Home Forums Reloading Varmint Rifles A deal on Nosler 6mm varmint bullets

Idaho_Shooter: Thanks for this tip - I thought the days of $10.00 a box 24 caliber bullets were long gone!
I think I am gonna get some buds together and try some of these.
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

Well VG if you still have that old BR gun of your's and a spare barrel they just might be the ticket if you have a good used barrel.

Got 2K of them and going to use them in my Viper.

I tried out some of them last night at the range. They are short little buggers. Tried them with Accurate 2015 in my Sako A-7 .243, and all of the cases were smoked, not enough pressure to seal the chamber. Probably my long throat barrel and short bullet made my mild loads too light. Tried 35.1, 36 and 37 grains as listed in an older Accurate Data sheet. (they showed 39.0 gr as maximum with 55 gr B-Tip) As short as these are, they could probably be pushed harder. I will try some at 38 and 39 to see how it shoots. Accuracy was pretty good, but I am sure will be better at higher velocity/pressure. BTW, these are short bullets, my COL was only 2.50"

2ndtimer,
What is the length of the bullets? I have a 6x45 AR and was thinking about using these for varmint hunting and target shooting. What type of construction are they? Do they fragment on impact like a hollow point or do you have to worry about ricochets?

Thanks,
jmak

Sounds like one heck of a deal to me. Perfect for the 6x45 jmak, short bullet means more room for powder, with just a little lower BC on the bullet of course. T.S.

Bowman44,
Yes it does look like a heck of a deal and a good choice for the 6x45. Where I shoot I have to be concerned about ricochets, that's why I was trying to get more info on them. Maybe I will email Nosler tonight since I can't access their site at work.

Thanks,
jmak

A quick check shows they run around .589 to .595 of an inch, according to my RCBS Dial caliper. Depends on how flattened the lead tip got in transit, I guess. They are standard cup and core, thin jacket flat base spitzers. They would probably shoot better out of a 6x45 than out of a .243 Win, but I can't pass up a bargain, and I believe I will find a load that will shoot them fine in my Sako. They will probably shoot better in my Stevens 200 due to its shorter throat. Those stubby bullets practically have to pole vault to make it to the lands and grooves in the Sako. Some people have commented negatively about their performance at high velocity or with fast twist barrels. My Sako is a 1 in 10" twist, and had no problems sticking bullets in the 100 yard target chrono'ed up to a little over 3300 fps. I will push them a little harder next trip and see how they respond. Probably will try some with Varget or Big Game, along with heavier charges of Accurate 2015.

Thanks 2ndtimer

Are these also marketed as the Dogtown projectiles from Midway USA?
Cheers...
Con

That's what it says on Midway's website, at least for the .22 cal Dogtown bullets. I am pretty sure Nosler also offers the 6mm 55 gr spitzers thru Midway as well.

Here is the email response I received from Nosler:

"OAL = .606" They are a cup and draw jacket with pure lead core and tip. Fragmentation is quite easy."

I just ordered 1000 from Nosler because they are a lot cheaper than from Midway.

Thanks,
jmak

I just got an email from Midway. Guess what's on sale?

Yep, Dogtown bullets, though still not quite down to this level.

These bullets are interesting. They have shot okay in my Sako A-7, and I really thought they would shoot better in the Stevens 200 that my oldest son has pretty much assumed ownership of. So we were at the range yesterday zeroing the new Redfield Revolution 4-12X scope on said Stevens in .243 Win, and after getting it on paper, I suggested he try some of my leftover loads from my initial loading batch with the Accurate 2015 powder. He did and the first two didn't even hit the paper. Puzzled, I said try another one, and it did hit the paper - sideways! It literally looked like the shape of the 55 gr bullet outline on the target. Another one did the same thing and the next one missed the paper completely. I then tried a couple at a ram silhouette at 200 meters, and struck 100 meters in front of the target, another hit 50 meters in front of the target and 20 meters to the left, all of these with the Stevens. Now with the Sako A-7, I was able to hit the ram, as well as shoot a couple of inch and a half to 2 inch groups at the 100 yard target. Any ideas? I believe both rifles share a 1 in 10" twist rate and have about a 22" barrel. I have never seen this before. Is the twist too fast for the short bullet? Could it be that the Stevens barrel is too rough for the thin jacketed 55 gr cup and core bullet? Then why does the Sako seem to be able to shoot them okay? Anyone? (I do have over 900 of these bullets, so I sure hope I can figure out what the problem is.)

I have shot them in my 6mmDTi DTech AR which has a 1/12 twist and they shot very well averaging 3/4 inch for 3 5 shot groups.I was pushing them about 3500 fps. I just recently loaded some for my new 6X45mm and they shot OK but not great but it was the first few rounds fired thru a new gun so I hope the groups tighten up.

A 55 grain 6mm bullet that is between 0.595" and 0.606" long should be stable in any twist from 1:14" up, at any velocity from 1250 fps up. Velocity can wreak havoc on a lightly jacketed lead core bullet, such as the old Sierra Blitz .224" where they fragment after leaving the barrel (vapor trailing). Lead at those velocity and spin rates becomes plastic - poof. Maybe the weak jacket and base begins to extrude the core while in the barrel at those velocities, acceleration and centrifugal forces?

I use the 6mm Varmint Grenade and 55 grain Nosler BT Lead Free in a .243 WSSM with a 1:8" twist barrel at 3,587 fps, they are absolutely accurate down to .3" groups (10 shots at 100 yards) due to the compressed powder metal cores. These bullets don't fare well in 1:14" where they are not stable leading to keyholes, in a 1:10" twist they are marginally stable. This result is the reverse of lead core varmint bullets, go figure

Thanks for the replies. I will try some other powders and loads. I may even try some reduced loads with Blue Dot powder to see if they shoot accurately at reduced velocity. I would even settle for 3000 fps or so, if they could be made to shoot with decent accuracy out to 200 yards or so. (minute of gopher)

I have read that these work best at lower velocities around 3000 fps.

I loaded these for a buddies Savage and they shoot very well with RL15.

I tried some other powders and actually got some decent 3 shot groups in my Sako A-7. Contrary to what I have heard, it seems to shoot better at higher velocities. I didn't have my chronograph set up, but the two best groups were with 45.0 gr of Hodgon Varget and 45.0 gr of IMR-4064. These are hardly mild loads and I imagine would trip the skyscreens at 3800 to 3900 fps. I also seated them out a bit, so there wasn't a whole lot of the bullet in the case, but that might have also aided in the accuracy. Additional experimenting to follow, but I think there is hope for these bullets as a short range varmint load for coyotes and rock chucks. Probably not the bullet for shots beyond 200 yards or so, since I am sure the ballistic coefficient is not impressive compared to the Ballistic Tip or V-Max.