69TMK and 8208

[Nomosendero]

I have been testing the 69TMK in my RRA 24" Varmiter & it shows promise. Because the bullet is so long, I have to seat deep to load at Mag length. So, to have decent vel with Varget the loads are too compressed. I have noted that IMR8208 is very dense and max charges with similar vel to Varget are a couple of grains less, which gives me the room I need. I just started load dev yesterday, has anyone been down that road yet?

 

[timeout]

I assume this is a 223? I use 8208 in a bolt Ruger Predator, 17" barrel, 75 gr. Amaxes. I have a reworked mag though so the bullets are not deep seated into the case.

 

[Nomosendero]

I assume this is a 223? I use 8208 in a bolt Ruger Predator, 17" barrel, 75 gr. Amaxes. I have a reworked mag though so the bullets are not deep seated into the case.

Rock River Arms AR with the Wylde Chamber.

 

[timeout]

Rock River Arms AR with the Wylde Chamber.

I got the Rock River Arms AR part, however I'm not familiar with the Wilde chamber. I'm just not into the black gun craze. You would likely get more replies in the reloading section. Sorry I can't be of more help.

 

[Nomosendero]

I got the Rock River Arms AR part, however I'm not familiar with the Wilde chamber. I'm just not into the black gun craze. You would likely get more replies in the reloading section. Sorry I can't be of more help.

I got the Rock River Arms AR part, however I'm not familiar with the Wilde chamber. I'm just not into the black gun craze. You would likely get more replies in the reloading section. Sorry I can't be of more help.

I am not in the "craze" either, I have owned it about 9 years and it shoots against any bolt rifle I have seen so far save a Benchrest rifle very well. For other calibers I shoot a bolt rifle.
It's a Varmiter cal, I see no problem being here, I am asking for those with experience in this area. Thanks though

 

[timeout]

I am not in the "craze" either, I have owned it about 9 years and it shoots against any bolt rifle I have seen so far save a Benchrest rifle very well. For other calibers I shoot a bolt rifle.
It's a Varmiter cal, I see no problem being here, I am asking for those with experience in this area. Thanks though

You are correct in saying no problem with being here. The thing is, there are a lot of guys with very valuable experience and knowledge that utilize the reloading section with much more regularity than the varmint hunting area. Since your question is one regarding reloading, I offered the suggestion to post your query there. Whether you use the rifle for hunting or competition, the question is with regards to reloading. Anyway, good luck with your project.

 

[Nomosendero]

thanks anyway

 

[benchracer]

I have been testing the 69TMK in my RRA 24" Varmiter & it shows promise. Because the bullet is so long, I have to seat deep to load at Mag length. So, to have decent vel with Varget the loads are too compressed. I have noted that IMR8208 is very dense and max charges with similar vel to Varget are a couple of grains less, which gives me the room I need. I just started load dev yesterday, has anyone been down that road yet?

I completely missed this thread until I saw you reference it in the reloading section...

I did quite a bit of load work last summer for my 24", 9-twist, 5.56 chambered bolt gun, using 8208 XBR and CFE 223. Best overall results were obtained with 8208, but for some reason, I got high ES and SD numbers with both the 69 TMK and 69 SMK. CFE 223 was the ticket with those two bullets, producing just over 3100 with the TMK, with good accuracy.

8208 yielded excellent results with the Hornady 68 BTHP, 75 BTHP, and 75 AMAX. Even though the AMAX cannot be loaded to mag length and bleeds bc when shot from a 9 twist, it was so wickedly consistent and easy to tune that I stuck with it for match use. I have shot two 500 yard club matches with my 8208/75 AMAX load and have been very pleased with the results.

AR-Comp has also shown promise with the Hornady 75 BTHP in the limited work I have done with it.

 

[benchracer]

I completely missed this thread until I saw you reference it in the reloading section...

