This....the only 224 bullet I have tried lately that shoots besides a Berger. Varmageddon's are not expensive bullets to boot, but they sure shoot good for me. I also have to say, 5/8" groups for a factory barrel is fantastic these days. I don't know what you believe a factory barrel should do {well, yeah, they should do .250" but dream on} but if they all did 5/8" or better I think most of the custom barrel makers would close down. I personally haven't seen a factory barrel shoot under 5/8" in about 20 years.
When to throw in the towel?
- Thread starter grovey
- Start date
This....the only 224 bullet I have tried lately that shoots besides a Berger. Varmageddon's are not expensive bullets to boot, but they sure shoot good for me. I also have to say, 5/8" groups for a factory barrel is fantastic these days. I don't know what you believe a factory barrel should do {well, yeah, they should do .250" but dream on} but if they all did 5/8" or better I think most of the custom barrel makers would close down. I personally haven't seen a factory barrel shoot under 5/8" in about 20 years.
According to the ballistic calculator It drifts 2 1/4" less than a 50 gr vmax @ 300 yds if the listed bc is correct.
Glad to hear those varmageddon's shoot well for you guys. I may see how mine likes those as a cheaper option. Msinc we all get lucky at the bench sometimes, but if I said what my best two groups out of this gun were you'd really think I'm full of it. Those tiny groups sure keep you wanting more though.
Ledd Slinger
Silver $$ Contributor
Although I hardly own any factory barreled rifles these days, I've never had much of an issue getting them to shoot 1/2 MOA or better...eventually. One of the most accurate groups I have ever fired at 100 yards was with an all factory original TC Venture rifle in 7mm Rem Mag using 168gr Bergers. It shot a 0.133" group and a second 0.178" group to confirm the accuracy. Hadn't even bedded the action!!! Crazy...
The advantage I find with my big name custom barrels is the amount of forgiveness you will find. The accuracy nodes are much wider. With most factory barrels I've used in years past, I may find an amazingly accurate load, but if I mess up the charge weight .1 to .2 gr in either direction, the accuracy starts going south. OR if the speed of the bullet changes with a big temperature swing, I'm doomed. After tuning a good custom barrel, I usually don't have to be overly concerned with big temperature swings or using a $1200 scale with each thrown charge weight to ensure the accuracy stays consistent
The advantage I find with my big name custom barrels is the amount of forgiveness you will find. The accuracy nodes are much wider. With most factory barrels I've used in years past, I may find an amazingly accurate load, but if I mess up the charge weight .1 to .2 gr in either direction, the accuracy starts going south. OR if the speed of the bullet changes with a big temperature swing, I'm doomed. After tuning a good custom barrel, I usually don't have to be overly concerned with big temperature swings or using a $1200 scale with each thrown charge weight to ensure the accuracy stays consistent
I'll agree with that in this rifle. My best load had me chasing my tail to duplicate some days. As you mentioned a .1 change in charge opened the group more than one would think.
The 53gr Vmax is a good bullet for the reason you mentioned. Excellent BC for a fast and light bullet.
I see two possible issues from what you posted about your rifle. First is the most relevant and probably the most factual. That is that a 1-12 won't really stabilize a 53 Vmax very well. A 1-9 no issues, even a 1-10 works, but 1-12 is marginal and I think you would find your results will only get worse the further from 100yds you go.
Second issue is, how much accuracy to expect from a factory barrel. I would be thrilled with <1/2" groups from a factory barrel. That's definitely better than average already. The good news is if it's shooting that well with the 53 vmax, you should have great luck with the 52 or 53 grain match kings.
I see two possible issues from what you posted about your rifle. First is the most relevant and probably the most factual. That is that a 1-12 won't really stabilize a 53 Vmax very well. A 1-9 no issues, even a 1-10 works, but 1-12 is marginal and I think you would find your results will only get worse the further from 100yds you go.
Second issue is, how much accuracy to expect from a factory barrel. I would be thrilled with <1/2" groups from a factory barrel. That's definitely better than average already. The good news is if it's shooting that well with the 53 vmax, you should have great luck with the 52 or 53 grain match kings.
Ledd Slinger
Silver $$ Contributor
I personally haven't had any luck with Hornady bullets being consistent. They can be accurate, then I get that unexplainable flyer. Not a manufacturer that you can trust by pulling and loading bullets blindly from the box
I sorted a bunch of 6.5mm Berger VLD, Hornady A-Max, and Hornady BTHP Match bullets years ago to compare a small sample and get an idea of the consistency. 100 bullets of each.
All were sorted into weight groups of +/- 0.2gr and length from base to ogive of +/- .001".
The Horandy bullets didnt even come close to the Berger consistency. I think i had to make 4 or 5 different piles with the BTHP match bullets and 3 piles with the A-Max. The Berger VLD's were amazingly consistent. I had 2 piles. The 2nd 'out-of-spec' pile only had TWO bullets!!! In the box of 100 Berger VLDs, only two of them fell outside my measuring range which gave them a 98% consistency rating in the window I set. One bullet that missed the mark was only off by .1gr weight, the other by 0.001" length
The A-Max had about an 80% consistency with a second pile of about 15 bullets close to spec and a third pile of 5 bullets way out of spec. The Hornady BTHP Match bullets were so bad it wasn't even funny. Think it was only 62% consistency in that window and some of them were so far out if spec I wouldn't have considered using them in a sling shot! "Match" bullets my ass! Lol
I sorted a bunch of 6.5mm Berger VLD, Hornady A-Max, and Hornady BTHP Match bullets years ago to compare a small sample and get an idea of the consistency. 100 bullets of each.
All were sorted into weight groups of +/- 0.2gr and length from base to ogive of +/- .001".
The Horandy bullets didnt even come close to the Berger consistency. I think i had to make 4 or 5 different piles with the BTHP match bullets and 3 piles with the A-Max. The Berger VLD's were amazingly consistent. I had 2 piles. The 2nd 'out-of-spec' pile only had TWO bullets!!! In the box of 100 Berger VLDs, only two of them fell outside my measuring range which gave them a 98% consistency rating in the window I set. One bullet that missed the mark was only off by .1gr weight, the other by 0.001" length
The A-Max had about an 80% consistency with a second pile of about 15 bullets close to spec and a third pile of 5 bullets way out of spec. The Hornady BTHP Match bullets were so bad it wasn't even funny. Think it was only 62% consistency in that window and some of them were so far out if spec I wouldn't have considered using them in a sling shot! "Match" bullets my ass! Lol
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If this is a hunting rifle, go forth and slay stuff. Barlow
searcher
Gold $$ Contributor
i love to experiment and it seems my life as a shooter and re-loader has centered around never-ending load development. I have worked up loads for a multitude of .223's, a number of them being 1-9 twist, and the majority for 50 to 55 grain v-max bullets for varmints. When i start with a new rig of a friend or myself, I now automatically go to my favorite loads with RL7, 8208XBR or LT-32. i'd say around 90% of them shoot one of these three best - most often the LT-32 by a 40% margin. These powders are not the best in always getting the best velocity - but if you want absolute accuracy, these are what I would try. The RL-7 is a bit temperature sensitive - despite what is said otherwise, at least from my experience, but can be amazing when throttled back just off max load. If I could only have one powder for light varmint bullets - it would be LT-32. If you haven't tried it, you might give it a shot.
+1...
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