35 grain Lead Free BT a flop!

R Flowers · May 13, 2010

Well, a while back I posted on here the total failure I had when trying the 40 grain Lead Free Ballistic Tip in my 22-250 Remington. The gun has a 1 in 14 inch twist barrel (a match grade Hart barrel!). Those bullets were keyholing so bad it was amazing and the groups were more like patterns than groups.

Well, I decided I should at least give the 35 grain version a try. The wind has been really bad here, but today I could finally got to test them.

The 35 grain version shot better than the 40's with groups ranging from 1.1 to 1.6 inches. BUT, the holes in the paper and still quite oblong. How can a 35 grain bullet not be stabilized in even a 1 in 14 inch twist? I had them going plenty fast, the top load chronographed 4500 fps!

I shot some groups with plain old fashioned 50 grain Ballistic Tips that were about a half inch.

I shot several groups with the 36 grain Barnes Varmint Grenade today as well. I shot several 1/2 inch groups with the Barnes with one group measuring a mere 0.248 inches! I had those really zipping along as well, just short of 4500 fps. I just wish the Barnes had a better Ballistic Coefficient, even at those speeds it will drop like a rock at long range.

So, if you are going to try the Lead Free Ballistic Tips, it looks like you are going to need a faster twist than my rifle has.

SJB358 · May 13, 2010

Thats odd your rifle isn't stabilizing them. I have a 1/14 and am able to stabilize the 60gr PT. Don't know, I guess it is just one of those bullet profiles your rifle isn't liking. Do you have to use lead free for varmint also? Scotty

CAhunter · May 13, 2010

That is a bummer. Thank you CA and the condors. I think its crazy to have to change all my loads to no copper to shoot squirrels. Flowers If you want to sell those BT lead free let me know what you got. My bro's 22-250 shoots them lights out! Im pretty sure he has a 1:12 though.

RiverRider · May 13, 2010

Years ago I made the mistake of going with near-maximum loads with a new powder without working back up. The rifle was a Model 70 in .223 Remington. I was shooting 50-grain BTs, and had been using max charges of H335 but thought I would try W748. Like I said, I did not work up but instead went with near-max charges right off the bat. I was getting ridiculous velocities (about 3550 to 3600 fps) but thought my chronograph readings were false. I had a lousy scope at the time and could not see the bullet holes clearly, but they definitely did not look right. As I walked to the targets and got close it became obvious that the BTs were not stabilizing---and they have always worked fine in every other instance that I have used them.

I've often wondered what caused those bullets to tumble but never reached any kind of satisfactory conclusion. I do think it's safe to conclude, though, that it was not the bullets' fault!

JD338 · May 13, 2010

RF

I shot some of the Nosler Custom 22-250 35 gr ammo in my M700 VLS and they stabilized in the 1:14 twist barrel. Seems rather odd that they are not working for you. Makes me wonder if you could try a different lot of bullets ans see if that would make a difference.
Give Mike Harris a call at Nosler tomorrow and see what he has to say.

JD338

R Flowers · May 14, 2010

Unfortunately, I do have to use lead free bullets in a large portion of the areas where I hunt. That is the only reason I am trying them, this rifle shoots any number of lead containing bullets quite well, especially the 50 grain Ballistic Tips.

I only bought one box of each of the 35 and 40 grain lead free BT's, so I will probably just give them to my buddy who has a .223 Remington with a 1 in 12 twist.

The Barnes is shooting great for me, I am just not impressed with the Ballistic Coefficient. I guess I still have to try the new Hornady NTX bullets.

Heck, I have two more 22-250's that also have 1 in 14 inch twist barrels, not sure if it is worth the trouble to try them in those guns.

I sold my .223 Remington a couple years ago, it had a 1 in 12 twist, maybe this is a good excuse to go buy a new one. :grin: