Home Forums Reloading Varmint Rifles 55 Grain Varmageddon

Gents,
I'm wondering if anyone uses this bullet in a 14 twist .22-250 Remington?
If you do use it, how does it perform? Is it accurate, what powder, how does it work on coyotes' fox and groundhogs?
I've got 2 rifles I'd like to use it in, a Ruger No.1V with a 22" barrel and a Remington VLS with a 26" barrel?
Of course, in these times I may not have the powder you all are using but I may have something close. I do have primers and Nosler and Lapua brass.
Hopefully someone will tell me they set up on a hill with their VLS and pop yotes out to 250yards!!!!

Thank you in advance for your time and consideration.

Semper Fidelis

Soup

Powders: Vargay, H4895, Benchmark, 380, 335 and 2700.
Best accuracy and velocity goes to 4895 with Vargay a close second but not real fast. Benchmark, 380 and 335 and 2700 work well.
Unless your yotes are wearing body armor the 55 Varmageddon will slap em a lot farther than 250. Will say at this time I went to the 53 Varmageddon as both the Swift and 22.250 shoot ‘em a little tighter.

It would be hard to beat H4895, I also like the 53gr Varmageddon

I like the Varmageddon but much prefer the 55gr BT, as for powder I have one rifle that loves Vargay with either bullet. as mentioned H4895 is a good choice to test with, gotta disagree with Swifty on H335. would never use this power in a 22-250 as it is the most temp sensitive powder I've ever used and a bit too fast of a burn rate also. some of my other fav's are VVN140-150 but by far the first powder I try with your combo is W760/H414.........
You say you have Nosler and Lapua brass, you will have to tweak your load a bit. the Nosler brass is softer than the Lapua so you might have to back off a half grain or so

I used to think that too. Don't discount AR Comp though. It drops through the powder measure better and also produces very consistent accuracy and good velocities. Because of this, I can just drop a charge in and load the bullet. Much faster and more convenient for a "varmint" hunting rig, where you may be loading a bunch.. H380 also works well, but H4895 and AR Comp both edge out that powder for consistent results. As for "250 yard shots" with a 22-250. You got to be kidding me. Right?

Next time just say you don’t like the powder and leave out the internet BS. Temp sensitive yes, dirty yes, inappropriate due to burn rate, not hardly. You would be real surprised in the number of cartridges including 06 class that there’s published data for. Look at 22.250 55 grain on Speers site or Hodgdons it’s still there. And it works. I tried most of em during the Obummer shortage.
I really did appreciate all the negativity though as during all the shortages until this one, I could always find 335 and 380 cheap.

I have used the Varmageddon bullets before when I could not get V max bullets. I use H-380. It meters well, they say it is temp sensitive, I have never had a problem. 250 yards is a pip shot for 22-250 and V max. I used Varget but did not get the Great results others have had.

I like the Varmaggeddons and use the 53 grainer the most and then the 55 second....but I buy both in bulk from Shooters Pro Shop when on sale.

However, my preferred powder for velocity, accuracy and economy is RL 7... from older manuals but it sure works awfully darn good...

Like BSA, I am also liking AR Comp.. RL 15 has also been on my radar for a long time...

of the 4895s, I have NO USE for Hodgdon's for a variety of reasons.... but love IMRs 4895.

4064 and 3031 also do a darn good job ....

These are the powders that respond well for accuracy and velocity with either of these varmaggeddon bullets...

but I've also been known to shoot AA2015, along with the 40 grain Varma....

RL 7 is my first choice with the 40 grainer VG..33.5 grs, 4150 fps MV in a 22 inch barrel... 3450 in my 28 inch Model 70.

Folks,
Thank you for your informative responses.
I couldn't find Nosler 50 grain BT or 53 grain Varmageddons , but I was able to order 55 grain Varmageddon and 50-53 & 55 grain V MAX bullets. I'm hoping they will work in either or both the No.1 and the VLS.

Still haven't heard from anyone who has" a somewhat stationary "spot to hunt coyotes with either of these rifles???

Thank you once again.
Semper Fidelis
Soup

I forgot, you were wanting pics of rifle on hillside. Not a remington, but you get the idea:

Shots out to 500 yards here^^^

The last yote I shot here was only 400 yards away. He didn't even see it coming. Same canyon I've shot bucks at 600 and 700 yards:



Yote shot here at 600 yards with my 22-250:

Pretty easy shot with my 22-250 and 53gr V-max on top of AR Comp..




In the summer months, this is my favorite yote to shoot at though:



Was shooting at that steel yote the other day with one of my AR's. Hitting it every shot in the neck. No misses:



Semi-fast fire 20 rounds in 16 seconds.. 69gr SMK on top of RL15. I know you wanted some pics. Hopefully those are good enough..



250 yards would be boring, as 400 is almost too close.. I saw a bunch of 53gr V-max bullets the other day when I went to my long range varmint silhouette match. A local store had them there for $18.99/box. I almost bought some, but have 2,000 at home.. Great bullet, but be careful they may not stabilize in a 1 in 14" twist. They work very well in all of mine, but some here have had issues with them. I do really like that bullet though because it has a very good bc. Even better than the 55 and 60gr V-max.. It's one bullet that hits above its weight class..

Good photos and some damn fine shooting, BSA.

This is my experience as well. A couple years ago a friend came out to Montana to shoot PDs with me. His only rifle was a .22-250, and the loads had been worked up in the Tacoma, Washington area, where they caused not problems.

