I "tried" to work up a load for my rra varminter with a 16 inch barrel and 1 in 8 twist with h4895 and 69 gr MKs but none of the groups gave me a boner. what powder should i try? i have varget and 4064. does different powder make a big difference?

ALl rifles are unique. If 4895 doesn't shoot, try Varget or Reloader 15. If your rifle doesn't shoot with one of those, send it back.

try ramshot tac, this has shot very well in my rra 1 in 8 24" heavy barrel with hornady 68gn bthp's. meters great and very clean.

out of curiosity, what loads did you try with 4895 and how big were the groups at what range?

I tried 24.0,24.5,25.0 gr of h4895. Im only trying the loads on the top end of the spectrum because i want the most velocity outa my 16 inch barrel so theres no point in trying the lower velocity loads. I got 8 pounds of free h4895 from a retiring reloader. My groups were .75 inch to 1.0 inch 6 shot groups. my cz 452 varmint (17 hmr) blew my AR away with a 10 shot group of .5 inch, all groups shot @ 100 yds.

Try 24.0 - 24.5 grs of Varget behind that 69 grain bullet.

I shoot 24.5 grs of Varget and get great results!

You may also try BL-C(2)

Good Luck!

IV

I use WW748 with great success in my AR15 HBAR. It has a 20 inch barrel however and that may be hurting you. As I recollect I was using around 24.5 grains of 748 and, with open sights, was geting X ring groups shooting a 300 yard reduced target at 200 yards. What sights are you using? Scope? Open"
peter

Greetings,
I think there are a lot of shooters out there missing out on some fine loads. I have been using Accurate 2230 powder for years. I use it in my AR, 308, and 22-250. It is a ball type poder, meters from a powder measure with great accuracy, and cost is a lot less than the others. My ar will shoot 3/8" groups all day long, the 22-250 will shoot almost one hole, and the 308 will shoot around a nickel at 100 yards. Natchez has 2230c listed for $67.50 for an 8 lb keg. The 2230c is a little bit slower than the 2230, but should work just fine. Hodgdon 322 is a really good powder also, but it costs about $117.00 per 8 lbs. We reload to reduce the cost of shooting, and produce superior ammo in the process, so saving almost half on powder is a good thing!
Wayne

Try somewhere around 25 gr. of VV N540 in Winchester brass with a Rem 7 1/2 BR primer. If it don't shoot that load send it back. I have yet to see a 223 that wouldn't. Velocity in the 16" barrel should go about 2850 to 2875 fps.

RBRN

quote:

Originally posted by River Bottoms Red Neck:
Try somewhere around 25 gr. of VV N540 in Winchester brass with a Rem 7 1/2 BR primer. If it don't shoot that load send it back. I have yet to see a 223 that wouldn't. Velocity in the 16" barrel should go about 2850 to 2875 fps.

RBRN

I don't use VV powders, but I agree with you. Too many peoplke are shooting excellent scores with loads very similar to yours in NRA HP.

I got that load from a Distinguished High Master who earned that classifcation with a service rifle. He happens to be the smith that builds my rifles. He had used TAC and Varget in the past and they shot pretty good. But neither shot as well as the N540 load.

Actually I use 25.9 gr behind the 69 gr. MatchKing in my bolt gun. It gives me 3075 fps avg. velocity. N540 works very well at 25 gr. with the 75 gr. AMax in my bolt gun as well. I get 2940 fps from the 24" Douglas XX Premiuum barrel. I have used the 75 gr. AMax load to hit 18" steel plates here at the house from 1000 yards with fair consistency. It will surprise a lot of people what the 223 will do with a good load in a good rifle.

Hats off to you HP shooters. It is impressive to see HP shooters lay down with just a shooting jacket and sling and shoot 10's and X's from 600 yards with a rifle that has battle sights on it. I didn't believe it till I saw them do it.

RBRN

what are you wanting to do with the rifle?? 69smks may not be your best choice in performance either

I have got good groups with 69gr. Sierra's with
24gr BM 2 (Benchmark) but that was out of a heavy SS 27" barrel.
JL

quote:

Originally posted by River Bottoms Red Neck:
Hats off to you HP shooters. It is impressive to see HP shooters lay down with just a shooting jacket and sling and shoot 10's and X's from 600 yards with a rifle that has battle sights on it. I didn't believe it till I saw them do it.
RBRN

Will you join us? Get some aperture sights and a bolt-on clip slot on that bolt gun of yours. You do not need an AR15, M1, or M14 to shoot NRA Highppower.

quote:

Originally posted by cummins cowboy:
69smks may not be your best choice in performance either

Agree. The Hornady 75 HPBT or the Sierra 77 Match King are better at 200 and 300, and the Sierra 80 Match King and Hornady 75 AMAX MUCH better at 600 and beyond.

