My 20 Vartarg custom

[Evan]

Yesterday was terribly windy: gusting, changing directions from 2 to 3 o'clock, blowing the flags at an upward angle, but pretty warm at 50 degrees (today it is snowing, like Colorado does...). It was very challenging and the groups I shot reflected that. I have to say, the 55 Berger is an amazing bullet and this rifle loves them. At 300 yards, in strong wind, the 55 is NOTICEABLY better than a 40Vmax, despite a 500fps deficit:

The first target is 17.4gns of H4198 with the Bergers seated to "450" on the micrometer seater (~0.010 out of the lands). "400" on the micro shot very similar, so the Berger seems to be very easy going on the seat depth and doesn't seem to mind a jump. That little cluster measures ~0.65" with the one shot doubling that. The flier was definitely me breaking the trigger as my flag at 225yards dropped.

For comparison, here is my best 40 Vmax target:

Note the fifth shot way over on the next target over. This was with 18.4gns of H4198, known to run ~3600fps. WAY different.

And for a little context, here are 2 - 5shot groups from my 22BR, 85.5 Bergers rocking along at 3200fps:

Strangely, once again, the little 20 Vartarg is punching WAY above its weight and shooting smaller than cartridges with vastly superior ballistics.

I'm really glad that after last weekend I came home and ordered 1000 more 55 Bergers from Grafs. I'm thinking about ordering a couple thousand more after yesterday. They just shoot sooo well. For giggles, I may try them at 1000yards on a calm day. They should still be moving at 1400fps way out there, although they will be very sensitive to wind. I'd just be really pleased to make hits at 1000yards with such a tiny bullet and 17gns of powder!

 

[Evan]

So for fun, here are two other 55gn groups I put up that day at the "400" and "425" seating depth:

Due to the wind, I didn't get a real clear feeling of how these may have shot differently. I'll need to repeat it on a calm day and see what shakes out!

I also am thinking about stepping over to a slower powder and working up again. 17.4gns of H4198 is just under max and I've got room in the case still. I'm thinking that Ramshot Xterminator, as a fine, slower ball-type powder, may be worth a try. I'll be able to pack a lot of it in there and maybe see some additional velocity. All depends on the accuracy though!

 

[Evan]

I'm experimenting with annealing again. Last real experiment was with propane a while back. I have access to an industrial induction heater at work so I rigged this up real quick and ran 100 cases through:

Drop a case in the top of the coil, it drops down into the acrylic holder (made with scraps), and I run it for 3 seconds at 200A (the system has its own timed control). Flip the pivot to the side with one hand, dropping the brass into the water and then drop another case in with the free hand. 100 cases took about 20 minutes with setup and approximately 5 second cycle time.

I'll pay close attention to bullet seating consistency, and compare the resulting groups to my normal results with un-annealed cases.

 

[Justin B]

Curious how the annealed brass will do

 

[Evan]

Went shooting today, and you can see my results here: http://forum.accurateshooter.com/threads/my-new-22br.3981971/page-3#post-37735596

Had some real nice luck with the 39 Sierras and the 40 VMax today behind 18gns of H4198. Groups in the 1.7" range. More drift than my 22BR, but they grouped much tighter. Here's the beauty of the day:

3 together, then 4 and 5 shifted. Headwinds are difficult to shoot in...

 

[Evan]

55 Bergers shoot really really nicely in this rifle:

250 yards, pretty windy, and I got several groups like above, in the 0.8" up to 1" range. I managed to pull off one great group before deciding to pack it in for the day due to the rising heat and wind creating bad mirage:

This one is 0.45" which isn't too bad; I think the math works out to ~0.18 MOA.

This rifle is just a hoot! I need to try it on a calm morning at 600. I think it's got 1.5" at 600 in it with these 55 Bergers. By JBM, they cross 1000yds at 1400fps - still very safely supersonic. I may give that a try too, if it's a calm morning...

 

[Evan]

Went out with all my reloading stuff today to run some ladders with different powders and the 55 Bergers:
I want to STRONGLY caution that the top loads shown in this graph are very high pressure and not safe. Do not use them; they are only shown here for reference with the picture below!
All loads are with Lapua 221 Fireball Brass, CCI 450 primers, and 55gn Bergers loaded 0.010" into the lands.

The two pieces with Xs are done. 1 shot and trashed. Stiff bolt lift and ejector smears, extruded and flattened primers.Those are the top loads of AA2200 and X-Terminator listed above in a full custom rifle with a small firing pin and firing pin hole. I'm certain these would blank primers and cause devastation in a less optimal setup. The third piece of brass was loaded 0.4gns down from the top, showing an ejector swipe (bright shiny spot between the 221 and Lapua on the headstamp in picture) where most reasonable individuals would have stopped. I wasn't watching it carefully enough and pushed it too far today.

Now that I know the limits, I'll do some load development with AA2200 and X-Terminator to see if accuracy is good with either. The speed was phenomenal! Who would have thought such a tiny little case could sling the 55 so fast!

 

[Ramblerman]

Went out with all my reloading stuff today to run some ladders with different powders and the 55 Bergers:
View attachment 1177892 I want to STRONGLY caution that the top loads shown in this graph are very high pressure and not safe. Do not use them; they are only shown here for reference with the picture below!
All loads are with Lapua 221 Fireball Brass, CCI 450 primers, and 55gn Bergers loaded 0.010" into the lands.
View attachment 1177893
The two pieces with Xs are done. 1 shot and trashed. Stiff bolt lift and ejector smears, extruded and flattened primers.Those are the top loads of AA2200 and X-Terminator listed above in a full custom rifle with a small firing pin and firing pin hole. I'm certain these would blank primers and cause devastation in a less optimal setup. The third piece of brass was loaded 0.4gns down from the top, showing an ejector swipe (bright shiny spot between the 221 and Lapua on the headstamp in picture) where most reasonable individuals would have stopped. I wasn't watching it carefully enough and pushed it too far today.

