Need loads for 22-243 AI w/ 75gr AMAX

[Guest]

A friend of mine just received his custom Savage and we need to find some good starting loads for it. It has a 25" Douglas barrel that's .750" at the muzzle and is screwed onto a trued action with a heavy duty recoil lug bedded in a Richards laminated thumbhole stock. It will be used for mainly for longrange coyote hunting.
I read on the bullets, barrels and ballistics forum that reed mosser uses 7828 for the 80gr bullets so I will give that a try, any other info would be greatly appreciated.
TIA,
Wayne

 

[Varmint Hunter]

Here is what I use in my 22-243AI with 28" Hart, 8 twist bbl

Hornady 75gr A-Max (moly)
Lapua 243 case
Fed 210M primer
48.2gr RE22

I get 3,675 ft/sec and exceptional accuracy with bullets loaded .007" into the rifling.

 

[reed mosser]

boy your group is great. Who sad you cant' shoot 22's long range with good results. I use 7828 with a federal gold matct primer in my 22-243 imp 35 degree shoulder. with good results. I have a 27 inch barrel. With that 25 inch barrel you might have good luck with 4350 hodgen IMR or what ever you perfer. I would try 4350, 7828, and RL 22 and see what your rifle likes. I haven't had a fast 22 that I could shoot a-max in. If your lucky and have a good barrel you can. But if not your stuck with sierra and I also heard the new nosler 80 grainers are tough. Don't buy the old noslers on J4 jackets they sometimes come apart. If you need any info I will try to help you. Thanks Reed

 

[Guest]

Thanks guys for the input. I sure hope this rig will shoot the AMAX's as I think they will be better for killing coyotes at longrange than the SMK's. I've shot the Noslers out of my 22BR with a Hart 1-8" twist but they are only going 3000fps max.
Reed,
Have you shot any large varmints with the SMK?
I think they would punch right thru at longrange.
Wayne

 

[Varmint Hunter]

According to the guys at Sierra, the 80gr MK bullet does a poor job on varmints due to its thick jacket.
Assuming that you don't "dust" the A-Max in your fast twist barrel, they are a very deadly varmint bullet at any range.
This groundhog was killed with a single shot @ 840yds. The bullets do not exit, although sometimes frags blow through. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[Guest]

VH,
Thanks for the info, that's exactly what I thought about the 2 different bullets. Hopefully the AMAX'S will work, they did when the barrel was a BR, it was just rechambered to 22-243AI.
Wayne

 

[goodgrouper]

Sweet pics and great shot Varmint hunter!!
You are a man after my own heart. Chuck dumping from the next zip code is THE BEST!
I shoot a .22-.250 AI 8" twist with the 75 amax. I have had them acually pick up and flip chucks out to 1100 yards, and my velocities are running just 3380 fps!

 

[Varmint Hunter]

Wayne,

Another bullet that you may want to try is the 80gr JLK. The JLK has a tougher jacket than the A-Max but is said to be more frangible than the 80gr SMK. Just might be the perfect longrange .224 varmint bullet. The JLK's shot good from my rifle but the A-Max's shot better. I only shot paper with the JLK's so don't know first hand how they perform on varmints.

Goodgrouper,

I like that - /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif - shooting from one zip code to another. In one of my varmint locations I shoot from one brothers farm to another brothers adjoining farm. Its a bit over 1,000yds from my bench to the big limestone rock pile that the hogs live in. When sending out my Christmas cards this year I did notice that the brothers were actually in different towns and zip codes. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

VH

 

[Guest]

VH,
Thanks for the info on the JLK's, we'll have to give them a try.
Wayne

 

[Guest]

The dies and the brass arrived today. Something I didn't think about was loads to fireform the brass. Should we use a 10% reduction to the posted loads given or use a different load all together?
I fireformed brass for a 30/06 AI years ago and think I just used midrange 30/06 loads but because there isn't any published data for the 22-243 I'm not sure where to start.
TIA,
Wayne

 

[reed mosser]

The sierra match kings and noslers suck for small game. The up side is they are perfect for deer. I shoot A-max's in my 22 br and they shoot great buy at only 3150 FPS. I am not happy with sierra's in my 22-243. Richard at ULD bullets is going to make some 85 and 90 grain 224 bullets that I am going to try. I am shooting the sierra's at around 3600 to 3675 and don't think the gun is shooting to its full ability. I think at that speed in a 8 twist the bullets are starting to leave a vapor trail in the bore, i seen these happen right before bullets come apart. Richards bullets are tougher and have better B,c's. I know the 85 will stablize but I still going to give the 90's a try. when richard makes his 100 grain 224 bullets sometime hopefully in june , I am going to get a barrel chambered for them. In either 22 br or 22-243 imp for 500 yard shoots. Wish a good enough barrel to shoot a amx at 3675 , your lucky they are a good shooting and killing bullet at a bargin price. Good Shooting

 

[brianwinzor]

Reed, Interesting to hear that the Sierra 80 grain Matchkings are vapourizing at 3650fps in your 22/243.

Most people who shoot 80 grain bullets in the 3600+ fps range say that the 80 grain Sierra Matchking is the only one they can rely on to hold together. Makes me wonder if you possibly may have a worn area in your barrel that is engraving the bullet sufficiently to make it fragment down range.

I found that with the Sierra 69 grain Matchking in my 224 Clark, even at 3900 fps it gave good accuracy and no sign of vaporizing.

I was excited yesterday to read on another forum that Sierra announced at the 2005 Shot show, that it is introducing in Mid April 2005 a 90 grain VLD style Matchking bullet. The ballistic coefficient of this bullet is stated to be .504, compared to .420 for the 80 grain Matchking.

The introduction of the Sierra 90 grain bullet, together with the JLK 90 grain VLD, and the Wildcat 85+ grain bullets will now make life much easier for wildcatters (such as I) who want to experiment with 224 bullets in the 80 - 100 grain range. Regards, Brian.

 

[brianwinzor]

Wayne McD, About 35 years ago, my gunsmith advised me when fireforming cases in an improved or wildcat chamber to use what would be a maximum load in the parent case, and seat the bullets to firmly engage the lands. Since then I have fireformed at least 2000 case using that principle, but acknowledge that many have fireformed cases successfully without using a bullet.

One thing you will notice that if the fireforming load is not stiff enough, then the shoulders will not be formed correctly, and you have to do it again, which is a pain.

Also in the fireforming process the cases will shorten, and probably between .010 - .015 inches, so don't trim the cases before fireforming, unless you have to do so to chamber them.

I would have thought that a load of about 43 grains of Re 22 with the 75 grain Amax should be ok for fireforming. That load is about maximum in my 22/250 AI, with the 75 Amax, so it should be safe enough in the larger 22/243AI.

Once fireformed, Re 22 will probably give good accuracy and velocity with the 75 Amax, however, I would also be trying slower powders such as Re25, H1000, VihtN170, to achieve a 95- 100% loading density, which from my experience makes it easier to find an accurate load. Regards, Brian.

 

[reed mosser]

I haven't dusted any sierra's yet but they are on the brink. As soon as i start driving them hard they start to copper. As longs as the speeds are under 3500FPS the barrel seems fine. i just found about the sierra 90 grain bullets and will be giving them a try. I hope richard gets his 85 and 90 done soon. i can't wait