Long Range Varmint Bullet

S

Stats Shooter

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So I am about to develop a load for my brand new Ruger SR 556 Varmint with a 20" stainless steel bull barrel 1:8 twist. I want to be able to reach out a bit on some prairie dogs...maybe 400-500 yards, AND take down a coyote at 200 yards or so.
I have had good success in my other guns using Nosler Accubonds, Sierra Game Kings, and Hornady GMAX's. I was wondering if anyone uses either of these bullets in .223? And if so, what weight, powder and performance are you getting?
I am leaning toward a bullet in the 62-69 grain range. In my other AR I use 55 grain BTFMJ's and Hodgdon Benchmark powder but I think that powder is a bit hotter than I would like for bullets approaching 70 grains. Varget seems to be a popular choice.

Anyway...any info is welcome.
 
For years I used the 55 gr Nosler BT on coyotes. Worked great, but Pigs started showing up and the bullet didn't seem to be effective enough out past about 250 yards. Two other bullets should work a bit better. The 55 and 65 gr Sierra GK's, over warmish loads of H335. That said, you mentioned coyotes and prairie dogs, and I might go to 50 gr Nosler BT's for that, or maybe even the 40 gr BT's. Seems odd, but the 40 gr BT's will destroy a coyote way out of proportion to its size. I shoot them all over H335.
 
I like the 55 grain bullets for a few reasons. One of those is I can get them almost anywhere they seel reloading stuff. Hornady Vmax are the bang for the buck ones for me. If Nosler were cheaper I would take them. They work about the same for me. I like the cheaper ones as I get to shoot more of them to stay in practice. The thing about those 400 shots. They are easier to make you are in tune with your rifle. Shooting is a perishable skill.

For bullets to 55 grains the cat's meow is H335. For heavier I like Reloader 15 or Varget. They work close to the same. I give the RL15 a hair bit of an edge ove the other though.
 
Now you are talking my launguage!

55 grain Hornady V-max out to about 450-500 yards with Varget or Benchmark will give you pinpoint accuracy.
You can shoot can lid size groups at 600 since the bullet BC is better than 'Match ammo using FMJ.
55 grain runs out of steam a little beyond 600 for me, but Im shooting 20" to 24" barrels.
If you keep muzzle velocity at around 3,000 FPS you will probably shoot on the ballistics tables, and the bullet drop compensating optics will be fairly accurate.

60 grain A-max is what I use for hog hunting.
Good shot placment has no issues dropping a hog, no matter what the .300 blackout guys say...
I don't eat deer (too dry, but they make good jerky), but I usually try and get at least 4 hogs a year. (Free bacon!)
Anything that will take a hog will take a white tail deer.

I have some pictures around here somewhere,
We are setting up on the rifle range, just set the table up and set the rifle case on it when a coyote, head down working nose back & forth, stumbles out of the weed line onto the range at about 535 yards on a 600 yard range...

Unluckiest coyote ever!
4 guys setting up, one head shot, 3 body shots, almost the same split second...
All cold bore shots, all but one rested.
It's good to have ammo/rifle that shoots on the tables!

Guess all the old farts took their 'Geratol' that morning!
 
Well it seems the consensus is 55 gr pills. I think then I will try a few different pills from 55-65 grains to see what she likes. I'm a big fan of Benchmark Powder, it isn't temp sensitive, it meters almost as good as CFE 223, and is very clean burning....oh and it is consistent. In my other AR it had a SD of only 15 fps using 55 grain fmj's WITHOUT weighing each charge or bullet....that's consistency folks.
 
I took forever to try Benchmark over the old standby Win 748,
Not going back!

Keep the bullet light weight, let velocity do the damage at the target when you aren't eating them.
I still use FMJ when smacking some edible varmints, say, early ground hogs,
But for clearing the fields, it's REAL hard to beat V-Max.
Coys, skunks, ect just don't walk away from V-max...

I shoot small, light & fast for a reason, flat trajectory!
Don't need to turn my high velocity rifle into a 'Rainbow' shooter with stupid heavy bullets...
And using the bullet drop compensators in the popular optics, having the bullet strike point of aim, also interests me...
I *Can* spend a bunch of time working out a ballistic card for every round in every rifle,
OR,
I can simply use a reasonable length barrel, keep velocity in a reasonable range, and forget all the silly stuff & work... (I'm lazy!)

I'm shooting dime size 10 shot groups @100 yds with reconditioned mil brass, 55 grain V-max, 26.5 gr Benchmark from an AR,
Less than 25 FPS between fastest & slowest,
Averaging about 3,125 on the crony,
The best part is Benchmark is clean & easy to clean, and no gas adjustments needed to get the bolt to cycle 'Softly', no slamming or uneven bolt lockup.
Good stuff for an AR since bolt lock up is a bunch of AR accuracy issues.

And it shoots on the Nikon range compensating reticle out to about 350 yds.,
Shoots slightly high past about 350 yds, (probably better BC of the bullets over FMJ...)
My old eyes need help, but I like an optic that isn't over magnified,
Its just a bonus that the range compensator works out with my particular loads!
 
Jeephammer
I also use Benchmark in my 147-150 grain .308 loads as well. Out of my Saiga.308, 42.5 grains of Benchmark gives you 2660 fps out of 16" barrel and out of my AR10 that velocity increased to 2750...
In other words, for lighter .223 AND .308 loads, Benchmark is the best!

The reason I switched to Benchmark was that year I made some loads in March with RL15, then on a 92 degree day I had over pressure issues....but if I loaded them to tolerate 92-95 degrees, they would be too slow in January when it's 15 degrees. So I tried Benchmark, (an extreme powder) and found that the velocity change with Benchmark from 40 degrees to 90 degrees was only 15 fps on average.....i also use H1000 in my .300 win mag and retumbo in my .338 lapua....plus I use H4831 in my .270. so I guess you could say I like hodgdon extreme powders.
 
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