I did quite a bit of load work last summer for my 24", 9-twist, 5.56 chambered bolt gun, using 8208 XBR and CFE 223. Best overall results were obtained with 8208, but for some reason, I got high ES and SD numbers with both the 69 TMK and 69 SMK. CFE 223 was the ticket with those two bullets, producing just over 3100 with the TMK, with good accuracy.

8208 yielded excellent results with the Hornady 68 BTHP, 75 BTHP, and 75 AMAX. Even though the AMAX cannot be loaded to mag length and bleeds bc when shot from a 9 twist, it was so wickedly consistent and easy to tune that I stuck with it for match use. I have shot two 500 yard club matches with my 8208/75 AMAX load and have been very pleased with the results.

AR-Comp has also shown promise with the Hornady 75 BTHP in the limited work I have done with it.

I completely missed this thread until I saw you reference it in the reloading section...

I did quite a bit of load work last summer for my 24", 9-twist, 5.56 chambered bolt gun, using 8208 XBR and CFE 223. Best overall results were obtained with 8208, but for some reason, I got high ES and SD numbers with both the 69 TMK and 69 SMK. CFE 223 was the ticket with those two bullets, producing just over 3100 with the TMK, with good accuracy.

8208 yielded excellent results with the Hornady 68 BTHP, 75 BTHP, and 75 AMAX. Even though the AMAX cannot be loaded to mag length and bleeds bc when shot from a 9 twist, it was so wickedly consistent and easy to tune that I stuck with it for match use. I have shot two 500 yard club matches with my 8208/75 AMAX load and have been very pleased with the results.

AR-Comp has also shown promise with the Hornady 75 BTHP in the limited work I have done with it.

Incidentally, I am working on some 1000 yard loads for my 26", 12 twist, 700 VS .308. Varget is working well with 185 Juggernaut, 175 TMK, and 155 SMK Palma bullets. 8208 is looking spectacular with the 155's. Just finished preliminary load development and plan to shoot my chosen loads in a 500 yard club match before taking them to 1000.

 

[bulwaagh]

I have been testing the 69TMK in my RRA 24" Varmiter & it shows promise. Because the bullet is so long, I have to seat deep to load at Mag length. So, to have decent vel with Varget the loads are too compressed. I have noted that IMR8208 is very dense and max charges with similar vel to Varget are a couple of grains less, which gives me the room I need. I just started load dev yesterday, has anyone been down that road yet?

I'm currently working on similar loads in a similar rifle (RRA NM). I'm having zero luck with the TMK's and many of the extruded powders. I'm having some better luck with Benchmark, but all my Varget loads were not looking favorable. I'm teetering on going back to the old 1380 SMK's. Those shot amazing (just over 1.3 MOA with Varget no less and Open Sights) but I didn't have my chrono out that day. So far, I'm trying Varget, Benchmark, H322 and as soon as it comes in, revisiting TAC. With the TMKs my better loads seem to utilize Benchmark. I'm between 21 and 23gr, I think 22gr was my better spot, but I'll need to reproduce it.

 

[Auto-X Fil]

The TMK use up a lot more case volume, for sure. I run 23.5gr of XBR with the 77TMK at mag length for a home defense load in an SBR - Varget doesn't come close to XBR velocities with the TMK.

For my 20" NM gun, I tried hard to make the 77 TMK work, but it just didn't. Varget let me hit a very accurate 2600fps node, but I couldn't pack enough powder in to reach the next node at 2750. XBR gave me 2750fps (23.5gr load from the SBR), but accuracy was poor (about 1.5 MOA) with all the XBR loads I tried.

I ended up back at the 69SMK. Varget (25.4gr) hammers them at 2825-2850, an extremely accurate node, and the extra velocity has them shooting inside the 77s at 600yd anyway.

Also, during that load development I ran out of CCI 450 primers. I tried CCI 400 and WSR, and found that both gave me better SD/ES and accuracy than the 450 that some people suggest for compressed loads of Varget.

 

[bulwaagh]

I ended up back at the 69SMK. Varget (25.4gr) hammers them at 2825-2850, an extremely accurate node, and the extra velocity has them shooting inside the 77s at 600yd anyway.

