Also posted on the Varmint Reloading forum...
Well varmint season is starting to be seen over the horizon.. I am getting more email requests all of a sudden for load data.. in various calibers besides 223...
However, I also get the usual number of questions from people who haven't tried it, won't ever try it and think those that do, are playing Russian Roulette with their health and safety....
First, I have never received an email from anyone at all in over 4 years now about a problem with Blue Dot in a rifle... but I sure have had a boatload of requests for data, in about any caliber you could think of....it has been safe in my rifle, and safe in other people's rifles evidently.. no one is complaining it has been a problem.. or dangerous..
However, for a short list of WHY I use blue dot in the 223 for sage rats.. and prairie dogs...
1. Economy... 500 rounds to a pound of powder.. this gets more appealing as the cost of shooting goes up..
2. Accuracy... Blue Dot has proven to be one of the most consistently accurate powders of any I have handloaded, in any caliber.. and the chronographed velocities contain the lowest deviation spread that I have seen on ANY powder.
3. Barrel Wear... using a max of 14 grains of Blue Dot in a 223, barrel wear is kept down dramatically... I personally had one rifle that was maintaining accuracy when I traded it that had 15,000 rounds down the barrel.. and the person who got it, put another 2000 rounds down it, and at 17,000 rounds down the barrel, it would still turn in groups that could be covered by a dime at 100 yds...
4. Barrel heat.. in the field when the shooting gets quick and fast, using only 14 grains of powder max, it takes a long time for the barrels to heat up and make accuacy decline... the barrel also cools down much quicker if you let it rest, because it didn't heat up that much in the first place...I have spent an afternoon shooting 500 rounds of 223 ammo loaded with Blue Dot and never had to set the rifle off to the side to cool, because of barrel heat... I did have to take a breather to drink some water, or eat a sandwich.. of give my eyes a rest from scope squint... but not because of barrel heat... 500 rounds in 5 hours, I didn't stop to let the rifle cool down... 3 to 4 shots every 2 minutes and you can shoot all afternoon with Blue Dot in the 223...
4. Barrel Cleaning? even tho I always take a Bore Snake and some oil in the field with me, to clean the barrel when the accuracy goes away... even on 400 and 500 round days, I don't stop to clean the bore with Blue Dot, accuracy just seems to hang in there...
5. Lack of Recoil... with only 14 grains of powder or less, recoil is so low, that you will not loose site picture in your scope.. and you can see your hits thru the scope.. recoil is so low, that it will NOT cycle the bolt on an AR or a Mini 14... being able to see your hits, and lack of recoil are two big features that folks cheer about the 204 Ruger...
6. Noise.. and Scareing the game away... when you are burning 14 grains of powder or less, you have a lot less Kaboom, out of the barrel compared to loads that are burning 24 to 28 grains of powder.. people complain that sage rats and prairie dogs get wise to the shooting because of the noise... well with Blue Dot and 14 grains of that, I am not noticing the varmints only appearing further out... at times they are back up and close enough to my truck ( I shoot off the hood of it most of the time).. that they are a blur in a 4 x 16 scope turned down to 4 power! I have to wack them with a 10/22 and a 1.5 x 4 scope because they are so close... so evidently the noise from the 223 isn't scareing them away and to come up further out....
This is put forth strictly for the 223.. and prairie dogs and sage rats...
however, I am still looking at velocities of 3375 fps with 40 grain bullets, 3800 fps with 30 grain Berger bullets, and 2975 fps with 55 grain Bullets....
so I am getting 22 hornet noise, recoil and barrel heat/wear.. with MVs that are much higher and much more accurate than the averaqe Hornet will give you...
with the rising costs of primers, the primer actually figures higher into the cost per round , than the powder does using Blue Dot...
So all in all I thought I'd put this general notification out and hopefully answer a lot of questions that I get every season on this...
cheers
seafire
Feb 2008..
Well varmint season is starting to be seen over the horizon.. I am getting more email requests all of a sudden for load data.. in various calibers besides 223...
However, I also get the usual number of questions from people who haven't tried it, won't ever try it and think those that do, are playing Russian Roulette with their health and safety....
First, I have never received an email from anyone at all in over 4 years now about a problem with Blue Dot in a rifle... but I sure have had a boatload of requests for data, in about any caliber you could think of....it has been safe in my rifle, and safe in other people's rifles evidently.. no one is complaining it has been a problem.. or dangerous..
However, for a short list of WHY I use blue dot in the 223 for sage rats.. and prairie dogs...
1. Economy... 500 rounds to a pound of powder.. this gets more appealing as the cost of shooting goes up..
2. Accuracy... Blue Dot has proven to be one of the most consistently accurate powders of any I have handloaded, in any caliber.. and the chronographed velocities contain the lowest deviation spread that I have seen on ANY powder.
3. Barrel Wear... using a max of 14 grains of Blue Dot in a 223, barrel wear is kept down dramatically... I personally had one rifle that was maintaining accuracy when I traded it that had 15,000 rounds down the barrel.. and the person who got it, put another 2000 rounds down it, and at 17,000 rounds down the barrel, it would still turn in groups that could be covered by a dime at 100 yds...
4. Barrel heat.. in the field when the shooting gets quick and fast, using only 14 grains of powder max, it takes a long time for the barrels to heat up and make accuacy decline... the barrel also cools down much quicker if you let it rest, because it didn't heat up that much in the first place...I have spent an afternoon shooting 500 rounds of 223 ammo loaded with Blue Dot and never had to set the rifle off to the side to cool, because of barrel heat... I did have to take a breather to drink some water, or eat a sandwich.. of give my eyes a rest from scope squint... but not because of barrel heat... 500 rounds in 5 hours, I didn't stop to let the rifle cool down... 3 to 4 shots every 2 minutes and you can shoot all afternoon with Blue Dot in the 223...
4. Barrel Cleaning? even tho I always take a Bore Snake and some oil in the field with me, to clean the barrel when the accuracy goes away... even on 400 and 500 round days, I don't stop to clean the bore with Blue Dot, accuracy just seems to hang in there...
5. Lack of Recoil... with only 14 grains of powder or less, recoil is so low, that you will not loose site picture in your scope.. and you can see your hits thru the scope.. recoil is so low, that it will NOT cycle the bolt on an AR or a Mini 14... being able to see your hits, and lack of recoil are two big features that folks cheer about the 204 Ruger...
6. Noise.. and Scareing the game away... when you are burning 14 grains of powder or less, you have a lot less Kaboom, out of the barrel compared to loads that are burning 24 to 28 grains of powder.. people complain that sage rats and prairie dogs get wise to the shooting because of the noise... well with Blue Dot and 14 grains of that, I am not noticing the varmints only appearing further out... at times they are back up and close enough to my truck ( I shoot off the hood of it most of the time).. that they are a blur in a 4 x 16 scope turned down to 4 power! I have to wack them with a 10/22 and a 1.5 x 4 scope because they are so close... so evidently the noise from the 223 isn't scareing them away and to come up further out....
This is put forth strictly for the 223.. and prairie dogs and sage rats...
however, I am still looking at velocities of 3375 fps with 40 grain bullets, 3800 fps with 30 grain Berger bullets, and 2975 fps with 55 grain Bullets....
so I am getting 22 hornet noise, recoil and barrel heat/wear.. with MVs that are much higher and much more accurate than the averaqe Hornet will give you...
with the rising costs of primers, the primer actually figures higher into the cost per round , than the powder does using Blue Dot...
So all in all I thought I'd put this general notification out and hopefully answer a lot of questions that I get every season on this...
cheers
seafire
Feb 2008..