I think I am geting warmer...

[alamo5000]

I have been tinkering around trying to develop a reload for my AR. I figure it's way cheaper than buying match ammo which costs almost a buck fifty per shot...

If I hunt around I can buy regular Wal Mart .223 for around .35 cents a round... for these reloads I am doing... I am paying about .38 cents including everything, but that can go down to .35 cents or cheaper once I start buying some components in bulk.

I was playing around trying to get something 'perfect' trying to use around 24.1 'ish' grains of varget under a 69 grain SMK bullet. It really wasnt working for me despite trying a several different loads...

I started analyzing my velocity tests... did a little math and bumped it up to 24.3 grains of Varget just out of curiosity's sake. I didn't really have the intention to shoot for a group today. A big storm is about 10 minutes out... its sprinkling now and was thundering the whole time, but I wanted to do a quick velocity test.

Below is a 10 shot group that I just shot 30 minutes ago. 100 yards. 8 of the 10 shots can be almost entirely covered by a dime(.7 inches). 2 flyers.

Barrel is a 16" Rainier Arms Select Medcon. Brass is mixed. I just checked and I used 3 different varieties of brass. No signs of over pressure...

I am making progress...

Also a quick disclaimer... on this test I did use a led sled... gotta keep it honest....

[velocity2006]

Pretty good results imo. Nice group.

[SINNER]

Bipod and a bag under the stock often yields better results then a sled personally. I just can't get comfortable on one. Very nice group IMO.

[alamo5000]

Pretty good results imo. Nice group.

I basically raced home to try and beat this storm... flew in the driveway... got my stuff... set it up ASAP and shot. I did not take my time to place shots or any of that. Then again I was using a led sled.

My intention was to test velocity mainly but I figured I might as well give myself a target.... I shot all 10 shots before I ever checked anything. I shot them in just a minute or so... maybe two at the most...so these were not carefully placed shots or anything but the results are encouraging me after a string of frustrating groups. I am going to try and toy with it some more and see what I can do. But to get 8 out of 10 shots literally on a dime at 100 yards is pretty good.

[alamo5000]

Bipod and a bag under the stock often yields better results then a sled personally. I just can't get comfortable on one. Very nice group IMO.

I figured out pretty quickly that the thing is pretty uncomfortable... but I figured out how to get a lot more comfortable with it. #1 rule, no ear muffs. Only ear plugs. I was also laying prone on the ground behind it... that seemed to help a lot.

Long story short though I am pretty happy with what I have done so far reload wise. If I stopped right now I would think the ammo would be pretty darn good. I was testing the ammo today, not me, so I broke out the sled. I will say it has come in mighty handy at times.

[Former11B]

Nice silver dime.

I didn't recall you had the medcon version of the Select match; I've got the full heavy profile. Even if they were identical a slight variation (.2gr) isn't enough to change the velocity significantly but maybe it was just the bump your blaster needed.

That's why I recommend the OCW method. It saves a lot of time and effort and lets you get closer in load charges so you don't have to ladder test to death wasting supplies.

[alamo5000]

Nice silver dime.

I didn't recall you had the medcon version of the Select match; I've got the full heavy profile. Even if they were identical a slight variation (.2gr) isn't enough to change the velocity significantly but maybe it was just the bump your blaster needed.

That's why I recommend the OCW method. It saves a lot of time and effort and lets you get closer in load charges so you don't have to ladder test to death wasting supplies.

Now that I am on this load I am going to tinker around the edges and see if I can do better. I did not take my time doing this test. If it ever stops raining I will do a much more controlled test. But now at least I am pretty confident in the direction I am going.

I might try 24.4 and 24.5 and see if the spread opens or closes and go from there.

My chrono isn't the best so I am going to try it again and compare notes. Next go round when I prep my brass I am going to pick out a bunch that are the same head stamp and see if that helps any.

But yeah, going from 24.1 to 24.3 seems to have made a difference.

[alamo5000]

Update: I just did a test similar to the one above. I tried 24.4 grains of Varget under the 69 grain SMK and the group pretty much sucked for my purposes. The spread was about where I was at with 24.1 grains.

It looks like somewhere around 24.3 grains is it. More testing still to be done though. I will keep ya'll posted.

[mustangfreek]

nice group.

My RA 18" Match loves 69gr SMK's and 24.9-25 grs of varget. have some Tac and a few others to play with, but MY load shoots right at or under a MOA so far with me and my crappy stock mil spec trigger

[Molon]

VihtaVuori powders work very well with the 69 grain MatchKing . . .






....

[alamo5000]

VihtaVuori powders work very well with the 69 grain MatchKing....

Which powder are you using Molon? I am still working on this one but i am getting closer. Before I get done I will shot map. 1st shot cold bore. 1st shot clean bore. 1st shot dirty bore....2nd 3rd 4th etc...

I think now that I made one load I can start fine tuning it and I might be able to make the load development process a lot smoother next time around.

I will buy some more brass but this time I want to get some that has the same head stamp. I don't know if it matters that much but it would be nice to use the same brass.

As it is though I am going to load up more rounds and stretch this rifles legs when I can get out to do it. I am going to go for 600 yards right out of the gate :)

[alamo5000]

nice group.

My RA 18" Match loves 69gr SMK's and 24.9-25 grs of varget. have some Tac and a few others to play with, but MY load shoots right at or under a MOA so far with me and my crappy stock mil spec trigger

Thank you! This test was done quite hastily so maybe it was a total fluke. LOL

I did cheat though because I used a led sled.

[alamo5000]

slight variation (.2gr) isn't enough to change the velocity significantly but maybe it was just the bump your blaster needed.

My scale is pretty accurate so I did tests at 24.1...24.12 ....24.14....24.16....24.18...etc. I chronoed 10 shot strings (or tried to but my chrono is crappy). None the less the rough data says .02 grains adds 7 to 8 fps. So based on a really rough test .1 grains adds about 35 to 40 fps in my rifle.

I don't think the results are linear but I did the math and that's how I jumped up to 24.3 grains. It was sheerly on averages and some math but it worked.

[Molon]

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[alamo5000]

....

I'm going to have to let that one sink in. LoL

I might need some translation into English.