Questions about 53 gr HP Match King bullets (Flat Base)

[privateer]

I am trying out some 53 grain Sierra Natch King bullets, they are .22 cal, flat base.

1. When I am seating the bullets, I have to hold the bullet in place with my hand until the dies contact the bullets to seat. With the BT type bullets they remain in place. I do taper the brass. Is there a trick to this? Am I missing something?

2. I tried a few loads, specifically - Using Varget @ 25.0 gr, 25.5 gr, 26.0gr, 26.5 gr, and 27 gr. Between 25.0 and 25.5 grains looks good. At 26 grains and above I'd get two in one hole then nothing. Couldn't figure it out until a couple of shots resulted in ugly tears. I am assuming that this means the bullets are spinning unstable? Is this correct? There were no signs of anything unusual with the primers or brass or bolt lift.

Any advice would be helpful. THanks.

Forgot to add. Shooting a Savage 1:9 twist barrel.

 

[fdshuster]

privateer: (1) I use a lot of the same 53 gr. Sierra's #1400, one of my favorites. By taper reaming do you mean using the K&M type reamer that cuts a gentle entry angle? If attempting to seat a flatbase bullet after using the case mouth deburring tool (looks like a rocket ship), made by RCBS,Lyman, etc. I could never get the flatbase bullets to "stand alone" straight on the mouth of the case. That tool will still leave a sharp edge on the inside of the case mouth causing the problem. With the K&M tool I'm able to cut a taper, 1/32" into the case from the edge of the mouth, then am able to sit, but not push the bullet into the case and it will hold the straight position. Initial seating will be very smooth without any undue seating pressure required. When seating boatail bullets the smooth entry angle is on the heel of the bullet, so it's not as much of a problem. (2) What cartridge? What weight bullets? Sounds like a mis-match between bullet weight/lengths and barrel twist rate. More info req'd.

 

[privateer]

FDS.

Thanks for the tip on seating. I am just using a simple Lee tool to taper the inside and outside of the case.

As far as question #2. Savage 12FV with a 26" stainless Savage barrel. Same 53gr bullet. RP brass, Federal Match primer. 2.285" OAL.

I was not expecting unstable bullets with a 1:9 twist barrel. Could I be doing something else wrong with the load?

 

[fdshuster]

privateer: If the Lee tool looks like the "rocket ship" it does not taper the inside of the mouth of the case, only breaks the sharp edge left after trimming. You may want to consider an inside taper neck reamer type tool, the K&M is my favorite, although others as sold by Holland, and Sinclairs shown on page 31 of their 2010-A catalog do the same job. The depth of the cut on the K&M is controlled by 3 pins that are adjustable and ride in the flutes of the cutter, and the tool is held straight by a long pin that passes thru the primer flash hole. After using the K&M I'm able to sit, not push the bullet on the case mouth, rotate the case so the bullet is pointing down, and it will not fall out of the case. Try that after using the Lee, or RCBS, Redding, etc. From your powder charges, sounds like the cartridge is the good old 223 Rem. and with a 9 twist, you may just be pushing the "little" 53 gr. at too high of a velocity at the 26 and above gr. loads. I've used those same bullets in my "nine" twists, but with a maximum of 25.5 grs. of Varget and had no problems. Light weight bullet, spun at a high RPM with the 9 twist could equal a "coming apart".

 

[privateer]

Thanks Frank. I will try a K&M tool.

As far as the .223 load goes you must be right.
25.0 grains yeilds a good group.
25.5 grains was better.
26.0 had 3 shots that were tight but definitely not perfectly round, the 4th round was nowhere on the paper, the 5th round was an ugly 1"x 1/2" tear.
26.5 and 27.0 grains only showed 3 shots out of five making it to the target.
No signs of overpressure on anything.

I'll fine tune it between 25.0 and 25.5 grains.

Thanks Again.

 

[fdshuster]

privateer: Yes, for me 25 to 25.5 grs. of Varget just seems to be a "magic" load combo that I use with all bullet weights up to and including the ever accurate (in all my 9 twists) 69 gr. Sierra HPBT MatchKing #1380. 25 grs. with the AR and 25.5 with my bolt guns. Might have something to do with case volumn versus powder type and charge, I don't know, all I know it is one of my most consistantly accurate load combinations. It would be interesting to run your 26+ gr. loads across a chronograph. A friend of mine is using that powder charge in his Tikka 223 and last Summer he took a little over 100 of our Pennsylvania groundhogs with it, using the 55 gr. V-Max, 12 twist barrel.

 

[jonbearman]

What gun are you shooting out of curiosity? Secondly you should buy aaaan rcbs or any inline seater which will seat the bullet correctly every time.Still use a very low drag reamer which lyman makes cheaper than the k&m tool.K&M is just alittle more costly that's all.If you can afford it go for it as there tools are like snap-on is to us grunt mechanics.

 

[Shynloco]

Just read your post from last week. I use 53 gr Sierra FB bullets in both my .223 Savage Model 12 VLP and my Ruger M77/MKII 22-250. I have always used an RCBS Chamber and Deburring Tool (RCBS #9350 - sells for $11.50 at Midway right now) in addition to the normal RCBS chamfering tool and that combo gives me needed slight angle/lip needed to easily seat those flat based bullets. I've also started using Wilson Dies which completely eliminates the hassle of having to hold those small bullets in place when seating and they also seat darn near perfectly with less than 2 thousands of variance on a runout check.

As for my load on my .223 that is a Tac Driver @100 yds, I use 26.6 gr of Vhita Vhori N133 for both 53 gr Sierra's as well as 55 Gr Sierra Blitzkings that shoot as well and sometime better than the 53's. Guess the difference sometimes is the shooter.