I think your velocity for 2520 is low. It tightens up near max 5.56 data. I've loaded up to max 5.56 at 26 4gr with an 18" FN barreled upper getting 2918 fps. Best thus far was 26 even. Varget at 24 grains with a 75 or 77gr is a pretty standard load. I suggest you take the 2520 and work up from 24 up to 26 and see what you get. In my opinion 2520 is far superior to varget. I really don't understand why folks drool over this powder.
Reloading is a rewarding and frustrating at the same time. I thought I found an awesome load with varget and now I’m not sure if it was just luck the first few sweet groups or if the hot weather now changed how it groups or if I just got crappier at shooting. Great video! I like your firearm.
I agree that reloading can be frustrating. I’m always on the quest for the perfect load, but never reach perfection 😁. I guess that’s part of the fun sometimes you find a load that shoots well, but you still want to keep tweaking it to make it even better. Thanks for watching!
Does anyone notice that the first shot when you manually drop the bolt is out of the group of shots when the rifle cycles after the shot? Several of the rifles I have shot seem to have that tendency. .If I single load that seems to go away. Gotta love a good bolt action for accuracy.
My AR10 308 does this, all of my first shots will be up to 3" from the group, I'll have everything touching and then there's that first one all by itself, I thought it was a barrel issue or something at first, then caught on to other gas guns doing the same for other people, especially in the bigger or heavier calibers
Really well done video! Sorry you didn't get the best results. I'm confident you will figure it out. I appreciate the effort all this takes. I love the nerdiness of reloading, I can't wait to get into it someday.
Hey man, great video! Lots more info and a bunch of testing happening. Charts looked good! As far as your chrony going crazy I know mine hates being in sunlight. If you’re able to get it into shade it might help out? I haven’t really looked into AA2520 maybe I should get outside Hodgdon powders a bit more and see what other brands do. I’ve been contemplating some vithavouri... good job dude
West Desert Shooter Thanks for the positive feedback! The chrony usually gives me the most problems in changing conditions. Typically with the sun shades on it has worked well, so not sure what was going on. Thanks for the tips on what it might be. LOL, For the longest time I only shot Hodgon powders, but recently decided to branch out and see if I was missing anything.
25 grains AA2520 & 77 grain Sierra Match Kings with CCI #41 primers get me in the 9/16” group size at 100 yards through a pretty much stock Colt carbine with a trigger upgrade. Yes, it’s 5.56 territory.
How often do you clean your bore? Too often is a bad thing for accuracy as im sure you are aware, and if you dont scrub the copper out often, maybe you are getting to the point where your rifle is saying its time. Those pills are usually lasers.
I was testing the same bullets about a year ago. I was disappointed, to say the least. The groups were 1 MOA or larger. At 100m, the Hornady 75gr bullet performed similar to cheap PPU 62gr FMJ BT. Much better results were achieved with Hornady 68gr BTHP and Sierra 69gr TMK (0.4 - 0.5 MOA). But then I realised why. A 16" barrel wasn't long enough to let those 75gr bricks benefit from their high BC. Simply speaking, their exit velocity was too low. FYI - for bullets heavier than 62gr, I use Reload Swiss 40. My charts show it has similar burn rate to H4895. You may want to give it a try...
Dgunnut BTW, I have the same rifle - CMMG Mk4 T. We get matching results from the same platform, so it's not a shooter's fault the 75gr bullets don't fly well.
Hey man, hope you’ve got your load where you want it. My pet varget load is 24.5 grns with a 75 grn Horn match bullet. That load averages .6-.7 MOA. It’s not unheard of to see .4 or lower size groups but averages in .6-.7 moa range. Out of a 24” tube will stay above 1150 FPS out to about 925 yds. MV is about 2850 FPS
Try CCI primers ! I used WW primers for years and CCI beats them for groups in multiple rifle and loads ! I think you will be happy with the switch ....
@@dgunnut6550 looks like you have the right setup to shoot MK262 ammo, i would start with the basics, like 21-22.4 gr of H322 for your benchmark and than try slower powders like 8208 or H4895 as varget and AA2520 are even slower and have the same burn rate, than you'll know if your barrel likes medium speed or slow burning powders.
Try CCI primers ! I used WW primers for years and CCI beats them for groups in multiplr rifle and loads ! I think you will be happy with the switch ....
I think your velocity for 2520 is low. It tightens up near max 5.56 data. I've loaded up to max 5.56 at 26 4gr with an 18" FN barreled upper getting 2918 fps. Best thus far was 26 even. Varget at 24 grains with a 75 or 77gr is a pretty standard load. I suggest you take the 2520 and work up from 24 up to 26 and see what you get. In my opinion 2520 is far superior to varget. I really don't understand why folks drool over this powder.
Reloading is a rewarding and frustrating at the same time. I thought I found an awesome load with varget and now I’m not sure if it was just luck the first few sweet groups or if the hot weather now changed how it groups or if I just got crappier at shooting. Great video! I like your firearm.
