Home Forums Reloading Varmint Rifles Economy 223 Varmint Loads..

Well I'm off tomorrow to go shoot little sage rats, or gophers as those Montana boys call 'em...

figure about 85% to 90% are taken within 200 to 225 yds...

so I have 400 rounds or so of 223 loaded up with 15 grains of IMR SR 4759 and 55 grain Varmint Extreme bullets from Mid South...

got another 300 rounds with 13.5 grains of Blue Dot with Win 46gr HPs, that I picked up back when you could get 2,000 for $122 on the door step..ended up ordering those twice...

right around 218 Bee or 22 K Hornet speeds....

I know guys complain about some of these loads...but with the SR 4759 load, I get 466 rounds out of a pound of powder..

with the Blue Dot load, over 500 rounds...

so tomorrow or Saturday night, I'll get a chance to post some end results.. as I am going over to Klamath start out the 2012 season....with an invite from a fellow forum member as his guest..

not only do I look forward to getting out, I also look forward to get out and go shooting with a fellow forum member..

and the weather is supposed to be spectacular on top of it..

this is a thousand times more fun than deer season opener..

between 223 and rim fire, I'll be shooting between 700 to 1000 rounds if it is just a normal day..

three 223s and a pair of rimfires loaded up... and will try out a new lead free 25 grain NTX loading of 22 Mag in the NEF, just to see how they shoot and if they are worth it..

my trigger finger is already itching tonight..

Sounds like fun. Shoot some for me....

What he said.

Yep, sounds like fun....and with those loads probably don't have to wait for the barrel to cool.
Hope you have a great shoot!
Rick

Yep. Post some pictures when you get back.

Christmas in March. Have fun, Seafire.

Hmm.. Seafire you bring up a question..

How good do those Mid-South bullets work & who makes-em??

Ok... two questions..

MM

Well, Seafire and I gave it heck today but the squirrels just wern't out in force yet. The fields are still very brown and the little ones have not come up yet. I think we were able to account for a few dozen a piece....in a couple weeks it will get crazy though. We did take some shots at rockchucks our around 350 yards and I am pretty confident he shot a very large one that drug it's self into a hole.

Thanks Seafire for the company and conversation today.

Me jealous. You happy. Me happy for you.

Well Andrew,

about 2 o'clock the little buggers started coming out in force..I went thru about 100 rounds of 223 from 2;15 to 4:30...

at first I was just winging them... but finally got some areas dialed in and started exploding them....

I left at 4:30 to go check out the posted area you showed me on Dodd Hollow Rd, but there was no name out front to contact...

but late in the day, they were out all over the place, when I was driving into K Falls to gas up for the trip back over the hill....

saw plenty of fields with them out chasing each other all over the place...

no cannibals yet tho... so when you blow one up, the carcass wasn't attracting the other ones yet....

stayed in that second field until 4:30...

I'm still of the conclusion, bang flops with a 22 are pretty darn boring...

thanks again for having me over...

for anyone who wonders, the load I was shooting this afternoon was 15 grains of SR 4759 and a 50 grain Varmint Nightmare Extreme...

they work just fine... more than accurate enough for minute of sage rat...

the Varmint Extremes are made by Nosler..

the Varmint Nightmares are Hornadys...

my next order, I am going to try the hollow points..

Seafire, how accurate are those in your rifle? Thanks...

I've used them 5 years or more now...if the accuracy was hit or miss, then I wouldn't use them...

for sage rats, I usually limit myself to a max of 250 yds..

beyond that with the optics I have, I am just throwing lead..

the bullets are more than capable.. not a bench rest bullet, but definitely a good varmint bullet...

I have used them on prairie dogs in Montana, out of my 22.250 with a Leupold 6.5 x 20... that has smacked prairie dogs with good consistency out to 400 yds...and longer when I am lucky or someone more capable is pulling the trigger..

tried some of the 34 HPs in a 204...those are overruns of Winchester 20 cal 34 gr HPs, made by Nosler... those are as accurate as V maxes are in the 204.. even pretty close to the Hornady NTXs which are the most accurate bullets in that 204...

they are definitely a bargain... I have good luck with the SPSX Hornadys also, and the Mid South bullets are just as accurate as those are...

Seafire,

What is your primer of choice for those loads?

Sounds like tons o' fun!

Ed

answered via PM..

Seafire

Have been east of the cascades many times this time of year. Having a 3-4 hour window out of a weekend, with good shooting is about normal for me. I have shot rats over at Burns with morning temperatures at 15 degrees with the sun out. But if a cloud goes over, they head for the holes. I usually use the hornet if using a centerfire. Out to 200 yards is my sense of fun, with this cartridge. Hope to be able to go after april 15. Glad you got to shoot a bunch.

You need to be here when there's snow on the ground and the sun's out. They're really easy to see! Mostly it's only the males that are out now. They come out first and chase each other around and fight, I suppose to establish territory. I got a few off the back deck with my .218 Bee a couple mornings ago after a snowfall. Regards, Woody