I have been playing with reloads as always, and since varmint season is coming up soon locally, I have been looking at some faster powders for varmint loads.

Since most of us use smaller bullet weights for varmint hunting, faster velocity and more explosive performance, I have found that faster powders, 4198 and faster, can offer some real benefits and darn good accuracy.

While I have developed some great loads with Blue Dot shotgun powder, I have started playing with SR 4759. ( not 4756!) Where Blue Dot did not quite give me what I was looking for, surprisingly SR 4759 did!

Faster powders allow you to use less powder. That makes a pound or 5 lbs consister of powder last a lot longer. Secondly, a benefit is reduced recoil. As the bore diameter increases the benefit of this increases. It also increases on a day when a lot of shooting is taking place.
You don't end up with the "afternoon flinches" The one that few admit to, but everyone gets.

The third benefit is less powder also translates into less barrel heat. Less barrel heat means two things in the field. You can shoot longer, or if you let your barrel cool off, it will cool off MUCH QUICKER!

OUt of the field this translates into less throat erosion with longer barrel life. IN some calibers, this means EXTENSIVE increase in barrel life.

Examples I have found are: SR 4759.

243/ 55 grain Nos BT or 60 grain Sierra HP: 3700 fps

243/ 65 grain Vmax: 3600 fps

223/ 46 grain Winchester HP: 3500 fps

260 Rem/ 6.5 x 55, 6.5 x 57: SR 4759

85 grain Sierra HP: 3350 fps
90 grain TNT Speer: 3250 fps
95 grain VMax: 3200 fps
100 grain SP Hornady, Nos BT: 3100 fps

granted these are not quite the fastest velocities available to the handloader, but they easily equal anything the factories will load if they load that bullet weight.

If one can live with a 100 to 200 fps less with these loads, it is amazing how accurate they are, and then at the same time checking trajectory charts, the 200 fps loss in velocity does not equate in that much point blank range loss, which is easily compensated by a quick click or two up on the scope adjustments.

Since these bullets are explosive varmint bullets, one also does not sacrafice a thing in terminal performance.

I am getting stoked as it allows me to shoot longer, and in some smaller 22 caliber cartridges allows me to see the hits in the scope due to lack of recoil.... a big selling point on those that invest in the 17, and 20 calibers.

Like all of us I love a new rifle, but it does not have to be a new caliber to fire me up. For some reason I enjoy the concept of shooting the daylights out of a barrel, rebarreling the rifle and doing it all over again. It translates to how much fun I had doing it all.

I get to shoot one deer a year. I can explode all the varmints I want a year, and no one really cares, except the farmers who actually LOVE US for making a dent in all those pesky varmints they have to deal with.

The longer my barrel stays cooler, that translates into me cooking more varmints instead of my barrel. I like that!

Cheers and good shooting
seafire

Fast powders mean fast pressure rise. If you value your br ass. Watch for signs of excess pressure. Nothing is free. Faster powders do not stop throat errosion. You are right that 200fps is not worth the kick and the bullet spread. Are you watching fill. The void in the case may sneak up and give you some fliers.

Marcus,

Faster pressure rises is what someone who reloads needs to watch out regardless of the quickness or lack thereof, of his powder selection.

Loads are of course worked up. One can find some very stable and predictable powders, by experimenting. Learning what powders to keep away from in that application.

I have been working a lot with SR 4759 which is a very bulky powder and fills the case quite nicely and is not position sensitive. I also found the same with Blue Dot powder. With both of these powders I have found the lowest velocity spread of any other powders I have chronographed.

Unless I can load a case at least 5 times, I don't call the load good. With both of these powders, cases have been reloaded 10 plus times and the primer pockets are still tight. This is even after full length resizing each time.

Faster powders do not stop throat erosion, but they sure can prolong its eventual showing up.

cheers and good shooting
seafire

Seafire - What are your loads for the 260/6.5x55 for the bullet weights you listed ??

I've been very happy using IMR4227 in 17 Remington with moly 20gr V-Max's. Sixteen and a half grains gets you 3700 from the light pill with almost no recoil or blast.

The brass and primers look utterly bored upon examination and running the throttle wide open gains you almost nothing in my applications.

Redial

Thanks for all that work Seafire. I enjoyed your blue dot series. How does 4759 look for 222R/40vmax ? I'm just starting to go try 1680 instead of the more usual. Regards, ned

I will post some of my results with the 6.5 mm cartridges in the near future when I finish my testig to give a full report.

Currently I have to wait for some more varmint weight 6.5 mm bullets. Ran out, and have some on order. They don't stock much in that bore locally.

Thanks for the compliments also guys.

cheers,
seafire