on the primer? Good report.

Great post seafire. That 55gn.FMJ/10 gn. Unique load will be great for plinking and blasting ammo. 700 rounds per pound is a whole lot better than @ 250 with Varget or BL-C2. Thanks. ~Marc

Thanks for the Kudoes guys!

To answer a few questions or respond to a few comments...

SC Gunner:
Yeah that has been my sentiments exactly! Recoil is reduced so it won't cycle an AR.. but you have to admit, it is very wallet friendly!

Rasp 65:

No I don't tip the barrel up, nor do I use filler.. even when using a small pistol primer, the powder fills the case with enough density to reliably ignite the powder and that has been proven over a chronograph, whether shooting up hill OR downhill...

Hot Core:

Thanks as always!

DUK,

Dirk Glad to hear on the successful Boar Hunt, but sorry to hear your Blue Dot stash is getting low....
N 110 would be good for the 222.. both N 320 and Red Dot, I'd play with on the 222, I think it would dramatically reduce the velocity on the 338 to where your range on the boars might have to be a lot closer to be effective.. of course that is what people tell me on Blue Dot..

I was out using both Blue Dot and Unique loads on ground squirrels yesterday.. will get them loaded to a link for viewing a little later this evening...

Gotta go do Boy Scout stuff with my son right now..

cheers
seafire

quote:

Originally posted by Peter:
Seafire, maybe I missed it, but what kind of accuracy were you getting? The 223 is a pretty accurate round while the Hornet....well.... it varies..so the standard may not be real high if you get my drift. If this is accurate ie MOA then this exercise is wonderful! I have been thinking about a Hornet, but if your experiment give good accuracy then...
Peter

Pete,

I took the camera out yesterday with me and a couple of friends when we had the opportunity to go out and shoot a few sage rats...

I had a few pictures taken of one of the last rats I shot with a load of 10 grains of Unique and a 40 grain Sierra HP.. at a distance of approximately 100 yrds or so..

This will give you idea of the accuracy, and also of the lethality, that the load will have, at least on varmints that size.. which is primarily what I intend to use it on...

I only loaded up about 30 rounds at the last minute to take along to test, showing terminal performance potential..

It held its own!

cheers
seafire


http://www.imagestation.com/album/slideshow.html?id=2090389297

A load I have been using for several years in a CZ527 in 223 is 9gr unique with 45gr Sierra Hornet Bullet.

This load consistently cloverleafs at 50yds and is less than 1 MOA at 100yds.I ran temperature experiments from 0F to 100F and did not observe a temperature effect. I developed the load to duplicate the Hornet as I wanted a low report round for small game. During development I found 11 gr to be max.

Another interesting feature is this load has same POI at 100yds as my heavier 223 load which is 60gr bullet on top of 24gr H335.

Very nice pictures and what a landscape! This bull for sure has some VEEEERY long horns!

Yes Dirk,

I took those pictures because that was the longest horns I have ever seen on a Longhorn...

That really gives a new meaning to the words, Texas longhorn!

At first I thought it was a statue, as it was just standing there staring at something, but when it moved its head back down to graze, I just had trouble believing my eyes were not playing tricks on me!