Varmint ammo... Anyone loading?

[Guy Miner]

So, I was looking over my supply of loaded .204 Ruger ammo - and it looks pretty good. Several hundred rounds loaded, no empty cases to be found. Good deal. I might want to grab another 100 cases... Hmmmm... There are more bullets to load!

Was mentioning that I had quite a bit of .204 ammo loaded and my youngest nonchalantly nudged the two cases of .17 HMR ammo he has on the closet floor, ready to roll. Dang kid. :grin:

We are looking at loading some more varmint ammo for the 6mm Rem - already have some 75 gr hollow point stuff ready, but there's this desire to try those 3900 fps 55 grain bullets again...

And there's a hundred .308's loaded with the 110 gr Sierra JHP varminter too.

Hoping for a good varmint season this year. It's been a mild winter, we might start seeing them soon! :grin:

Who else is getting ready?

 

[hunter1276]

im getting 55 gr. .223 ready loading them with tac just got them today and made a bunch test rounds. also have some 60gr. PT lol will try those with varget and a few with tac

 

[Hegland]

Wish you well Guy, you're certainly prepared.

My .223s are pretty well set; a mix of 55 BTs with IMR 8208, some 50 gr BTs with Benchmark (from before 8208 was out), and I got some 40 gr lead free BTs to try, if nothing else to see if I can replicate the mushroom cloud in Nosler's video ad. 8)

For friends, a slew of 22-.250s with 50 gr BTs and 4064. One guy just picked up a new .204 so I suspect I'll have to get some dies for that. He also has an old 722 .222 Rem I'd like to tinker with at some point.

Beyond that, 6mm 80 gr BTs for the .243 filled with Varget, and I too have a box of those 55 gr BTs waiting to be loaded. Between work and school, I'm not real sure when I'll get to it all! :x

 

[IdahoCTD]

We've had a couple 50* days lately and I've been feeling the itch to let some fur fly. I'm sure there are some chucks out already with highs in the 50's. Guess I better finish loading for the 243 AI and double check the zero on my 6br. My .30-8mm is good to go.

 

[ScreaminEagle]

I am! 400 rounds of 22-250 and 200 of 257 bob ready to go.

 

[BK]

Jeez, Guy, can I ship my .204 and .223 brass up North for you to load, since I don't seem to have the time to get to it when I'm at home?

 

[RiverRider]

I'm hoping there will be some prairie dogs in the Texas panhandle this spring... Gotta see what the predictions are. I just finished loading 200 rounds for the Swift---max charge of H4895 pushing a 50-grain V-Max. Also have 300 rounds of .222 Rem ready to go, same bullet driven by X-Terminator. I tossed all my old LC brass for the .223 a while back and tried some Federal brass but was not happy with the results and bought a mess of virgin LC brass that I need to prep, hopefully I can get that done in the next month or so. If I go to the panhandle I plan to take all three and hope to have at least 800 rounds ready!

If I can figure out what my .25-06 really likes, I may take it too and see about whacking them at really long range. I've got 75-grain V-Max and 85-grain BTs on the shelf. I achieved a 0.18" three-shot group with the BT a while back but next time out got dismal results. I hope I find out I was just having a bad day!

 

[FOTIS]

I will be varmingeddoning pretty soon!

 

[Oldtrader3]

I guess that Guy is a sure sign that spring is coming? It has been warmer than normal lately and I do need to make some .204 Ruger (32 gr) for my CZ 527. I only have about (2) boxes of 32 grain Nosler and (1) box of (40) grain SST loaded.

I have been trying to catch up on the other calibers and get started on the .257 Bob because I bought some 85 grain Ballistic Tips for Yotes and need to work up a load. With the .204 being so wind-drift sensitive, the .257 may be the Yote round of choice. We shall see.

 

[PJGunner]

I look at the pile of .223 brass I have to load up for my Kimber :shock: and I wonder, when will I find the time? Just too darn busy with stuff around the house.
Paul B.

 

[velvetant]

We've had a couple 50* days lately and I've been feeling the itch to let some fur fly. I'm sure there are some chucks out already with highs in the 50's. Guess I better finish loading for the 243 AI and double check the zero on my 6br. My .30-8mm is good to go.

Yes they are. Popped one the other day with my 6.5 Creedmoor, First blood for that gun.
I built this rifle for long range coyotes and marmots.......and my shot was way out there....87 yards :lol: :lol:
So I ordered some more Berger VLDs and prepping all my brass
Also found a Ruger 10/22 Magnum I'll be using this year for bunnies and squirrels.

