.222 Rem. VLS

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  • Last Post 06 August 2015
PETE posted this 08 July 2015

Figured since the .223 was going to be in the shop for a while I thought I'd play with my rem. .222 VLS and see what an NOE 60 gr. bullet would do. I've had the mold for a while but this is the first time I've tried it out.  Trying out this bullet with 2400 which worked well with a SAECO 60 grainer. Thought this might be of interest to others. If so, I'll keep posting what I come up with. Somewhere around 9 grs. should show the best results. Will come back to this powder after I try a few others. Pete

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onondaga posted this 08 July 2015

http://castbulletassoc.org/view_user.php?id=59>PETE

The Lyman Cast Bullet Handbook, 4th Edition (the most recent) lists the Saco 60 gr in 222 Rem and highlights 1680 powder as the choice for best accuracy with 9.8 gr/1603 fps START to 16.0 gr/2403 fps MAXIMUM with bullets cast in #2 alloy. The load is on page 107 in the book. 

5744 is highlighted for a Lyman 225646 cast 55 gr bullet.

2400 is highlighted for the 44 gr Lyman 225438 and  the 55 gr Lyman 225415.

Pete, I believe the bullet fit is more important than selecting among 1680, 2400 and 5744. If your bullet slides into the throat and is seated to positively engage the ball seat, any of these powders is competitive in a decent rifle with a polished bore.

Gary

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PETE posted this 08 July 2015

Gary,

Agree completely. But I think your missing the point of what I try and do when working with a given rifle and bullet.

My experimenting is to take a rifle and mold anyone can buy off the shelf and see what I can get it to do.

Lets take an example.... This rifle, as it came from the factory with no “tweaks", and the mold bought from Midway, gave the following results with 2400 and the Lyman 225462. (60 grs. out of WW's) using the same powder charges as I used today. 5 shot groups at 100 yds.

8.5 grs. - 1 3/16” - 1737.3 fps 9.0 grs. - 7/8” ---- 1814.5 fps 9.5 grs. - 1 5/16” - 1907 fps 10.0 grs. - 1 1/16” - 1973.2 fps - 4 in 9/16"

Probably the Lyman bullet fits better than the NOE, but according to the latest thinking on this forum the NOE bullet is as close to a perfect fit as I've seen.

But. Again. I'm trying to see what this NOE bullet can be made to do. I fit doesn't work out in my rifle at least I have a “Go-To” bullet and powder to fall back on.

Finally..... Lets give the powder recommendations a rest. I have enuf powder choices to last me a lifetime of testing sitting on the shelf. To recommend powders that are not available around here at this time is just a waste of time.

Pete

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onondaga posted this 08 July 2015

Looking good Pete, I have the Lyman 225646 and it is my only .22 mold. It shoots for me and I got it from MidwayUsa too. So, it is my favorite! Mine weigh 59 gr all up in #2 alloy.

Gary

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PETE posted this 09 July 2015

Gary,

Thanks for the encouragement.

Looking thru the past records on the Rem. VLS I see that way back on 6/7/12 I shot 6 groups with 53 gr. Berger jacketed bullets. On my other thread someone asked what the gun would do with jacketed to see if it was accurate enuf to get decent results with cast. But I'd never shot the Savage with jacketed so couldn't give any info.

Before the question comes up.... Here's what I came up with the Rem. Remember this is strictly a stock gun with no alterations to “improve” accuracy.

Powder is 3031. All groups shot the same day and at 100 yds. Temp. ran from 72 to 77 deg.'s and the wind was from 12 o'clock, calm to 5 mph.

21.0 Grs. - 5/8” - 2680.1 fps 21.2 grs. - 5/8” - 2771.1 fps 21.4 grs. - 9/16” - 2806.8 fps 21.6 grs. - 1/2" 21.8 grs. - 11/16” - 2883.3 fps 22.0 grs. - 3/4” - 2927.6 fps

Not great but pretty decent for a stock gun.

Pete

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tturner53 posted this 11 July 2015

Good report. If it works in your Rem. .222 then it should work in my SPS Varmint .223. 12” twist in both, I believe. Been working with RL7 but you got me looking at another run with 2400. Gary's right about fit but it's fun to try different powders. My 26” SPS shoots about the same as your VLS. I've thought about replacing the cheap stock and trigger but anything around .5MOA is good enough for me (jacketed I mean)

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PETE posted this 11 July 2015

tturner,

The 2400 test is the first of a few tryouts with several different powders I've got that have worked with other molds of approximately the same wgt. Next on the list is 4227. If the weather holds up that'll be Wednesday or Thursday.

Pete

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Loren Barber posted this 05 August 2015

These groups are remarkable for 100 yd with a 22 cal projectile.

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PETE posted this 06 August 2015

Thanks for the comments Loren although the “gurus” on here seem to think there not to hot. I'll agree! Further testing showed a lot better groups. But it's time to get back to the .223 since the Savage is out of the repair shop.

Pete

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