howa .223 varminter loads

[jimi]

hey guys,

im just at a bit of a loss in terms of deciding what pills to use for my new howa varminter in 223, it does have a 1 in 12 twist, 24 inch barrel, so i know im limited to the lighter to mid weight bullets, but just wondering what you guys are finding good results with? have tried every form of searching the web and The Hide and turned up pretty much Nada.

gun will be used for night time eradication fox, feral dog and cat, and hare mostly as well as other like sized varmints, out to about 400m max id say.

the more explosive the terminal results the better for these critters as im not after pelts, i just want them dead. haha

i also want to try to stick to varget (adi AR 2208 here in AUS) but am open to suggestions if better results can be had with something else.

this is my second howa, and i actually traded my stainless sporter howa in 223 for this newer heavy barreled varminter in the exact same action and stock because i love it so much. once the action is worked in nicley it is just sooooooo damn slick!!!....no feed or ejection problems in the 5 years i had the S/S, but the barrel just got too hot too quick. was still a sub MOA gun though, if you could take enough time in between shots to cool the barrel. unfortuantly the type of shooting i do doesnt really sit that well with light barrels.

i have been using with great success lately just the cheap federal blue box 55gr soft points, through my sporter, but now i have the means to load 223 aswell, i was thinking 55gr vmax? or should i be looking at the barnes varmint grenade line????? like i said im at a bit of a loss

thanks again people, like i said, im more after explosive damage then long range stability, but it still needs to hold Minute Of Headshot out to bout 400,

if anyone has any questions about the longevity or durability of the howa just ask, i cant speak highly enough!!

jimi

 

[Suasponte]

Re: howa .223 varminter loads

60gr Vmax's with RE15 works well out of mine.

Same pill witn IMR4064

Terry

 

[jimi]

Re: howa .223 varminter loads

wow terry, thats fantastic!!

can i ask what length you are seating your pills to? and is that a jump to the lands or right in there?, with factory ammo my last howa .223 didnt really care if they were long or short from memory, so im keen to see how the heavy barrel likes them...

thanks for the great photos mate, keep up the good work!

jimi

 

[Suasponte]

Re: howa .223 varminter loads

Just touching the lands!

Terry

 

[motodog]

Re: howa .223 varminter loads

howdy there i was out shooting p-dogs today out to 350 or so. i was shooting 50 v-max,loaded long,26 grns ramshot x-termenator,cci400 primers,mixed brass,case prep was neck sized,trimmed,chamfered in out,p pocket cleaned.oal is 2.965 w/comparator.shot 120 rounds w out cleaning and it was on all day. devestating to p-dogs out to 350yrds.the rifle is a browning supershort action heavy barrel 1-12 twist topped with a ss10 scope. rifle shoots .241 5 round groups @ 100y when i do my part.

 

[jimi]

Re: howa .223 varminter loads

well it seems i might be heading to the range to pick up some Vmax, they sell 55's, but not 50s i dont think, but i shall ask, they can get pretty much anything in, if not, 55s should do well as per my initial thoughts, thanks guys, if anyone else has 1-12 twist loads, especially for the howa, id love to hear them.

how far into case selection do you guys go for .223? ive got about 200 rounds of mixed: 20 of this, 50 of that, etc, think ill just FL size them all and shoot them in lots according to case, with some sighting in for each lot, if its needed. i know its kinda missing a few of my usual steps but like i said, its just for headshooting ferals.... for a target load ill buy some new unfired lapua brass or remington brass etc i think.

should be picking up the new howa this week fingers crossed, so ill let everyone know how she goes

cheers and beers, jim

 

[motodog]

Re: howa .223 varminter loads

i havent found that the brass seems to make a whole lot of differance in my rifle.im sure its mostly in the case prep.im gonna start doing the inside of the case neck and see if that does anything. i dont fl size any of my brass all i do is neck size them and ive shot them alot..

 

[jimi]

Re: howa .223 varminter loads

i think after the first full length size, ill just start neck sizing, but due to the fact that this brass all went through my old stainless sporter howa, and are goin into my new heavy blued varminter, im not sure if they will chamber properly without FL sizing first.....

but you never know, being the same action, they MAY have the same chamber, or close enough to feed sized brass from the other.

went to the range today and i can get 250 55gr vmax for $80 aus, which i think sounds good, and do some testing based around that load.

ive got on hand federal brass, PMC brass, and Highland (australian brand made in Yugoslavia????) so like i said, ill find a load that works well, then try to replicate the results with the same load in all the dif brass and see what goes, fingers crossed...

wouldnt it be great if all hand loading was just that simple, and all brass performed and gave the same results, hahahahhaa

ah well tis the nature of the beast i spose, id rather be handloading then listening to drunken bullshit at work (bartender), hahahaha and as it is i was given 6 weeks off by the doc a few weeks ago due to an incedent that happened at work, so ive got plenty of time on my hands.

cheers guys

jimi

 

[motodog]

Re: howa .223 varminter loads

sorry there jimmy from australia mr browning shoots very fine with most any brass i have used so far.hahahahaa. mot to say that maybe some lapua,nosler or other high end stuff may tighten up my groups a bit but 5rnds @100y = .241.haahahaaaa.i think i will save some money on brass and buy more bullets to load with.


cheers jimi

monty

 

[jimi]

Re: howa .223 varminter loads

hahaha, a good plan to be sure,hahahaha

 

[dave338]

Re: howa .223 varminter loads

try 40 gn vmax with vit N120 @ 24gn = 3900
very explosive
used it to 600 on a calm day
work up from 23.5gn
i used lap brass , no signs of pressure
length to og was 1.857"

i did try barnes vg 36gn but could not get it work from a 1;12

 

[jimi]

Re: howa .223 varminter loads

thanks for the tip mate, i too was curious about the light weight varmint grenades, a friend of mine loads them for his .222 and swears by them.

what about the heavier ones, from memory i remember there is maybe a 40ish gr or a 50 ish gr one too??? anyone used them??

they do sound good on paper, but im not sure they would be overly effective at distance??, i imagine it would be cheaper and easier to stick with CCI tnt's in my 17 hmr if i wanted a bullet that floated around in the breeze, (dont get my wrong, i do LOOOOOOOOOOOve my little 17. a genuine bona fide tack driver...ive still got the targets from 100m where 5 shot groups could be covered by my pinky finger nail.

keeps them recipies commin people!!!! muchly apreciated!!!!

jimi

 

[jimi]

Re: howa .223 varminter loads

picked it up today!!!!

was just really a clean and break in range session, but i love it....

just finished full disassembly, degrease clean and re grease, sanded out the barrel channel of the stock so it clears the barrel when on bipod, reset the trigger so its breaking at about 2.5- 3 pounds... ill leave it for a while and see what happens, if it starts to get creepy ill send it off to the smith who did my last howa trigger, that broke like glass and went down to ozs.

range report is nothign special yet, it was just cheap federal ammo used for breakin in, nothing worse than MOA at 100 yrds, but im expecting much goodness from this rifle.

i pick up some .223 dies monday and begin that process..

thanks guys, im off to put a movie on while i work the action to smooth it up as its still got that new 'gritty' feel.
last howa was like working ice over glass when i traded it in for this badgirl.

cheers,

jimi