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What's your preferred 22cal heavy bullet?

I have been shooting the 90Gr SMK and they rock!! RE17 pushes my dasher over 3250 Amazing. accuracy is outstanding as well.. Only problem is. Im down past my last pound, and i cant find any in stock. back to varget and 2950FPS
 
I have been shooting the 90Gr SMK and they rock!! RE17 pushes my dasher over 3250 Amazing. accuracy is outstanding as well.. Only problem is. Im down past my last pound, and i cant find any in stock. back to varget and 2950FPS
I have about 40 pounds of RL-17, Lee.
 
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No love for the 80 amax, now discontinued..

Lee, I'm running Berger 80vlds and 80 amax as my go-to heavy 224 bullets and they are shooting great! Both the 223ai you spun up for me are hammering with these 2 bullets. And the BC is good.
I'm all over the 80 grain A-Max and have a good stash. 3750 fps in my .22-.284, 3350 fps in my .22 Dasher(w/RL17), and 3120 fps in my .223AI. They make me look good at mid and long range with terminal ballistics to anchor chucks.
 
I'm all over the 80 grain A-Max and have a good stash. 3750 fps in my .22-.284, 3350 fps in my .22 Dasher(w/RL17), and 3120 fps in my .223AI. They make me look good at mid and long range with terminal ballistics to anchor chucks.
What's your load in the 223ai
 
90vld.jpg
 
Has anybody shot the 77 SMK? I just bought a bunch.
I tried out the 77 Fed GMM (77 SMK) last year in my 700 5R Milspec (9T) and they seemed reasonable at 100 yds. ie no keyholes as they recommend a 7 to 8" twist and mine is 9". I did pick up a couple of packs off 77 SMKs and have assembled my initial development load, I have yet to test them as I have mostly been concentrating on the 69 SMKs lately as well as a few other cartridges, ...204R, 22-250, 25-06, 308. and a couple others, ...friggin rabbit hole that the reloading world is. lol. Just started my reloading adventure about a year and a half ago.
 
My first F class rifle was a 7" twist 22BR which shot great out to 1000yds with 90gn VLDs (in gentle conditions). Now that barrel is toast I sometimes still use a 9" twist barrel shooting 75gn VLDs which is just as accurate (though I usually switch to 6mm or 7mm for long range work) . Each got occasional 10 shot strings inside X ring at 500-600yds so it is likely you could get anything from 75gn to 90gn to work well. Of course going in between these specs to build an 8" twist barrel to shoot 80gn pills would be very likely to work well in a 22BR.
 
Berger 82gr boat tail is another bullet I like. I've shot them in .22-250 (1-8" twist) and .223 (1-7"). I find this bullet to be very easy to develop good loads.
 
In my fast twist 223ai and the 22creedmoor, the Berger 80.5's are a thing of beauty. They really hammer the coyotes. Just for giggles, I bought a box of the Sierra Tipped Match King 77 TMK to try as well. Heavy been hearing very good results from them on fur as well.
 
Here's what I'm doing with 80gr VLD's in my .223rem bolt gun...

Calibre: .223rem
Rifle brand: EM Precision
Rifle model: Custom build
Barrel length & twist: 26" 1:7" Benchmark heavy varmint
Bullet: Berger 80gr VLD
Powder: Varget 23.8gr (moderate load)
Primer: CCI BR4
COAL: Too long to mag feed
ogive length: 1.870" (.010" jump)
Brass: Lapua
Trim length: 1.750"

Results: 6.75" group at 700m (3/4moa in less than ideal conditions)
Velocity: 2850fps
Range: 1124m ASL
Enviro: +20c, wind 5-10kph L->R, 101.9kpa

image.jpg
 
I am shooting 80 VLD's at 3560 with my .22 Vais but am wondering whether or not I could stabilize 90 VLD's at maybe 3400 or so with my 8 wish, 3 land barrel using Moly coatings. Anyone throwing the 90 VLD over 3250 in 7 OR 8 twist?
I have tried the 90gn Sierras and Bergers in 7 and 8" twist in 22/6mm Rem Imp. I gave up trying to get the 90gn pills to work in an 8" twist. Accuracy was just not there even on a warm day (less dense air) while on cold days it was terrible. The 90gn Bergers worked much better in a 7" twist but the downside was some bullets blowing apart due to very high revs. If you do decide on a 7" twist, don't try to push it too fast.
 

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