I just got all the parts and pieces to build my fireball and could use a little help with loads. It'll be the first one I've build or owned. I'll probably use mostly 40gr BT's and vmax's (as long as they shoot) and will most likely try to work up a bluedot load as well.

Thanks
Nathan

Can't help you with a Blue Dot load, but can highly recommend LilGun, and AA1680 for some outstanding velocities with 40gr pills. I have also used RL7, H322, and AA2200 with excellent results. Data is readily available for all powders I've mentioned.
What rifle are you building?

I shoot the 40gr Nosler BTs with RL-7 and the Remington 6.5 small rifle primer.

Works well for me.

I've got a .223 Remington 700 sporter that doesn't shoot as well as I would like it to so I bought a Lothar barrel from Midaway in a 1300 contour (about like a Remington sporter). BTW the 1 in 9" twist barrels in this contour are on clearance for 122.xx there. I've had a new set of dies for a .221FB for 7-8 years so instead of doing the .223 again I figured I'd try the fireball. Basically all I'm going to do is a barrel swap on a cheapy matte ADL. I have a .22BR for a hot 22 so all I really want it for is to shoot whistle pigs (as we call them) which are basically minature ground squirrels. They are about 6" long when full grown and the babies are about 2" long. They are quite fun with a .22LR but I want a little more range and a little more explosive effect. I even thought about a Hornet but a simple barrel swap was the easiest route for me as I do my own 'smithing.

I have plenty of loading data here as well but I thought I'd ask in case someone had tried something different from the manuals or have a recommended powder charge. Lil Gun definately appears to be the velocity leader but that doesn't always make for the most accurate (which I'm more concerned with).

My rem 700 Classic in 221 seems to really like Calhoun bullets and RL7

Idaho: sounds like a fun project, just hope the mag will feed correctly, and now that Rem makes a 700 -221 Fireball, parts should be available. One other issue is whether it will properly eject a spent hull, as the Fireball case is so short, it can fall away from the bolt face due to the angle (as it clears the chamber and enters the action). Remington's cure was to slightly change the extractor (thicker?), to better hold the case rim.
As to loads, I learned long ago what is accurate in my rifles may puke in someone else's, or not be safe, so I normally stick to suggesting components, but not recipes.
But as to loads "not normally found", I used some 30gr Bergers with LiLGun (do a little extrapolating ), and hit 4000fps with no pressure concerns! Explosive for short range hits!
And I found in my rifles AA's max load of 1680 was too hot, behind the 40gr pills. But still a good choice, if adjusted accordingly.

Mulerider,

I just finished chambering it tonight and I'll probably work on the stock tomorrow or I might chamber my .458Lott . After headspacing the fireball I could see where it could have the ejection problem you talked about. If it does then I'll take the ejector out and use a single shot adapter or cut a ejector spring way down to see if I can get the ejection figured out.

It's good to get a idea of which powders are the most popular anyway. I'll probably pick up some Lil gun and AA1680 and go from there. I dont have any other rifles that use any powders that fast so it will be new turf for me. If I cant get the 40gr pills to work I may have to order some of the Bergers and give them a whirl. I have about 1000 of both the Vmax's and BT's so I'll try them first.

Thanks
Nathan