Looking for a good place to start loading the 50gr Barnes varmint grenade with H-335 for use in my AR. Also will crimping these loads with a LEE FCD damage the tin/copper core?
Not the Varmint grenade, but I had real good luck with 25.5 and the Nosler ballistic tip....Never crimped for my AR, just used .002 neck tension and went on with it. I did shoot them in a 25 Winchester AI I had for a little while and they are a very soft bullet so I wouldn't put to stout a crimp on them.
The thing that concerns me is the Varmint grenades length. It is much longer than a typical 50gr bullet. Don't know what this will do to pressure if I use standard 50gr bullet loads.
Think what I have is the Varmint Nightmares which I think is the probably the same bullet sold by Midsouth instead of midway....They're not any longer than any others I have and not as long at the Nosler I shoot the most. I liked the 55's and 60's better in my Bushmaster that the 50's anywho...Haven't seen a stock AR without a pretty liberal throat. Have you checked to see how far you can seat them out. I was loading 65 SGK's very deep in the case with about the same charge with excellent results...They even shoot very good in my 1/12 Remington 700VS. 25.3 grains with the 65 SGK loaded to mag length.
You can't seat out ANYTHING in an AR.
And I would not crimp the VG. The core probably can't take it. I don't crimp any of my AR loads anyway.
Because the VG is so long, powder room MIGHT be an issue, less so with a ball like 335. As for pressure, consider that with the usual long throat you are going to get a running start, which give a different pressure curve than parking up against rifling.
I tried some VG 50s in a bolt rifle and the issue wasn't pressure, but final accuracy. Other guys got great results, just one of those female barrel things. Overall, the load behavior was normal in every other respect, and the "best" load was the same as it was for two other 50 grain bullets.
How is your twist, Punkheaver? If you have an 8, you should be fine.
My bbl is a 1-9", box says 1-10" or faster so hopefully I'm alright. I generally use the 60gr sierra HP for yotes but the Barnes bullets where on sale a midway last time I ordered so I bought them on a whim.
Posted on other forums, and claimed to have been received from Barnes when calling them for load data:
numbers are powder name, weight charge, min and max with fps, and powder volume %
50 grn. Vg barnes
RL10X 19.2 2810 22.2 3202 88
H335 21.4 2800 24.4 3210 84
TAC 23.4 2965 26.4 3332 93
H4895 21.8 2973 24.8 3293 98
IMR4895 22.2 2857 25.2 3229 100
Varget 22.8 2997 25.8 3288 102
AA2520 26.0 3069 29.0 3383 103
I would do the same as that other guy did and call Barnes, and cross check this data before using it. Barnes lists 2.2" coal, Win. cases, Fed 205 primer, and they used a rifle with 1 in 12" twist. The data seems reasonable, but I would still call Barnes and double check.
Good luck,
Manny
Those numbers look pretty normal to me for Varget and 4895, TAC too. Remember what Mic McPh says about the 100 percent volume parameter.