I agree that reloading can be frustrating. I’m always on the quest for the perfect load, but never reach perfection 😁. I guess that’s part of the fun sometimes you find a load that shoots well, but you still want to keep tweaking it to make it even better. Thanks for watching!
Does anyone notice that the first shot when you manually drop the bolt is out of the group of shots when the rifle cycles after the shot? Several of the rifles I have shot seem to have that tendency. .If I single load that seems to go away. Gotta love a good bolt action for accuracy.
I’ve heard a few people say this. I heard one mention shooting the first round off target just to get it out of the picture.
My AR10 308 does this, all of my first shots will be up to 3" from the group, I'll have everything touching and then there's that first one all by itself, I thought it was a barrel issue or something at first, then caught on to other gas guns doing the same for other people, especially in the bigger or heavier calibers
Happens when I deep clean a barrel. If I just run a snake with oil after a range session it doesn't do it.
Really well done video! Sorry you didn't get the best results. I'm confident you will figure it out. I appreciate the effort all this takes. I love the nerdiness of reloading, I can't wait to get into it someday.
Jim Pepper Thanks for the kind words and for watching! Be careful getting into reloading its highly addictive!
Hey man, great video! Lots more info and a bunch of testing happening. Charts looked good! As far as your chrony going crazy I know mine hates being in sunlight. If you’re able to get it into shade it might help out? I haven’t really looked into AA2520 maybe I should get outside Hodgdon powders a bit more and see what other brands do. I’ve been contemplating some vithavouri... good job dude
West Desert Shooter Thanks for the positive feedback! The chrony usually gives me the most problems in changing conditions. Typically with the sun shades on it has worked well, so not sure what was going on. Thanks for the tips on what it might be. LOL, For the longest time I only shot Hodgon powders, but recently decided to branch out and see if I was missing anything.
25 grains AA2520 & 77 grain Sierra Match Kings with CCI #41 primers get me in the 9/16” group size at 100 yards through a pretty much stock Colt carbine with a trigger upgrade. Yes, it’s 5.56 territory.
How often do you clean your bore? Too often is a bad thing for accuracy as im sure you are aware, and if you dont scrub the copper out often, maybe you are getting to the point where your rifle is saying its time. Those pills are usually lasers.
Neil Harris I do a light cleaning every 100 rounds or so and then heavier cleaning with copper solvent after I see accuracy degrading.
Just got a 16 inch ,1/7 twist hardened arms upper, went to my favorite 1/7 load. 24 grains varget, 69 Sierra HPBT, 2.252 OAL .331 for 5 shots at 100
That’s great accuracy and excellent shooting!
Also have had good luck with 24.5 grains Varget with 69 GR Sierra hpbt. 2780 fps
I was testing the same bullets about a year ago. I was disappointed, to say the least. The groups were 1 MOA or larger.
At 100m, the Hornady 75gr bullet performed similar to cheap PPU 62gr FMJ BT.
Much better results were achieved with Hornady 68gr BTHP and Sierra 69gr TMK (0.4 - 0.5 MOA).
But then I realised why. A 16" barrel wasn't long enough to let those 75gr bricks benefit from their high BC. Simply speaking, their exit velocity was too low.
FYI - for bullets heavier than 62gr, I use Reload Swiss 40. My charts show it has similar burn rate to H4895. You may want to give it a try...
matthiusix Good to hear I'm not the only one who hasn't seen the best results with these bullets. Guess I need to pick up some Sierras.
Dgunnut BTW, I have the same rifle - CMMG Mk4 T. We get matching results from the same platform, so it's not a shooter's fault the 75gr bullets don't fly well.
Hey man, hope you’ve got your load where you want it. My pet varget load is 24.5 grns with a 75 grn Horn match bullet. That load averages .6-.7 MOA. It’s not unheard of to see .4 or lower size groups but averages in .6-.7 moa range. Out of a 24” tube will stay above 1150 FPS out to about 925 yds. MV is about 2850 FPS
Try CCI primers ! I used WW primers for years and CCI beats them for groups in multiple rifle and loads ! I think you will be happy with the switch ....
I would stay on the lower side of the powder and try som lighter bullets
does your barrel have the proper 1/7 twist for this round?
Yep, 1:7 twist.
@@dgunnut6550 looks like you have the right setup to shoot MK262 ammo, i would start with the basics, like 21-22.4 gr of H322 for your benchmark and than try slower powders like 8208 or H4895 as varget and AA2520 are even slower and have the same burn rate, than you'll know if your barrel likes medium speed or slow burning powders.
Looks like the range by my house in garretsville Ohio
Are ya using a 1/7 twist?
Yep
I had better results with my 18 inch 1-7 twist with 69 grain bullets. Tried 75 grain and 77 grain and had about the same results.
I have had good luck with 2520 I never use varget 4064 works great for 75gr but you don't get very good speed but it's accurate
Try CCI primers ! I used WW primers for years and CCI beats them for groups in multiplr rifle and loads ! I think you will be happy with the switch ....