Home Forums Reloading Varmint Rifles Barnes Varmint Grenades and Twist Rates?

I have never loaded or used any Barnes Varmint Grenades in my 22-250. My son-in-law recently purchased a 22-250, does not reload but wants me to load some 50gr VGs for him. Don't really know why he wants to use that particular bullet but, here is my question;

It says on the box and on the Barnes web-site that a 1:10 or faster twist is recommended. Most factory 22-250s have a 1:14 twist. Also, the load data on the Barnes web-site shows they used a 1:14 twist. So...
Do any of you guys run these 50 gr Varmint Grenades in a 1:14 barrel? Any problems? And, why doesn't Barnes use a barrel with the twist they recommend??
Thanks for your help.

I have a 1:12 in 22-250 and have had no luck with them. all over the board @100 yds. 8-12 inch groups. shot them fast shot'em slow still no improvement. I have read of great success but not in my rifle.

They are quite long for their weight, which is why a faster twist is called for than the weight would normally indicate.

I just received a sample box of a soon-to-be-released 30-gr Hornet Varmint Grenade bullet. My caliper says they are as long as several regular 45-grain Hornet bullets, and almost as long as some 40-gr tipped bullets. (Good thing, too! When I seated them to my rifle's preferred OAL length, they only had 0.15" of the shank inside the neck.)

Range tests to come soon, if the snow stops.

Rocky,

I used the VGs in my 223, and it was the only bullet my rifle would not shoot. I weighed the VGs, and IIRC there was a weight variation of just under 2 grains.

I'll be interested to get your results with the 30gr VGs for my Hornet, and 221FB.

Steve

Yeah Im still scratching my head on the VGs. My buddy was trying to run the 50s in a slower twist and could not get consistency. Switching to the 36 helped but the loads still seem erratic. Some groups will run 2" but the same group a while later will run 3/4". We know its not the rifles because it will go about 1/2" with the Vmax loads.

Has anyone seen any big improvements playing with OAL?

I had my best luck with VG by slowing them down. Kind of defeats the purpose in my opinion but I did get a few accurate loads. In my opinion they are not wort the the extra money over other varmint type bullets.

I've had the same experience with the 36gr out of my .223REM. The lighter the powder load, the better the group. I thought the same thing, defeats the purpose.

Wow talk about deja vu, my buddy just came back from the range and reported one hole groups that were a couple grains shy of the full loads. Believe me if it was not for the lead free requirements I would not even have them on my bench.