Savage 223 - 26" 1-7 twist - 53gr to 75gr - Varget/H4895 **UPDATED**

[IA_shooter]

Ok, so I have have the new gun bought. It's a Savage 12 VLPDBM .223 with a 26" 1-7 twist barrel .

I've got three hundred .223 Lapua brass and I have 55gr to 75gr bullets to start with and I have plenty of Varget and H4895 on hand. Anyone have personal experience along these lines with these bullets using Varget or H4895?

Thanks.

 

[MrMajestic]

Re: 223AI - 26" 1-7 twist - 82gr Berger - Varget

Varget is your friend! I run it with the 80 gr. A-Max loaded to 2.494" COL in my .223AI. Consistent 1/2 MOA and have killed Chucks with it to 435 yards. Not exactly what you were looking for but I hope this helps.

 

[scott_at_vortex]

Re: 223AI - 26" 1-7 twist - 82gr Berger - Varget

8208 and Benchmark will get you more velocity out of the 223AI. It really doesnt make much sense,but at the same weight charge Varget has lower velocity and shows more pressure. I have been shooting the 223AI for 7yrs now. I currently have a 28" 1/7 and a 22" 1/8 twist. I have pushed the 80amaxs up to 3180 out of both of them without a stiff bolt lift,blown primers, and just a slight ejector mark. However, it shot like crap ,but it sure was fast. I currently run 24.5 of 8208 right around 3000fps and it is capable of shooting in the 0's. Just my 2 cents

Best Regards
Scott

 

[IA_shooter]

Re: 223AI - 26" 1-7 twist - 82gr Berger - Varget

I've got a few pounds of Varget to use up, so that's what I'll try first but I may have to explore 1 or 2 other powders as well I suppose. Benchmark and 8208 huh? I'll keep them on my list to possibly try out.

 

[Down South]

Re: 223AI - 26" 1-7 twist - 82gr Berger - Varget

I've got a few pounds of Varget to use up, so that's what I'll try first but I may have to explore 1 or 2 other powders as well I suppose. Benchmark and 8208 huh? I'll keep them on my list to possibly try out.

H4895 should work well also.

 

[IA_shooter]

Re: 223AI - 26" 1-7 twist - 82gr Berger - Varget

I've got a few pounds of Varget to use up, so that's what I'll try first but I may have to explore 1 or 2 other powders as well I suppose. Benchmark and 8208 huh? I'll keep them on my list to possibly try out.

H4895 should work well also.

I've got some of that on hand as well. Thanks. ;D

Just need to find a box each of the 75 and 80 grain A-Max bullets to try out for some load development now and see which will shoot better for me.

 

[eric n]

Re: 223AI - 26" 1-7 twist - 82gr Berger - Varget

I burned a lot of varget trying to get it to work with the 75s but never could get where I wanted.
R 15 ended up working well for me out of a 24'' barrel, 3050fps and incredible accuracy. I've always wanted to try 8208 but I don't think I can gain anymore and it is impossible to find locally. We are swimming in varget around here though... go figure.

 

[LitLBoy]

Re: 223AI - 26" 1-7 twist - 82gr Berger - Varget

+1 on the 8208

 

[Ltdshooter]

Re: 223AI - 26" 1-7 twist - 82gr Berger - Varget

Running 25.6 gr of 8208 XBR with a 80gr Berger VLD at right around 3000 in my 223AI. 26" Bartlein w/7.5 TW. No pressure issues and real accurate!

 

[IA_shooter]

Re: 223AI - 26" 1-7 twist - 82gr Berger - Varget

I'll have to keep an eye out for the 8208 I guess.

I'll use up the Varget for fire forming maybe?

 

[Linko]

Re: 223AI - 26" 1-7 twist - 82gr Berger - Varget

I burned a lot of varget trying to get it to work with the 75s but never could get where I wanted.
R 15 ended up working well for me out of a 24'' barrel, 3050fps and incredible accuracy. I've always wanted to try 8208 but I don't think I can gain anymore and it is impossible to find locally. We are swimming in varget around here though... go figure.

Swimming in Varget. Where are you. Real hard to find in florida.

 

[eric n]

Re: 223AI - 26" 1-7 twist - 82gr Berger - Varget

I burned a lot of varget trying to get it to work with the 75s but never could get where I wanted.
R 15 ended up working well for me out of a 24'' barrel, 3050fps and incredible accuracy. I've always wanted to try 8208 but I don't think I can gain anymore and it is impossible to find locally. We are swimming in varget around here though... go figure.