Were you single loading them? I had a 25gr load and it was all shades of compressed, I was having difficulty seating to consistent depths (for magazine feed).

 

[Auto-X Fil]

Were you single loading them? I had a 25gr load and it was all shades of compressed, I was having difficulty seating to consistent depths (for magazine feed).

Nope. 25.4 Varget under 69 SMK (not TMK) is just barely compressed at 2.260", in LC brass resized aggressively with an RCBS FL standard (not small base) die. Other brass might have less volume.

 

[bulwaagh]

Nope. 25.4 Varget under 69 SMK (not TMK) is just barely compressed at 2.260", in LC brass resized aggressively with an RCBS FL standard (not small base) die. Other brass might have less volume.

Huh, ok, I'll re-visit. I'll have to check my log books, but I thought I used LC15 or LC13 for my rounds. Thanks for the feedback!

--EDIT: My brain totally misread your reply. You definitely said "ended up back at the 69SMK". I did get excellent results with 25gr Varget and the SMK (1380) at mag length. Yes, it fit perfectly. I've about had it with these TMKs in the semi's. They work great in my bolt rifles, but I've burned through about 1/3 of my 500rd box with nothing to show for it yet.

 

[Nomosendero]

The TMK use up a lot more case volume, for sure. I run 23.5gr of XBR with the 77TMK at mag length for a home defense load in an SBR - Varget doesn't come close to XBR velocities with the TMK.

For my 20" NM gun, I tried hard to make the 77 TMK work, but it just didn't. Varget let me hit a very accurate 2600fps node, but I couldn't pack enough powder in to reach the next node at 2750. XBR gave me 2750fps (23.5gr load from the SBR), but accuracy was poor (about 1.5 MOA) with all the XBR loads I tried.

I ended up back at the 69SMK. Varget (25.4gr) hammers them at 2825-2850, an extremely accurate node, and the extra velocity has them shooting inside the 77s at 600yd anyway.

Also, during that load development I ran out of CCI 450 primers. I tried CCI 400 and WSR, and found that both gave me better SD/ES and accuracy than the 450 that some people suggest for compressed loads of Varget.

Thanks for all the replies. I am going to try again this weekend if it ever stops raining. I was also told to try 2000MR from another thread.
Thanks

 

[bulwaagh]

I went back out and attempted two more loads. I used LC13 cases, Magazine length @ 2.260", Federal 205M primers, 8208-XBR and RL-15. What I found was that my rifle actually enjoyed the 25.5gr of the RL-15. This is a compressed load, and it's been raining so I haven't actually chrono'd this one.
I didn't get much love from the 8208-XBR loads. I went with a 22gr-24gr (slightly over max hodgdon max load) in .5gr increments, it was very lackluster. Again, the rain kept my chrono away.

 

[swadiver]

try 73 Bergers (non VLD HPBT Match) with IMR 8208XBR. my Wylde chambered Odin Works 18" AR 15 barreled (1 in 8 twist) upper, my Krieger .223 match chambered 20" barreled (1 in 7.7 twist) upper, and my .223 match chambered 26" Criterion barreled ( 1 in 9 twist) bolt rifle all love that combination. the Bergers are wicked accurate. hard to find right now but supposed to be seeing new production from Berger starting the middle of this month.

 

[A_Gamehog]

69's with 24.0 to 24.5 has been my go to load with the .223 @ 300- 600 yards.
CCI 450's (it does matter)
Lapua or Norma
8208XBR

 

[Nomosendero]

69's with 24.0 to 24.5 has been my go to load with the .223 @ 300- 600 yards.
CCI 450's (it does matter)
Lapua or Norma
8208XBR

You are talking about the Tipped MK, right ?

 

[A_Gamehog]

Yes, I like and shoot the Sierra TMK but shoot a lot of Nosler CC 69's my 9 twist in 223 is a great combo.