sierra 40gr hp varminter in .224cal

[leadchucker62]

good day all:i have a 1975 vintage rem m788 in .222rem with a freefloated barrel,timney trigger(3.25lbs) and a bushnell 3x9 trophy scope.
and its a real tackdriver with my smallest group@.328".
i usually load hornady 50 gr v-maxes or spsx's.
the powders i have are h4198,imr3031,imr4895.
i just bought a box of sierra 40gr varminter in .224 cal.i have never loaded a bullet this lite for my .222 and was wondering what kind of performance i can expect ie..accuracy,velocity and down range destruction of furry little pests.
also can some one suggest any loads in the afformentioned powders.
any help would be greatly appreciated

thanks Z

 

[moorepower]

It will work great. I prefer the 50's, but have used the 40 grainers with very good splat factor. RL-7 and H322 would be where I would start.

 

[Ackman]

My 788 is also from that walnut stock era. It was a 222 and I shot those 40gr Sierras until the barrel was gone. The accuracy load was T-32 powder, a fast lot of H322 that hasn't been available for years. With that 40gr bullet the powder charge was exactly the same as used in .223's with a 50. This was in the 80's but if I remember correctly, velocity was about 3700 with very good accuracy. A lot of critters got splattered with that load. Probably a bunch of different powders would be good. The loading manuals are full of suggestions. Today I'd try AA2015, VV133, maybe some H322.