Truth be told, I much prefer my Model 70 target rifle in 260 Remington over my AR15.

Gotta love the ballistics of a 6.5mm Lapua Scenar 139 going 2700 fps, the fully adjustable stock, ultra crisp trigger, and clear, easy to see front and rear apertures with variable focus lens.

HP Shooter:
Thanks for the invite but age has done its work on my eyes. I just cant see well enough to compete with a service rifle at 52 years old. But I do compete in F class competition now that I can't see the irons good enough anymore. I see you shoot a 260 Rem. That is my favorite caliber for hunting and long range competition. I would bet you are shooting H4350 behind that 139 Lapua. I use that bullet and powder in my 260. Shoots superbly day in and day out. You gotta love a 260. It will shot cleans with good X counts if I do my part. I also shoot a 6.5 X 284 and a 300 WSM in F class. I really like the 300 WSM as well. The 6.5 X 284 is done after this year. Too hard on barrels, I am alwasys chasing the lands to keep it shooting to match quality accuracy. I will be taking the 260 and 300 WSM to the F class nationals this year and leaving the 6.5 X 284 at my smith to be rebarreled to something I can trust, another 260, this time a 260 A.I. to go along with my standard 260.

The information you give is spot on. I will be gone for several days. So hold hard and into the wind!

RBRN

RBRN, don't let your older eyesight keep you from enjoying the challenges of metallic sight marksmanship. I understand what you mean about service rifle sights. Hell, I'm only 39 and I am just about ready to give up on the AR15......

I can hammer with it at 200 and 300 yards, but I can't figure out how to hold elevation at all at 600. I've blackened the front sight, painted it orange, six o'clock hold, center of mass hold, top of frame hold, bottom of frame hold; you name it, I've tried it. And I still lose most of my points at 600 due to elevation, not windage. Right now, service rifle shooting is an exercise in frustration. I know I can do better, as evidenced by my slow fire practice scores at 300, where focusing on the post and still having enough definition on the black to see where I am is not a problem.

The good thing is that one is not limited to military style rifles for NRA Highpower. I am switching to a match rifle, which has superior sights (front and rear adjustable apertures, with an adjustable focus lens in the rear sight), a superior trigger (Jewell), a superior stock (fully adjustable), and a superior caliber (260 Remington).

The beauty of match rifle sights is that you can adjust the size of the front and rear apertures, easily change the depth of field, and most of all, the front sight does not need to appear to touch anything on the target. You simply center the black bull in the front sight's ring, and center both of them in the rear sight's opening. Your eyes naturally want to center everything up anyway.

Here's what a front sight aperture looks like:


Here's a rear sight aperture:


Here's a rear sight itself


Here's the rifle where all that stuff is

Uhhh...

3/4" to 1" groups out of a 16" barrel on a "Mouse gun" with maximum loads and that's not good enough?

Am I missing something here? How good are those bullets you're using too - match grade?

Wind/mirage conditions? Type of rest/position used? Sights?

What's this?

No reply?????

quote:

Originally posted by pipedoctor:
Greetings,
I think there are a lot of shooters out there missing out on some fine loads. I have been using Accurate 2230 powder for years. I use it in my AR, 308, and 22-250. It is a ball type poder, meters from a powder measure with great accuracy, and cost is a lot less than the others. My ar will shoot 3/8" groups all day long, the 22-250 will shoot almost one hole, and the 308 will shoot around a nickel at 100 yards. Natchez has 2230c listed for $67.50 for an 8 lb keg. The 2230c is a little bit slower than the 2230, but should work just fine. Hodgdon 322 is a really good powder also, but it costs about $117.00 per 8 lbs. We reload to reduce the cost of shooting, and produce superior ammo in the process, so saving almost half on powder is a good thing!
Wayne

I'm with Pipedoctor on this one. I've shot through I don't know how many pounds of 69gr matchkings with 24.3grs of 2230. I've gotten 1/2 minute or better groups out of close to a dozen different 223's with that load. I like it because it measures very accurately and is cheap.
When I shot competition I like N-140 with the heavier bullets but I can't say thay with the 69's it was enough more accurate to justify the extra expense. With the Heavier 22's it was.............DJ