Thanks. I haven’t run that bullet, but I do wonder if you’re pushing it.
I’d try backing off 0.5-1.0 grains and seeing how it does, both MV and poofs.
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.22 br
- Thread starter Dai Bando
- Start date
I’d try backing off 0.5-1.0 grains and seeing how it does, both MV and poofs.
Good sir, I think you have an RPM issue. 6.25 at 2880 is 331,776rpm.
Surprised the 88s held together…what velocity are you running them.
Any reason you went tight on twist? My next 22BR will probably be 7.5 if I can find one.
ETA: I am running 88s at about 3005 in a 7 and its just over 300k rpm. I think any flaw in balance and the occasional, dreaded 88 eldm flyer. I thinkntaking a little off RPM will help that. Regardless, its a laser with 85.5s.
ZY
Surprised the 88s held together…what velocity are you running them.
Any reason you went tight on twist? My next 22BR will probably be 7.5 if I can find one.
ETA: I am running 88s at about 3005 in a 7 and its just over 300k rpm. I think any flaw in balance and the occasional, dreaded 88 eldm flyer. I thinkntaking a little off RPM will help that. Regardless, its a laser with 85.5s.
ZY
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Even my load at 2780fps do the exact same. Never have an issue in the first 10 rounds.
The reason for à twist that fast is the stability needed where I live, sea level and really cold. We usually have issue with stabilisation if we dont go just a bit faster twist then recommended.
Agreed.. way over spinning them. I'm at 400' elevation and my first 22br barrels were 7 twist. Had consistency issues with them right around 320,000.
Switched to 7.5 twist for my last couple barrels and been a tack driver ever since all day long. 90smk, 95smk, 88eld, 85.5,
The rule is to stay under 320,000rpm.. your spinning them way too fast
I found the sweet spot in that 290,000-300,000 range in both 22br and 22gt
If you give Hornady and Berger a call and speak to their technicians they will tell you they have tested and documented bullet blow up of their bullets above 300,000rpm. Specifically 88 eld and 90 vld.
Sierra said they don't test for rpm or bullet blow up but 95smk have been widely documented to blow up when spun to fast (over 300k).
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That definitely make sense I could send 88eldM at 2980fps with 1 out of 100 blowing.
To slow down under 300k I have to get to 2600fps wich is really slow and give all the advantage of the super high BC the 95gr offer. I'll try it to confirm, and let that sink.
Thanks everyone for the help
Or get a slower twist barrel.. faster twist hammered with the lighter 80smk and 80 vld. I mean clover leafs at 400 hammering
I bought 1K of the 95gr SMK with plans of building a 22GT. Once I started playing with stability calculators and twist rates, i realized what you are finding out. It’s really hard to get the velocity needed to capitalize on the high BC and not spin them apart
. So I sold the 95s and stuck with the 6GT.Yeah I'm leaning toward the 6BRA at this point.I bought 1K of the 95gr SMK with plans of building a 22GT. Once I started playing with stability calculators and twist rates, i realized what you are finding out. It’s really hard to get the velocity needed to capitalize on the high BC and not spin them apart
Still have like 5 barrels of 22br so I'll find a way to burn them still haha.
Considering switching to 90SMKs from the Berger 85.5, I’m not seeing the groups I think I should be. I’m also bailing on RL-16 due to the price.
Bought a few boxes of the 90SMKs to try, what powder would you recommend to replace RL-16 with these two bullets, in case I stick with the Bergers?
They stopped making it for now so your probably not going to find it but my go to powder for both these bullets is IMR4166.. Stupid accurate and I have 32lb of it...
90smk / IMR 4166
200yd
Varget and IMR4166 are very very similar so you can go with that... I also had great results with VV N550
They stopped making it for now so your probably not going to find it but my go to powder for both these bullets is IMR4166.. Stupid accurate and I have 32lb of it...
90smk / IMR 4166
200yd
Varget and IMR4166 are very very similar so you can go with that... I also had great results with VV N550
N550 is good for both? I saw you also ran H4831SC for the 95s, is that too slow for the 85/90 class?
Yea I run N550 for all 80/90's in both 22BR and 22GT. It's excellent.
I didnt get the best results with H4831 and 95's.. I didn't test it with any other bullet. H4831 is on the slower side
I tried 95 SMK’s with 6.5 StaBall and it was okay. Y’all’s testing is way more diligent than mine. That said, I didn’t find just a terribly wide node with the combo.
I’m thinking my next best guess for powder will be Ramshot Big Game.
I’m thinking my next best guess for powder will be Ramshot Big Game.
I'm working on a load right now for mine with n550 and the 85.5s. at what speed did you find your best accuracy?
