I just picked up a new box of my favorite bullet for the .223 and noticed how the box had changed since I bought my last box. It has these cute little pictures of varmints on one end of the box. Prairie dogs, rockchucks, and a coyote. I think they put those pictures on the end of the box for Kaboom as they know he's into pictures directing him, coloring books, and crayons.

On the top of the box they also show Kaboom how his bullet would look like after hitting a deer at different velocities. And at the very bottom of the top they state:

Optimum Performance Velocity:
Minimum: 1600fps ((488mps)
MAXIMUM: UNLIMITED

strictly for varmints.. but try out some of their new 35 grain Lead Free Ballistic Tips...

one can redline their MV even higher..

I gotta chronograph some over 27.5 grains of RL 7 as soon as the weather and my schedule permit..

but I can tell ya the accuracy is there...

try Hornady's NTXs in 35 grain.. they're even more accurate and explosive...

quote:

Originally posted by seafire/B17G:
strictly for varmints.. but try out some of their new 35 grain Lead Free Ballistic Tips...

one can redline their MV even higher..

I gotta chronograph some over 27.5 grains of RL 7 as soon as the weather and my schedule permit..

but I can tell ya the accuracy is there...

try Hornady's NTXs in 35 grain.. they're even more accurate and explosive...

Seafire:

That's interesting about those lead free BT's at 35g. I did see those on the shelves when I bought the regular BT's but they didn't appeal to me at the time. I've tried some other manufacturer's sub 40g. bullets for the .223 and 22-250 and had dismal luck with the accuracy. Velocity was great but the accuracy was very poor and at extended ranges of say 350+ to 550 yards the groups size was huge.

Have you shot some of those lead free 35g? How was the group size with them? Sounds like you have still to run them over the screens for some velocity checks but my guess is that they are cooking.

I tried your recipe for the 40g NBT's with RL-7 and in one .223 I could go to 27.0g and in the other it was maxed out at 26.0g. I ended up with the 26.0g RL-7 and a 40g NBT at 3925fps out of a Rem 700 26" tube with a 8" suppressor on it for my varmint/deer set up.

Would you post the results of that bunch of 35g with 27.5g of RL-7 when you dig out from the coming snow storm? I would be interested in that and it would be informative to the other lads on these forums.

Will do T.

something you might enjoy, is that the 35 grain Lead Free BT is about the length of a 50 grain BT... the 40 grain Lead Free is about a hair bigger than or equal to, the 55 grain BTip...

I'm also waiting to run down some of the Varmintgeddon bullets to try out also..

I haven't tried them, but a friend had poor luck with the unleaded Noslers. Of course, a single experience in a single gun with a single load doesn't make for a rule.

As to the Varmaggedons (I have to tip my hat to Nosler for the clever name), I've just tried some 40 grainers in a Hornet and they made a one-hole, five shot group -- the first five shots from a cold barrel, no less. I'm pumped about this new offering.

quote:

I've just tried some 40 grainers in a Hornet and they made a one-hole, five shot group -- the first five shots from a cold barrel, no less

Stoney, thanks for the report. Considering it's a thin jacketed flat base, I'm not suprised. Something tells me my AR will like these bullets.

Teancum,
What is your favorite .223 bullet for coyotes at close range under 75 yds?
Coyote calling was my passion in the 70's, 80, and early 90's and I used a 22-250 with Speer 52 gr. hp with great success but not so much in my .223 Contender carbine ..
Well the throat is shot out of the 22-250 and I have a little M7 in .223 now..
I am going to use .223 for coyote calling as I have time to hunt again after 18 years or so, and just got permission to hunt on some private farm ground..
I have never shot a coyote with a plastic tip bullet..
Your thoughts please..
Thanks!

quote:

Originally posted by Low Wall:
Teancum,
What is your favorite .223 bullet for coyotes at close range under 75 yds?
Coyote calling was my passion in the 70's, 80, and early 90's and I used a 22-250 with Speer 52 gr. hp with great success but not so much in my .223 Contender carbine ..
Well the throat is shot out of the 22-250 and I have a little M7 in .223 now..
I am going to use .223 for coyote calling as I have time to hunt again after 18 years or so, and just got permission to hunt on some private farm ground..
I have never shot a coyote with a plastic tip bullet..
Your thoughts please..
Thanks!

I have shot coyotes with a lot of different calibers from a .22lr to a .300 WinMag. Up to now I haven't been concerned that much about the pelt damage although I did get one really nice big lite colored male tanned.