We started shooting on a typical late-June day, which got up to around 85 degrees in the afternoon. Once the barrel on his rifle got warmed up, we had to use a cleaning rod to help get at least 1/3 of the fired cases out of the chamber. Have seen this a number of times over the years with H335, and not just in the .22-250.

I believe seafire warns of this as well and maybe even stick. I don't think seafire will even touch it anymore? Something we should all keep in mind for sure.. I was lucky last month and traded 4 pounds of what I had. Got a couple pounds of H4831, Big Game, and a box of 7mm 162 ELDX bullets. I thought that was a great trade because I only paid $26/pound and have slowed way down on using H335 because it is known to be erratic in nature..

Well thanks. I probably wouldn't have posted them, but the op said he got some 50, 53 and 55gr V-max bullets. He was also begging for a picture of a rifle on a hillside. I can't blame him. When I look at some of those pics, it takes me back to those days and I remember how peaceful it was sitting there in my camo. Calling them in.. Fun days for sure. Anyway, I can't find any pics of my buddies 55gr varmageddon loads, but I asked him to send me a picture of a load I worked up for him with the 40gr Varmageddon bullet. He was so proud that he almost put a hole though my AR500 plate with his 22-250:



That day, I told him to take a pic, so he could show his boss what the 22-250 can do. His boss doesn't like the 22-250 for some reason. Its one of my buddies favorites and mine as well. The damn thing amazes me sometimes. Here's another cool group at 400 yards with the 53gr v-max bullet:


And then another one right before I shot the one that was zeroed in on the 1" dot:


That dang 22-250 always impresses me. My precision 6.5 creedmoor's have a hard time keeping up. To this day I have not shot a 1" group at 400 with any of my Creedmoor rifles. Close, but no cigar... I think the best I've done was 1.1"... on a super calm day..

your right BSA, I won't touch H 335, much less use it....too many other good options available...

ya don't want to use it shooting prone...I was out with John Noveske once, when he was still with us....

he was shooting some and it quickly started a small brush fire... we got it put out quickly tho...

He has always said it was the "flashiest powder" made...

That's good to keep in mind. I'm assuming it was an AR? Cool that you were shooting with Noveske.

Well damn MD, I have had 22.250 cases stick in a No.1V on a 90 degree day and wasn’t shooting 335, watched a guy at a match shooting a custom 22.250 he just built stick cases 4-5 times on a mid 80’s day using N133. I’ve stuck cases on 223 rem using Benchmark on 90 + day. Seems long strings and hot days can do that. So it happens.
Now iffin y’all wanna complain about to fast a burn rate RL 7 got mentioned in this thread which is faster yet, or how’s about them Blue Dot loads that keep getting posted, how much faster is that powder?
Pick a different reason John, I got mine but that’s not one of them. Ohh and personally I have never sat on a hill in 90+ degrees weather with a 10 1/2 pound rifle and fired 5-6 fast shots at a coyote out of a 22.250, usually 1 suffices and usually it <40 degrees.

I use to run into Noveske over at the Range a lot of times....

I had him do a couple of barrels for me, which were Pac Nor Rejects... he use to work over there...

even tho they were Pac Nor rejects, they are the most accurate two rifles I own...

Actually it wasn't an AR....

Noveske got lucky with ARs and the ones he made and some of the things he did, took off for him...
His own personal stuff, he likes heavy for caliber big bores in light carrying rifles...

He use to buy up ALL the Remington 600s he could find...where ever he found them...

He would shorten cases and then put like a 375 bore barrel or 416 bore barrel on it, like 18 inches in length.. sometimes less...

and this is what he used personally for hunting Blacktails...

John was a good guy, but an odd duck...

he's never wear a seat belt, and always drove like a maniac, at high speed....

Sadly that is why he is no longer with us....

Well Swifty...

I'm probably the person you are hinting about in your post to Mule Deer above there...

I've ran plenty of RL 7 thru 22.250s and 223s on hot days...

have also ran plenty of Blue Dot loads, especially thru the 223.. but also the 22.250...when temps are in the 90s or even triple digits.

Just yesterday, I sent 30 rounds down range at Steel plates at 300 yrds out of a 223..

The load was 10 grains of Unique and a 50 grain TNT, and we had triple digit temps going on..

105 to 107 degrees they were talking about on the radio...

If you don't shoot a fast string, I'm not busy having to remove cases from a hot barrel... I single shot this stuff..

just use your head, and its not an issue....

and at 300 yds, with that load yesterday... out of 30 shots, I had three miss the target by just a couple of inches if that...
you could tell when it hit the dirt backstop behind it... rifle was a Ruger VT with a fairly high mileage barrel on it...

but I'd blame that on me slightly jerking the trigger vs anything else...

Yes John I was hinting at you. Not in a bad way just trying to make a point. And you actually hit the nail square on the head.

If you don't shoot a fast string. just use your head, and its not an issue....

In total every time I have stuck a case was a hot day, working at max. It just seems to happen. Now the 223 load I used if it’s going to be above 85 I back off 1/2 grain and no issues. I hardly ever shoot a 22.250 or Swift above 80 anymore, but when I do again I back off on the load and never fire successive shots under 2 min apart. Saves wear and tear.

Y’all can’t really blame burn rate as has been done as 133, 335 and Benchmark are all in the same region, basically kissing cousins. Seen em all stick cases and usually the common factors were hot days, max loads and fast strings of 5 or so shots.