110gr .308 Sierra Varmint Bullets with 1 in 10" twist?

[seanpmc69]

About the only Varmint hunting we do seriously here is Coyote, using Dogs, and keeping track of each other, and where the dogs are with CB's. In the past, I've always used 6mm, or smaller cartridges for safety, but I'm wondering about this Sierra 110gr Varmint HP.

My latest rifle is the Howa/Hogue .308 with the short 20" bbl. In the two weeks that I've had it so far, I've gotten 168gr. Match King loads to shoot sub .500" groups at 100, and I think it will probably shoot closer to .375" with some more load tuning. I'm wondering what that 1 in 10" twist rate does with those short, fat 110gr bullets though.

I loaded some Sierra 125's yesterday, using the Ladder technique to find the bbl harmonics, and several shots keyholed. Not a full-on completely sideways keyhole, but bad enough... Has anyone shot the 110 HP's in a .308 with that fast of a rifling rate? If so, how did they shoot?

Where we hunt is in the "Prairie" area of central MO, so safety is a major consideration (few natural obstacles to stop the bullets). I need something that's going to disintegrate, rather than ricochet, but if the 110's are going to be even worse than the 125's, I'd probably better stick with 6mm Rem...

 

[KevinThomas]

Sean,

They'll shoot just fine out of a 1x10", no problem at all. If you're getting keyholing or other accuracy issues with this combination, there's something else that's causing the problem. Might try playing with the load a bit, varying the velocity ranges a bit.

Hope that helps,

 

[seanpmc69]

I'll try backing off the load and see what happens. The ladder loading process told me the barrel harmonics were best at near max loads, so that's what I loaded. But I started at the max load, and went down from there while setting up the test. Might work better if I do it over again, starting with the lowest listed load, and going up...

 

[JORTZ]

I shot tons of 110gr bullets out of a 10 twist barrel at prarie dogs and never had a problem. I always used imr4895 and used between 37 and 39 which runs around 2900 fps and it shoot very accurate to 500 yards

 

[RonS]

I have an 18" 10T Savage that I have been thinking about shooting the 110's through but always thought you needed a slower twist or slower velocity to stabilize them. I do shoot them in my 7.62x40WT AR, with a 12T @ 2450fps with good accuracy out to 200 yards under 1MOA.

 

[2506]

I used to shoot the Sierra 110 spitzer shape HP in a 10" twist 30-06 for groundhogs and never had a problem. As has been said if you are having key-holing with 125s then something besides barrel twist is the problem. If you can find some try some Speer 125 TNT bullets. Those things are very accurate and really come apart on impact.

 

[seanpmc69]

If you can find some...

That is the key issue...

I only live about 20 miles from Grafs, so I've been going up there twice a week for the last few months. Sometimes I get lucky and get what I'm looking for, but most of the time the shelves are nearly bare. That's how I ended up with the 125g spitzers. I was looking for the 110g Varmints, but no-dice, and three trips later, they still don't have them...

 

[GSPV]

You get stability issues with twist that is too slow, not that is too fast. Also, with a given bullet and twist, the faster you push it, the more stable it is.

I've had very lightly constructed bullets have jacket separation issues at high velocity in fast twist barrels. Perhaps you are seeing that start to happen.

 

[nashlaw]

Sierra's accuracy load of 39.9g of Reloader 7 does well in my 1/10s . . . and every other twist.

 

[Will o]

Hi I run Hornady vmax in my tikka tac in .308 unreal tbh 450 foxes this season and a decent amount of deer taken
47 grains N133
3200 fps

 

[Ray123]

Worried about ricochet, use a 17 Remington 20 gr bullets, or 204 Ruger. Much better in settled area.
The 125 gr TNT works great in 308, with W748 clear out past 600 yds, for small targets 12 twist.
Something is wrong if the 125s are going sideways, it probably ain't the 10 twist.
The 130 Speer Varmint is accurate in 12, 10, 9, & 8 twists....even in AR 10 if ya like 5 shot groups under .5" run them in 2800 fps area, small groups with a variety of twists, actions, and powders in that velocity area...even cheap surplus powder, military primed cases, and an AR10. I just ordered a thousand from Midway.

 

[spaniel]

They should do fine unless you start spinning them so fast they lose integrity.

I've shot 110gr VMax out of a 300WM...3800+fps. Never lost one in flight but man, do they grenade the second they hit anything.

 

[ebb]

10 year old thread and the poster was last seen at the same time as post. That said I had no luck with125 Sierras. But the 125 BT seem to work well. Wanted to try 125 Speer but could never find any.

 

[cptjack]

Sierra's accuracy load of 39.9g of Reloader 7 does well in my 1/10s . . . and every other twist.

I shoot 125,s with that charge

 

[5spd]

Sierras 125 jsp, 42g h322, 3 shots .580" today, savage 1/10"tw, 2880fps, sporter, 22" bbl.
Top hole was sighter shot.
Every .308/3006 I've had shot these 125s very well, will blow out a coyote also.

 

[Doug Casner]

My mod. 70 featherweight .308 likes 110 gr. Bergers. Its a 1-12. half in. or 3/4. That n133 vv. helps. Doug

 

[snert]

I like the 135 grain Sierra that was designed for the AAC, running it slow, but faster than the AAC. Turns groundhogs into a puddle of mess. I can imagine what it would do to a coyote.

 

[Capt. Oblivious]

They should do fine unless you start spinning them so fast they lose integrity.

I've shot 110gr VMax out of a 300WM...3800+fps. Never lost one in flight but man, do they grenade the second they hit anything.

I used them in my 300wm at 3690fps. Lets just say it turns heads on headshots