Swimming in Varget. Where are you. Real hard to find in florida.

Southern California.
It's like a scavenger hunt around here looking for primers, I can't even remember what 205m's look like.
5 shops in a row had varget, but the 8208 goes fast. I suppose that's pretty telling of how it works

 

[IA_shooter]

Re: 223AI - 26" 1-7 twist - 82gr Berger - Varget

As an update......I'm going to start with 75 grain A-Max bullets.

I'd also like to try a lighter bullet that will handle the 1-7 twist. Any suggestions? I'm wondering if I can shoot the 60 grain V-max out of it, or would the lightest I want to try in it be a 69 or 70 grain?

 

[MrMajestic]

Re: 223AI - 26" 1-7 twist - 60gr to 82gr - Varget

53 gr. V-Max would be a good one to try. You won't have to worry about spinning it too fast in a .223AI. My upcoming 8tw .22-.284 might be some concern! ;D

 

[IA_shooter]

Re: 223AI - 26" 1-7 twist - 60gr to 82gr - Varget

53 gr. V-Max would be a good one to try. You won't have to worry about spinning it too fast in a .223AI. My upcoming 8tw .22-.284 might be some concern! ;D

I'm hesitant to even try a 53 grain bullet in a 26" 1-7 twist but I guess I'm no expert so trying a few wouldn't hurt I guess. I do have a few hundred 55 grain Nosler ballistic tips on hand and I can give them a whirl I guess.

 

[Geno C]

Re: 223AI - 26" 1-7 twist - 60gr to 82gr - Varget

You might be pleasantly surprised how a lighter bullet performs out of a fast twist barrel. I've seen them shoot extremely well in twists that you would never think should work... Like 40gr out of a 7!

 

[IA_shooter]

Re: 223AI - 26" 1-7 twist - 60gr to 82gr - Varget

You might be pleasantly surprised how a lighter bullet performs out of a fast twist barrel. I've seen them shoot extremely well in twists that you would never think should work... Like 40gr out of a 7!

Really? Wow, I would have never even thought to try something that light in a 7 twist. I may have to re-think what I may want to try in this gun. I was planning on getting it reamed to Ackley Improved, and I probably still will, but I may have to try some 50-55 grain projectiles out of this gun as is just to see what kind of speed/performance I can get out of it before having it reamed right away.

This gun is going to have one main purpose.......shooting small critters out to 500+ yards accurately and if I can get what I want in results out of it "as is" with just a nice bedding job, it already has pillars, then I might choose to shoot this thing "as is" for a while, maybe quite a while. I may be surprised at the speed and accuracy of this 26" heavy varmint fluted Savage barrel pushing 50-60 grain bullets, we'll see I guess.

 

[acloco]

Re: 223AI - 26" 1-7 twist - 60gr to 82gr - Varget

IAShooter - PM sent.

 

[IA_shooter]

Re: 223AI - 26" 1-7 twist - 60gr to 82gr - Varget

I want to find a good load for PD's and I'm thinking about trying the 55-60 grain ballistic tipped bullets. I have a few hundred Nosler 55 grains on hand and plan on getting some Hornady 55 and 60 grain V-max bullets to try as well. I've got 300 pcs of new Lapua brass and I hope to come up with a bullet/load combo that will do really well out to around 600 yards or better in the heavier bullets.

I checked my rifle to see how well the 75 grain A-Max would fit w/o being too far down in the case and it looks like I can use the 75's ok but nothing any longer and still get the base of the bullet where it steps down into the boat tail right at the bottom of the neck/shoulder junction, which is where I'd like it to be, but I'll have to be very close to the lands which is probably what I want anyway. It looks like the 60 to 60-some grain bullets will fit the best to be able to play with seating depth a little w/o the bullets being too far forward or back in the case.

It will be fun to play with this new rifle and the various bullets with a few different powders etc and see how well I can get it to shoot. I'll update how things are going as this all lays out over the next few months.

BTW.......I have a Sightron SIII 8-32X56 LRD scope on it's way to put on top of this beautiful rifle. I'll try to get a few pics up soon.

Trevor

 

[IA_shooter]

Re: 223AI - 26" 1-7 twist - 60gr to 82gr - Varget

Changed my mind about having this reamed out to AI right away, I'm going to wait and see how well it shoots as is for now and will probably have it reamed later or if it shoots well enough I may just leave it alone and buy an aftermarket 223AI barrel at a later date.

Couple pics of it..................