29.8gr varget with the 90smi, ironically it's going 2970-2980 through the 28" 7tw barrel.
The 22BR loves 2990 to 3000fps with 88s or 90s. 95gr SMKs shot well for me, but I had to slow them down. 29grs of Varget was my load for years.
My 22 Dasher is a hammer with 90gr Atips. At 3080fps.
My 22 Dasher is a hammer with 90gr Atips. At 3080fps.
BD,
I may have missed it but 1:7 or did you go slower? Also, I think you like .120Fb?
Berger 85.5S at 3005 or so seem to treat me well and consistent. Just need to stay after that carbon every 3-400 rnds.
ZY
I do like the 7" twist. I've heard some folks running 7.5", even 8. But the 7" has been perfect for me in 223AI, 22BR, and 22 Dasher. The only time I wish I went 8" twist was in my 22 Creedmoor. The velocity plus the RPMs of the 7" twist had me popping some jackets. The 8 twist fixed that.
There's a few freebores I like. The .105 and .120 have treated me best. All my current reamers are .120.
In the BR, those 85s ran around 3020fps over 29grs of Varget for me. They run about 20 to 30fps faster than 88s with the same charge weight due to a slightly shorter bearing surface. They treated me great, a little better BC than the 88s, and a little better SD of BC in the bullet itself. I've ran them both at an Applied Ballistics lab at matches.
Has anyone tried 4451 powder with any of the heavies ? A burn hate chart has it next to RL 16 , but on the faster side . I guess the only way to see if there is any pressure problems is to load a few and test. Then load some along with RL 16 and Varget and test at the range.
Its a slower powder than the powders I have tested and work so well in 22BR but running it through QL, it doesnt look horrible. Just low case fill..30.5 - 31.0gr looks to put you right at max PSI. Id work up from 28.5-29.0gr....
My RL16 charges are 30.x loads for 85.5, 88 and 90 Atip. This is for a 30 inch 1:7 barrel. You know that 4451 was discontinued in the great covid crisis 
Well, it just reappeared ? or at least one big box store found some , and their "notification when available" came through. I wonder what was going through the bean counters minds when they cancelled 4451 but kept 4166My RL16 charges are 30.x loads for 85.5, 88 and 90 Atip. This is for a 30 inch 1:7 barrel. You know that 4451 was discontinued in the great covid crisis
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I have a question for the group. What kind of life do you get out of a 22BR. My 6 BR went to 3K rounds when the lead had grown 100 thousandths. Based on that I figured maybe 2K for the 22 BR but mine failed dramatically at 1225 rounds. I was shooting in a 600 F-Class match and at some point in the first target unexplained 7 and 8's started showing up. Then the second target of the match it was even worse. I scratched my head but hadn't put it together till the next weekend when I took this rifle to the range to shoot some of the left over ammo so I would have all the cases in this batch to the same level. At about round 17 the group went from about 1/2 inch to 5 inches by round 20. But I had found that my tuned load was now more than 50 fps slower so slower than when I did my load development so I then tried to increase the load by .2 gns and reshot 3 sets of 10 at each increment and saw this same pattern of about 15 shots then all over the map.
This is a McGowen barrel 30 inches with a 1:7 twist. About 4 months ago I had ordered a new barrel identical to this one and it arrived just in time that I could put it on before the 1000 yard match and my gun was back to shooting well so it isn't anything but the original barrel.
Is this just a fluke? It will take me a while to get to 1200 rounds again. I have bore scoped the barrel and I don't find that it shows any real difference. I measured the lead it it has grown only 50 or thousandths. Has anybody seen one of these at end of life be so dramatic in its failure?
Thanks in advance for anybody's thoughts.
David
This is a McGowen barrel 30 inches with a 1:7 twist. About 4 months ago I had ordered a new barrel identical to this one and it arrived just in time that I could put it on before the 1000 yard match and my gun was back to shooting well so it isn't anything but the original barrel.
Is this just a fluke? It will take me a while to get to 1200 rounds again. I have bore scoped the barrel and I don't find that it shows any real difference. I measured the lead it it has grown only 50 or thousandths. Has anybody seen one of these at end of life be so dramatic in its failure?
Thanks in advance for anybody's thoughts.
David
Wow. My first of 3 22BR's has over 2500rd on it and it's still hammering tiny ass groups no change in load, speed or seating depth.
28" Mullerworks cut rifled 1-7 Heavy Varmint
I ran 3000 rds in mine and started to see MV dropping around that time, so I pulled it. Groups hadn't gone to pot that I recall, I just saw progressively slower shots over the course of 100 rds and didn't want to try to chase during a match.
ETA: Bartlein 0.218" bore 5R 24" 7tw, custom reamer 0.130" FB 0.255" neck
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