seating depth for .223 JLK VLD's?

[CT10ring]

I am still trying to understand how to seat JLK VLD's.in new Rem 700 action 1:8 lilja barrel. I tried RL-15 24.5g 1st, as I had & want to use,up). No real luck, 5/8" @ 100 yds was best I could do & varying seating depths. Switched to Varget-better! Best group so far in new barrel is attached photo- about .325" w/o my errant 5th shot to left. May not be my best shooting ever, so will try again. I will try at 300 yds this week. 30 rounds total with this rifle. 20X scope @ 20X.

Question for any VLD users--I got best group jamming .223 VLD 80 g hard into lands-probably .035"-.040". I could barely close the bolt of my Rem 700-- primers slightly cratered, no sticky bolt at all, primers not particularly flattened. Is it customary to jam so hard into lands, typical for VLD's. .... No chrono testing so far.

When i backed off OAL from 2.510" to 2.505", primers were not cratered at all...,?!)& group opened up to 5/8"...

Anyone have thoughts on jamming vlds, safety issues, etc. Also, should I expect the VLD's to be better / worse / average accuracy wise at 100 yds & excel at 300-600 yds? opinions appreciated.
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[CT10ring]

Thanks for the quick reply. Nice shooting rifle you have; I hear only good things about Savages Mod 12. I will continue my testing & see what I come up with.
I may pick up some VVN-540, also. Not going to sweat the primer thing.

 

[js223]

gunamonth, I want to thank you for the info on seating depth for the Berger 75 VLD. I had also tried it in a Model 12, but results were not as good as yours. Best was .344", was only running them in 010 or so. Also tried good brass,Lapua) but no improvement at that time.

With your good results in mind, I loaded up 5 in Lapua brass, with Re15 and Rem 7 1/2 as they'd had best prior results. But, this time seated about 035 into the rifling. Well, it helped alright. These 5 went into a group over 30% smaller than the best prior one for this bullet. True its only 1 group, but I think it means you have the right idea on these. Definitely warrants further testing.

CT, I too had heard that VLD's don't work until 300 yds. I think evidence to the contrary resides many places, including the pics on this thread.

 

[tenring]

Each chamber/bullet combination is different. Some like lots of jam, others prefer to jump. But. . .pressures go up with more jam. I have a M12 .223 LRPV. With 80 gr. Berger VLD's, I had been jamming .020". I recently moved bullet .010" lower, and it improved accuracy. You need to select a powder/bullet combination, stay with it, then load various OAL's and try them until you find the sweet spot.

 

[CT10ring]

Greetings, all. I went back to one of my original loads for the 80g JLK in my .223 bolt.
group is about .290". Not a target reticle so better accuracy may be possible...

This is a .223 Rem 700 ADL, Lilja 26" Sendero contour, Lapua brass, CCI BR-4 primer,
Varget 24.5g. OAL is 2.510"-jammed about .035 into lands. Had to "mash" the bolt closed at this bullet OAL...100 yds prone on bags.

I had advice that the 24.5 load was possibly too hot, but less powder gives less tight groups at same OAL...the bullet is slightly compressing the powder-no drop tube used to load. Tried RL-15 but Varget shoots tighter.

In my limited experience, I will say fired primers are good, no sticky bolt or other indications of a too hot load. I will try longer distances soon & post info.

Thanks for the info, all & pix. Hope this is of use.