In preparation for the upcoming California ban on lead hunting bullets I have been working with the Barns Varmint Grenade 36 gr .224 bullets. I have seen references to similar non-lead bullets from Nosler and Hornaday also, but the Barns is the only one I have been able to get. Results have been similar in three rifles,in three diferent chamberings. Groups start out promising, but nearly evey group is spoiled by an uncalled flyer, usually an inch or better out. Anybody else had similar results?

As long as your loads are consistent I would look more at the shooter. bench and bags.. usually a bad bedding or a loose scope or poor quality. how many shoots in a group, hot barrel.
fouled barrel. If the flyer is inconsistent it is one of he above.

I've had poor accuracy results w/the X & XXX bullets in several rifles/calibers.

Regards,
hm

I have also had bad accuracy (groups) with Barnes Bullets, but for hunting they are great

hivelocity, your comments are well taken, however the three rifles involved are all quite capable and known quanities. The flyers are not present with 52 gr Sierras, Nosler Ballistic tip or Hornaday V max lead bullets.Also, this ain't my first rodeo.

The VG gave so-so accuracy in my 223Rem. I mostly shoot TSX and they are fine.
What are you looking for? 1/2 inch? One hole?
My rifle is sporter weight and does about 1/2MOA with the TSX and 1MOA with the VG but I'm just shooting yotes so am not looking for minute of squirrel precision.

Tell us about you load. I am shooting a savage 112 in 22/250
50gr fb Barnes VG 3/8" groups at 100yrds 3775f/s. my 222 Varget load I get about 1/2" groups at 100yrds. My 223 is around 1/2" 3125f/s Varget as well. all 5 shot groups velocity measured on 20+ shots.
The Vg bullet measure .700" long. I seat the bullets to around.220" into the neck. That's about 1/3 of the bullet. I use a collet die and have around .003 of bullet grip with aneled necks.

You can also try seating the bullet deeper. I had this happen with my 300 Win Mag and 180 gr TSX bullets.

The question I have pertains to the 36 gr Varmint Grenade only. My accuracy goal is one half MOA, but up to one MOA is useable for ground squirrels if consistent. Greybird, I remember similar suggestions to allow more jump with monometals. While these are not monometal, it is certanly worth a try. I have been seating about 10 thou off the lands, but I will try more distance, hopfully this week.

quote:

Originally posted by hivelosity:
Tell us about you load. I am shooting a savage 112 in 22/250
50gr fb Barnes VG 3/8" groups at 100yrds 3775f/s. my 222 Varget load I get about 1/2" groups at 100yrds. My 223 is around 1/2" 3125f/s Varget as well. all 5 shot groups velocity measured on 20+ shots.
The Vg bullet measure .700" long. I seat the bullets to around.220" into the neck. That's about 1/3 of the bullet. I use a collet die and have around .003 of bullet grip with aneled necks.

What's the twist on your rifle barrels? My 223's with 9" twist won't stabilize the 50 grain VGs

Well the seat them deeper idea is off to a rough start. In my 9 twist 22-250 my group went from about an inch and a quater with flyers out another three forths or so out to a very scattered five and a half inches when I went from 10 thou off the lands to 35 thou off. I will try coming back in to 20 off, but not encourageing.

quote:

Originally posted by L. Rivard:
The question I have pertains to the 36 gr Varmint Grenade only. My accuracy goal is one half MOA, but up to one MOA is useable for ground squirrels if consistent. Greybird, I remember similar suggestions to allow more jump with monometals. While these are not monometal, it is certanly worth a try. I have been seating about 10 thou off the lands, but I will try more distance, hopfully this week.

If you're getting groups with two POI, try seating the bullet deeper. If the groups are triangle/star shaped, try seating the bullets longer.

Here is an example of my 300 Win Mag. I did change to a faster burning powder and started seating deeper.

quote:

Originally posted by L. Rivard:
Well the seat them deeper idea is off to a rough start. In my 9 twist 22-250 my group went from about an inch and a quater with flyers out another three forths or so out to a very scattered five and a half inches when I went from 10 thou off the lands to 35 thou off. I will try coming back in to 20 off, but not encourageing.

Can you go deeper than 0.035" off?

Graybird, yes I could go deeper yet and I intend to try that and also try seating into the lands. What I really need to know is if anybody has had good results with this bullet, and if so was there anything unusual about thier load?

I have arrived at loads sufficently accurate for my needs on two of the three rifles I use for ground squirrels. They are not as small as I can get with the Horaday V max or Sierra Blitzking, but they are useable and meet the lead ban. Arriving at this point involved the conventional wisdom of the competitive benchrest guys, seat into the lands and load 'em hot. I still intend to try the Hornaday and Nosler lead free bullets when I can find some. These Barns VG copper foul badly, but at least they are useable.

Not to add another variable but have you tried moly for the fouling issue?

The 36 gr Barns VG bullets I have been working with were all Moly coated befor I started. In the Criterian barrel on my .223 with Moly coated Sierras a couple of patches and I'm done. with the Barns it's at least 20 to 25 patches with Wipe out.