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My 20 Vartarg custom

Evan said:
Big question for everyone:

My loaded up, unturned necks measure 0.2315 - 0.232. My reamer is 0.234. Is that safe enough?

It would be inconvenient to unload 50 rounds, but better than blowing it up. I was working under the assumption that it's snug but OK.
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As long as you keep the neck clean of carbon your probably fine. I like .004 myself because I shoot the crap out of my sage rat rifles before I clean.
 
L.Sherm said:
As long as you keep the neck clean of carbon your probably fine. I like .004 myself because I shoot the crap out of my sage rat rifles before I clean.
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I wouldn't have thought of cleaning more often, thanks for mentioning it. I normally go 50-70 between cleaning. Maybe to play it safe, I will shorten that interval some.
 
Yea I like that a little better .0015 clearance per side little more leway if you don't want to turn necks normally I wouldn't care but on a
Varmint rifle that sounds great when loading 500 at a time.
 
Rockchuck said:
Yea I like that a little better .0015 clearance per side little more leway if you don't want to turn necks normally I wouldn't care but on a
Varmint rifle that sounds great when loading 500 at a time.
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That's exactly why I went with it...pdog rifle and loading several hundred rounds.
 
What is your freebore length everybody I talk with when shooting 32 to 40gr say get a zero freebore thats the class of bullets I'am going to be shooting
 
Not sure...will have to dig the reamer print out and check. I primarily shoot the 32gr bullets and the bullet base is seated right at the neck/shoulder junction, so it is minimal freebore...it may be .030 at the most.
 
Bill K said:
Reloader 7 and even 4198 are good, but don't overlook trying some loads around 19grn plus/minus of AA2200. It works very well in many VT's.
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I am just putting the finishing touches on my 4th vartarg and there only one powder i will be using for my load development. I know other people have good luck with 4198 and RL7 but my other three all run 2200.

as far as neck clearance, I think you will know after a couple of shots if you are having more pressure signs than you should be. I run might fairly close to what you have and I can push a bullet in by hand into a fired case. not the perfect way to judge clearance, but makes me feel better anyway.
 
Rockchuck said:
What is your freebore length everybody I talk with when shooting 32 to 40gr say get a zero freebore thats the class of bullets I'am going to be shooting
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Wow, glad I got moved to this sub forum. The thread is getting way more action!

Thanks for pointing out my freebore error. My reamer is 0.0402 freebore and as I mentioned: the 40 vmax, when seated at the lands, is entirely in the neck with the base of the bullet at the body-shoulder junction. A shorter freebore, like the often recommended zero, would push that bullet back another 0.040 and eat up case capacity. It's not like this case has a short neck; I can chase the lands for at least 0.100" and still have a solid amount of neck gripping the bullet.

To the neck questions, I'd probably go 0.235 if I were to do it again. After I shoot these first 50, I'll very likely skim the necks down on everything to a loaded 230 (remove .0015 to 0.002 total from the current brass).
 
Bill K said:
Reloader 7 and even 4198 are good, but don't overlook trying some loads around 19grn plus/minus of AA2200. It works very well in many VT's.
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I may if I find some. I went around town looking for H4198, RL7, AA2200, and Ramshot Xterminator. 2 different shops and I got the pound of H4198 at one and RL7 at the other.
 
chuckshooter said:
as far as neck clearance, I think you will know after a couple of shots if you are having more pressure signs than you should be. I run might fairly close to what you have and I can push a bullet in by hand into a fired case. not the perfect way to judge clearance, but makes me feel better anyway.
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I'll bring calipers with me on the first shoot too, so I'll measure the ID of the neck after firing and see where it's at. Are you suggesting that if everything is ok, I'd have something like 204 or 205 on the ID?

With my conservative loads, new brass, and by watching what I'm doing VERY carefully, I'm feeling ok that I won't trash the brass or blow the gun up. I should have enough clearance.


This Borden Rimrock is smooth as butter (shout out to Jim, I've never felt an action that so smoothly cocked on closing; the timing feels perfect); I believe that I can feel the brass all the way into the chamber as I close the bolt. I'm curious if I'd feel a change in that smooth gliding action that would signal the neck is dirty and not to proceed without cleaning. I'm thinking I will wet patch/dry patch every 10 rounds or so and carefully feel for anything in the neck of the chamber.
 
Rockchuck said:
Chuckshooter what barrel lengths are you useing
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#1 is a cooper at 26"
#2 is a rem 40x at 22"
#3 and 4 are martini's at 24 1/2

I hate the 22" barrel and if I ever wear it out it will be either 24" or 26" not because of performance but it just looks stupid and ugly that short.

I don't think everyone is using the same definition of free bore.
 
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