kilotanker22
New member
So I finally found a bullet/Powder combo that shows promise in my Ruger American Ranch rifle.
69 grain Sierra Tipped Match King, with a pretty stout charge of Varget.
Warning! The following load data is listed as a maximum load in the Lyman 50th manual using different brass, primer and bullet of the same weight. Use at your own risk! This is a pretty hot load in my rifle and may not be safe in your rifle.
Ruger American Ranch Rifle 16" barrel
69 grain Tipped Match King loaded .025" from the lands.
COAL is 2.470"
26 grains of Hodgdon Varget
CCI 400 primer
Norma 223 Remington case fire formed and trimmed to 1.750"
Using a full length sizing die and bumping the shoulder back .002". Which coincidentally is fully sized.
Average Velocity: 2830 fps
SD 12 fps I don't remember what the ES was, but it was around 30 fps.
My first 5 rounds went into a .3" group. the second 5 shots in the group opened it up to .9" for a ten round group. I can live with that. I am certain the rifle and load would shoot better, but I was not the steadiest today and I shot these groups at 6x magnification. at that magnification the crosshair takes up the entire bullseye.
I am very happy to get a sub one inch ten round group and 2830 fps from a 16 inch barrel.
I would like to see a tighter SD, but since all of the other loads I have tested with this rifle have had an SD of at least 20 fps and the fact that I will likely never shoot this particular rifle in this configuration past 400 yards, I can live with these results.
in comparison my Savage 6.5 Creedmoor shoots half inch 10 round groups at 100 yards regularly.
69 grain Sierra Tipped Match King, with a pretty stout charge of Varget.
Warning! The following load data is listed as a maximum load in the Lyman 50th manual using different brass, primer and bullet of the same weight. Use at your own risk! This is a pretty hot load in my rifle and may not be safe in your rifle.
Ruger American Ranch Rifle 16" barrel
69 grain Tipped Match King loaded .025" from the lands.
COAL is 2.470"
26 grains of Hodgdon Varget
CCI 400 primer
Norma 223 Remington case fire formed and trimmed to 1.750"
Using a full length sizing die and bumping the shoulder back .002". Which coincidentally is fully sized.
Average Velocity: 2830 fps
SD 12 fps I don't remember what the ES was, but it was around 30 fps.
My first 5 rounds went into a .3" group. the second 5 shots in the group opened it up to .9" for a ten round group. I can live with that. I am certain the rifle and load would shoot better, but I was not the steadiest today and I shot these groups at 6x magnification. at that magnification the crosshair takes up the entire bullseye.
I am very happy to get a sub one inch ten round group and 2830 fps from a 16 inch barrel.
I would like to see a tighter SD, but since all of the other loads I have tested with this rifle have had an SD of at least 20 fps and the fact that I will likely never shoot this particular rifle in this configuration past 400 yards, I can live with these results.
in comparison my Savage 6.5 Creedmoor shoots half inch 10 round groups at 100 yards regularly.