6 dasher 87 vmax issues

[John Russell]

You might give the Sierra 95 tipped matchking a try. I shot some in a 243 and they shot good. Haven't shot at anything but paper yet, hoping they'll be a little explosive. .500 BC is appealing.

I spoke to a tech rep at Sierra - he said that the tipped match bullets (TMKs) had much thicker jackets than the similar weight varmint bullets, and would probably be disappointing on live targets...

 

[expiper]

I spoke to a tech rep at Sierra - he said that the tipped match bullets (TMKs) had much thicker jackets than the similar weight varmint bullets, and would probably be disappointing on live targets...

I havent found any bullet dissapointing on varmints,,,,Roger

 

[boltfluter]

The 87 V max is an awesome bullet in my 6BR. Shot a 5 x 5 agg. of .288 go figure. Longest rockchuck kill to date with this load was 742 yds. Almost a 2 piece chuck. Lol.

Paul

www.boltfluting.com

 

[GrocMax]

If the 87 vmax doesn't work out try the 75.

I could never get the 87 to shoot decent either.

 

[powderbrake]

I built up a 6BR with a Krieger 8 twist barrel, and had it chambered for the 87 Vmax, because of it's high BC. I could never get good groups with the 87 Vmax. I tried lots of loads and lengths from big jam to big jump, so I switched to the 88 Berger flat base varmint bullet, and it shoots in the .1 to .2 range. They are deadly on the prairie dogs.

 

[stork]

I had Dan Dowling build my Dasher around the 87 Vmax touching the lands. 26 1/2" Hart, chambered for Lapua no turn brass. Reloader 15 and CCI 450 primers. I have yet to shoot a group over 5/8" @ 300 yards. Yes they shoot well. Excellent performance on pasture rats out to 700-ish, nothing further so far.

Al

 

[Kiba]

Going to give the 87's one more chance on Friday morning with a 0.025" jump and H4895 as the only thing I haven't tried with them yet is a powder other than Varget.

Any suggestions for charge weight with the 87s and H4895? I was thinking of testing 32.0-33.5gr, Norma Dasher brass with full length neck. If anyone has suggestions/data I'd appreciate it.

I'm not expecting them to shoot well even with the powder change, but who knows... might be pleasantly surprised.

 

[boltfluter]

Mine shoots the best seated. 015 into rifling. Good luck in the next test.

Paul

www.boltfluting.com

 

[Kiba]

Mine shoots the best seated. 015 into rifling. Good luck in the next test.

Paul

www.boltfluting.com

I'm hoping for good luck, but expecting disappointment. I know the Vmax is exciting on small critters, and I like the BC of the 87... but with various charge weights of Varget and anywhere from 0.020 jam to 0.060 jump everything was terrible, so I'm expecting the same with H4895.

Hopefully the 87s shoot with H4895 but if not hopefully the 80 Nosler, 88 Berger, or 75 Amax will.

 

[boltfluter]

I'm hoping for good luck, but expecting disappointment. I know the Vmax is exciting on small critters, and I like the BC of the 87... but with various charge weights of Varget and anywhere from 0.020 jam to 0.060 jump everything was terrible, so I'm expecting the same with H4895.

Hopefully the 87s shoot with H4895 but if not hopefully the 80 Nosler, 88 Berger, or 75 Amax will.

Kiba,

If you have no luck with H4895 you might give RL15 a try as it shoots great in my gun as well. Keep us posted.

Paul

www.boltfluting.com

 

[AckleymanII]

What ever it is worth, the 87g BTHP is money in the bank, also. I am shooting 4895, h and imr, both work with the 87g V max but my barrel is a 10 twist in a BRX.

 

[gambleone]

Didn't see any mention of the primer you're using, or did
I miss it? You could try a different primer before giving up
on the 87 Vmax. Just a thought.

 

[Kiba]

Didn't see any mention of the primer you're using, or did
I miss it? You could try a different primer before giving up
on the 87 Vmax. Just a thought.

CCI 450s.

Also have Winchester small rifle, Remington 7.5, and wolf sr primers on hand.

 

[gambleone]

Give the wolf sr a try, maybe with the rl-15.

 

[Kiba]

Don't have any RL-15, only RL-16. Works very well with the 105's but it's probably too slow for the lighter bullets. Also, because of the powder density there's no way I could get enough RL-16 into the case with the lighter bullets... it's already mildly crunchy when seating 105s.

Nosler 80s and Berger 88s arrived today. 75 Amax will be here Thursday. Should be able to test everything Friday morning. Also picked up some of the new Nosler 105 RDF's to compare against the Berger 105 Hybrids, but the 105s aren't giving me any trouble.