Now that I know the limits, I'll do some load development with AA2200 and X-Terminator to see if accuracy is good with either. The speed was phenomenal! Who would have thought such a tiny little case could sling the 55 so fast!

Wow!

 

[Evan]

Wow!

Yeah. More than I was expecting. 3250fps with AA2200 is sustainable, I'll just have to see if it is accurate. It's way more speed than I had hoped for when originally thinking about the 55 in the 20 Vartarg. I was honestly excited about the 3100fps I was at with H4198.

 

[Tiratore]

Went shooting today, and you can see my results here: http://forum.accurateshooter.com/threads/my-new-22br.3981971/page-3#post-37735596

Had some real nice luck with the 39 Sierras and the 40 VMax today behind 18gns of H4198. Groups in the 1.7" range. More drift than my 22BR, but they grouped much tighter. Here's the beauty of the day:
View attachment 1164566
3 together, then 4 and 5 shifted. Headwinds are difficult to shoot in...

How are your primer pockets holding up? Is the case head on the Lapua cases getting larger?

 

[Evan]

How are your primer pockets holding up? Is the case head on the Lapua cases getting larger?

Well the two pictured ones above can't be sized enough to chamber, so the head expanded a lot. The rest are all fine. I don't have a bunch of firings on them yet to tell just got hard they are on the brass. I'm shooting 19.4gns of AA2200 and 21gns of X-Terminator with no signs of trouble. The lighter H4198 loads are all conservative and don't bother the brass either.

 

[steve123]

That'd be cool to see how those 55's do at 600Y, and farther!

I was hitting a 15" sized rock at 650Y with 32's at 3750 fps but the wind would blow them off too easy.

A 1' round steel plate wasn't much of a challenge at 500Y.

I might have to consider a fast twist later on at some point!

 

[Evan]

Ran a CCI 450 vs 400 experiment last weekend at 150yds and found across the board that the 450 shot smaller:

Any dot with two groups on it is a 450 vs 400. Had a two different powders: IMR4198 and X terminator. The smaller group on each dot is the CCI 450. Pretty conclusive, if a bit disappointing. I have about 5000 CCI 400 primers I inherited from my Grandpa. I think he bought them in the 80s. Nothing I've tried them in likes them very much. I have some Remington 7.5, 205m and some 205mAR to try next.

I could say it was gusty wind that day, but honestly it just felt like an off day. Kept breaking the shot as wind changed, mishandled the rifle, the whole gamut of things. I really like this rifle and the 20 Vartarg though because the bullet goes right where I think it will. The rifle does what I do.

Small group of the day:

measured at 0.20" which is too bad at all! 55gn Berger, seated 0.010" in the lands behind 21gns of X-Terminator.

Worst group of the day was 0.78" which isn't terrible.

 

[L.Sherm]

7.5 and 450's are my go to primers in all my SR primer cartridges, I've never found 400 to be as good.

 

[chuckshooter]

7.5 and 450's are my go to primers in all my SR primer cartridges, I've never found 400 to be as good.

absolutely 100% yes

 

[gtbcolo]

7.5 & 450's for my 20VT also. Thanks for posting your test results. Always enjoy reading them.

 

[Tiratore]

All are 5-shot, 100 yd. groups with Federal 205M.

 

[Evan]

Conditions were very challenging today, but things are looking pretty good. 150yards, stead 10mph with gusty 15mph wind:

These groups are all switching between Rem 7.5 and CCI400 primers. In general, all the smallest groups are the Rem 7.5. Smallest of the day measures 0.23 inches or about 0.15 MOA?

ONE BIG THING TO NOTE: 19.2gns of AA2200 behind a 55gn Berger is just over MAX! When the barrel is cool and temps in the 70s, no swipes and smooth bolt lift with everything looking safe. I left one in the chamber for a minute or so today while waiting for the wind condition to change after a string of 5 shots, and it had a very stiff bolt lift and a hard swipe on the head after I shot it. This was at 83 degrees. This load is just too close to the edge. Thankfully, 19gns appears to be just as or maybe more accurate, so I'll just back down.

Bottom row of 5-shot groups is my 22BR with 95SMK. Something weird afoot today because I was seeing massive vertical stringing that is normally not there!

 

[Evan]

Today went pretty well. 150yards and breezy, started out at 70 and crept up to 80 by the time I called it a day at 10. High humidity.

IMR4198 shoots very small with the CCI400. Opposite of AA2200, where the Rem 7.5 shot smaller:

The group on the left is 17gns of IMR4198, 55 Berger, Rem 7.5 primers. The group on the right is the same load with CCI400.

Just for fun, here's how I was set up today. I pulled off the limbsaver to put on my new rifle that's coming and fashioned a new metal buttplate out of some 0.120" aluminum sheet. I also lowered the drop some so that it more closley matches my 22BR and I don't have to keep adjusting the rest when I switch out between rifles.

 

[Evan]

Just wanted to update this thread. 19gns of IMR-3031 behind a 55gn Berger performed quite well at 300 yards today with no pressure signs. Despite tricky conditions (10mph wind swinging 4 to 8 o'clock) it grouped at an inch. Bad news: 19gns is full to the top and crunchy (3031 is bulky), although my shotmarker said it was hitting the target at 2500fps, which backing that out with JBM suggests maybe a muzzle velocity of 3150fps, so that's a healthy speed. I need to bring out my magnetospeed and see what it actually is. Regardless, it shot well and I think with some more tinkering and a day with calmer conditions, it will show me something really exciting.