I've shot a lot of them with a Sierra HP 52 BT Match grade until the Nosler Ballistic tips came out and then switched over to the NBT. Most of that hunting was done with a 22-250 though. We were shooting crows, jack rabbits, rock chucks, feral pigeons, and deer with the Sierra load and found that the NBT squeezed out a little more accuracy especially at the longer distances.

Since making that change, we've stuck mainly with the NBT's and it's working out just great. Last weekend one of our sons shot a bobcat at about 60 yards with a 22-250 pushing 55g NBT and ended up with little pelt damage. He is a trapper and was concerned with the damage a high stepping round could cause but was pleased with the small holes he found. That could be a result of where he shot it or maybe even the solid base holding together during the shot??? Those bobcats hides have some value associated with them and he was happy with the results of that shooting.

I've become a big believer in the NBT 40g for the .223 in all of its applications and have taken a lot of heat for using it on mule deer here in Idaho. That 40g allows you to move it along very fast and flatten out a lot of the trajectory which I found helpful for those longer distances. If accuracy and performance is your goal I would recommend the 40g. NBT for the .223 and would suggest looking at RL-7 for a powder. If pelt damage is a concern I would differ to others on these boards who would be more experienced with rounds that preserve the pelts. Good luck.

quote:

Originally posted by seafire/B17G:
Will do T.

something you might enjoy, is that the 35 grain Lead Free BT is about the length of a 50 grain BT... the 40 grain Lead Free is about a hair bigger than or equal to, the 55 grain BTip...

I'm also waiting to run down some of the Varmintgeddon bullets to try out also..

up dated report...haven't chronographed them due to weather, and rain kinda made the targets into mush...but a side trip to the range with them...accuracy was as good or better than I was getting with the regular 40 grain BTip..tried the 40 grain Lead Free Ballistic Tip also, along with the 35 grain Hornady NTX...
and the 36 gr Varmint Grenade...

surprising accuracy champ was the NTX bullet..

check out Nosler's little video on their sight about these lead free bullets and varmints.. much more fragile than regular Ballistic Tips..

once they hit a varmint, it is like inserting a claymore inside them, then detonating it..

much more red mist factor and 'splatts' with these new lead free stuff...

they say they are developed from military application technologies...

nasty little things..

Teancum, thanks for your reply to my earlier post about using this bullet on fur..
I am going to try these bullets and the 60gr Horn. V-Max and compare as web research says it is also a good fur bullet at .223 vel.
Good hunting to you..

Loaded the 55 grain Varmagedins for the AR and they shot .75 with two loads @ 150yrds. out of a Bushmaster predator in the wind. At 30% less cost than B-Tips, I'm pretty happy camper.

Seafire

I went out today to test out some 22-250 loads using RL-7 and the Hornady NXT 35 grain bullet. It was windy out there in the desert and that wind blew my chronograph over once before I anchored it with some large rocks. As a result of the wind the accuracy test was null and void but the chronograph pumped out some interesting numbers.

I was shooting 33.8 grains of RL-7 out of a Rem 700 VSSF version I with a 26" barrel and got an average of 4,294 fps with a SD of 41 for the 35g NXT's. I wish that I could have seen how the impact changed from my standard load for that 22-250 of a 50 grain NBT using Varget and running about 3825 fps. Just too doggone windy. I did notice that the barrel did heat up quickly. I'm interested in seeing how the bullet shoots accuracy wise to see if it is a keeper for the rockchucks and coyotes around here.

I was out hunting coyotes with a couple of our sons a week ago and on the way back in when ran across a pack of 5 coyotes crossing the road just a head of us. I tried to hit one with the truck but he was too quick. We were all put away with our shooters and only got off one 500-600 yard shot by the time that we got a rifle freed up.

I was also testing some 9mm hand-loads this morning using your favorite...Blue Dot. I purchased a new 9mm Ruger SR9C pistol that is a compact with a 10 shot magazine and a 17 shot magazine also. It has a 3.5" barrel so getting performance out of that shorter barrel is a challenge. I was shooting a 115 grain HP with 8.7 grains of Blue Dot and rung up an average velocity of 1,256 fps which is good performance from that short barrel. I don't know if you are a pistol shooter but that Blue Dot works there very well also. I ended up loading up around 1,000 rounds with the BD and had to make a trip to Sportsmans Warehouse for a resupply!!!

I'm liking the BD. Thanks for your input on the 22-250 loads.

quote:

Originally posted by theback40:

INDEED But as yet no one rose to the bait. roger