 

[flatlander]

It's odd that so many of us have had mixed-to-poor accuracy results with the 87s - HPBT & VMax versions. I tried using them in my Dasher for BR Varmint Silhouette on the 300m targets, without much luck. Also tried them in AR15 match rifle uppers in both 6 HAGAR & 6 RAT with various powders for 300yd prone rapids, but was never happy with the groups. Only thing these rifles had in common were 1-8tw bbls. I've also got a bolt rifle in 6 RAT - CZ527 w/Krieger modified #4 sporter - it hasn't been great with either of the 87s, whether in FF loads, or ammo in fully formed cases. But, when I get my next bolt rifle RAT built on a Howa Mini, I'll undoubtedly try them again - just in case...

 

[Kiba]

Figure I'd post back with an update after going to the range this morning...

87 Vmax with H4895: same results as Varget... terrible. All groups had vertical & horizontal scatter, about 3" @ 300Y.

75 Vmax with Varget: similar to the 87s, but slightly smaller groups, about 2" @ 300Y with the error in the horizontal and vertical. Not impressive.

80 Nosler BT with Varget: now we're getting somewhere... several groups around 5/8-3/4" at 300Y with most of the error being in the horizontal, it was a bit breezy by the time I was shooting these. Looks like a node around 34gr / 3280 fps, but I think I'll try to find the next node down until all the brass has at least one firing on it. Didn't feel any stiff bolt lift though at 34.4gr which is as high as I tried.

88 Bergers with Varget: Winner! Several groups around 5/8" with one being about 1/2" at 300Y. Looks like a node around 32.4gr / 3085fps. A bit slower than I hoped for but I figure I'll wait until the brass has at least one firing on it before I try to find the next node up. Figures the most expensive and most difficult to seat bullets would shoot the best. Haven't used a flat base bullet in a while, forgot how much I hate having to guide them into the case so they don't fall out when seating. Even a little boat tail would be better than none!

Since the 223AI is my primary squirrel blaster and the 6 Dasher is going to be the long range squirrel blaster, I figure I might as well run the Berger 88s as they had the tightest groups and have the best BC. I'm just happy I finally found 2 varmint bullets that the gun likes!

Also, received the 105 Nosler RDF's today... they look *really* good. The points on the RDFs make Berger 105 Hybrids look downright rough in comparison. I've heard very good things about the 105 RDF's in regards to consistency and BC, will be testing those soon...

 

[ranger3]

I use 87 Vmax in my in my 243 8 inch twist they shoot very very well and I'm using 4064 powder.

 

[AckleymanII]

I had hit and miss results with the 87g V max, not so much with the Horn 87g BTHP.

Key to the 87g V max is the 10 twist. The jackets are thin. Also, some barrels are .236 dia and others are .237 dia. I like the .237 dia for the 87g V max....strange, eh? This is a long bullet, rotational torque on the base could be upsetting the core. Do your twist rate calculation, run the proper twist with this bullet. Also, 5 R may give better results than 4 or 6 groove barrels. All of this is speculation on my part, but when this bullet does shoot tiny groups, results in the field are amazing.

I have a 6 BRX. 6 Groove with a .237. 10T bore that shoots the 87 Vmax into incredible tiny groups. Boring, nothing to fix using H4895, I moved on to a three groove 6 Dasher, 8T.

I want to try some AR Comp in the 6 BRX with the 87's, hopefully it is easier on throats.

 

[RAG]

I had hit and miss results with the 87g V max, not so much with the Horn 87g BTHP.

Key to the 87g V max is the 10 twist. The jackets are thin. Also, some barrels are .236 dia and others are .237 dia. I like the .237 dia for the 87g V max....strange, eh? This is a long bullet, rotational torque on the base could be upsetting the core. Do your twist rate calculation, run the proper twist with this bullet. Also, 5 R may give better results than 4 or 6 groove barrels. All of this is speculation on my part, but when this bullet does shoot tiny groups, results in the field are amazing.

I have a 6 BRX. 6 Groove with a .237. 10T bore that shoots the 87 Vmax into incredible tiny groups. Boring, nothing to fix using H4895, I moved on to a three groove 6 Dasher, 8T.

I want to try some AR Comp in the 6 BRX with the 87's, hopefully it is easier on throats.

Thanks for the feedback! I just so happen to have a 1-10 HV tube sitting here for this exact purpose...Hopefully to feed a steady diet of 87 V-Max. You may be on to something...likely the faster twist and torn tighter bores are too much for this frangible bullet.

If it doest shoot 87 Vmax, I'll fall back on the 88 FB Bergers...I've refined a method of unending up the how point and thinning out the leading edge of the jacket...making it paper thin on the front .15" (with bullet chucked and metal file). I notice no difference in accuracy when doing this on 103s and 105s! But it takes 20 minutes to do a box of 100, so im hoping the vmax fly!