 

[SJB358]

So, I was looking over my supply of loaded .204 Ruger ammo - and it looks pretty good. Several hundred rounds loaded, no empty cases to be found. Good deal. I might want to grab another 100 cases... Hmmmm... There are more bullets to load!

Was mentioning that I had quite a bit of .204 ammo loaded and my youngest nonchalantly nudged the two cases of .17 HMR ammo he has on the closet floor, ready to roll. Dang kid. :grin:

We are looking at loading some more varmint ammo for the 6mm Rem - already have some 75 gr hollow point stuff ready, but there's this desire to try those 3900 fps 55 grain bullets again...

And there's a hundred .308's loaded with the 110 gr Sierra JHP varminter too.

Hoping for a good varmint season this year. It's been a mild winter, we might start seeing them soon! :grin:

Who else is getting ready?

Man, I am coming to visit Guy. I miss having good varmint hunting days! I think my boy would enjoy the heck out of that too..

 

[JD338]

I need to load up some 22-250 Rem with the new 55 gr Varmageddon bullets.

JD338

 

[CatskillCrawler]

Two things I am jealous of: being able to hunt elk locally and seeing more than a dozen varmints in one day.

I can load up 40 rds of 22-250 and have some leftover after a year in the field.

 

[BK]

bought a mess of virgin LC brass that I need to prep,

Mind if I ask where you get the virgin Lake City brass?

 

[muleman]

Guy,
I still need to load 300 .204 but I have 1500 17HMR, 3000 .22LR,200 6x284 and 200 257RAI ready to go! Taking the kids out end of March. It is an absolute hoot to watch my 10 and 11 year olds go after the ground squirrels with their 10/22's - They shoot better than a lot of adults I know. We finished their hunter safety classes this past weekend. My son was 100% on the written exam and shot a perfect score at the range and my 10 year old daughter received a 94% on the written test and a perfect score at the range! Makes a Dad proud! 8)
Scott

 

[SJB358]

That's awesome Scott. My boy aced his test too. At least that's how a Dad remembers it! Can't wait to see pictures of your kids blasting the rodents! Very cool

 

[2ndtimer]

Well, let's see. Have about 1000 rounds loaded up for the .223 with assorted 40, 50 and 55 gr bullets with TAC, Accurate 2200 and 2015, also have about 1500 rounds of factory Fiocchi 40 gr V-Max for the .223's, about 1500 rounds for the .17HMR's and another case of 1000 on the way, only have a couple of hundred loaded for the .243's. Have to definitely load some more of the Nosler 55 gr SHOTS bullets for the .243 since my oldest son's new girlfriend has a compact MKII Ruger that actually seems to like them! :shock:
Although, some of my "bench time" will have to be donated to my son's new Model 77 Hawkeye in .338 Federal. It shoots the Federal Fusion factory load so well, I am afraid it might be a challenge to equal its' performance with handloads.
Also need to order a few boxes of the new Varmageddon tipped bullets. See if the flat base bullet shoots as well as the Ballistic Tips in my .223's. I don't usually plan on heading to Montana until June, but this year it has been unusually warm and dry, so it may be sooner. My local spy will let me know when they start showing up in numbers so we can do our best to keep them off the wheat.

 

[257 Ackley]

I did some case prep over the weekend for the .204 so there is about 400 cases to load now. There is 500 rounds with 35 grain Bergers and Benchmark already done, but a good weekend in a p-dog patch will use them up quick. There is about 1000 rounds of 22-250 done as well, so I should be set for the first shoot of the season.

A "black rifle" in .223 followed me home a couple weeks ago, so I am shooting that a bit to see if I can find any cheap 50 - 55 grain factory ammo that it likes. A local farm supply store has a 55 grain softpoints in cases of 1000 rounds for $295. If they shoot decent in my rifle there won't be a need to buy dies and spend the time loading. I won't have to worry about chasing brass around that those darn semi-autos spit all over the place either. :mrgreen:

 

[RiverRider]

bought a mess of virgin LC brass that I need to prep,

Mind if I ask where you get the virgin Lake City brass?

Not at all, BK! I think I got mine from Natchez, they have it. Berry's Mfg. has it also. There may be another source I cannot recall. Best .223 brass available, IMO!