It looks like they are already offering free shipping for some of their packs. However, your promocode is still good for $2 off each .223 item in your cart.
Alliant does offer a free manual they will mail to you. I request a new one every year. Agreed I do like to see something on the bottle when I bored and want to try a new powder
I really miss these long videos... I just order 5k of these a little while back because I remembered these videos and I'm about to start messing with them and was looking for a little info. It's crazy how often I come back to your older videos looking for info before I dive off into something new. You rock brother I really appreciate all you've done!!!
I think I just had another birthday watching this video. I know for a fact I missed two meals and my Newfoundland puppy died of old age. He was like 106 in dog years by the time this was over. When I started this video I was still married to my ex wife and not yet married to my current wife. I think I met my third wife about halfway through. Took my youngest Son to his first day of HS just before this video started .... he now graduates from college in three months and we're still talking about Bob's bullets.
Your 2,720fps through 2,777fps ALL were the largest (2.0") spreads! That obviously is harmonics in the barrel reacting to that velocity range. It looks like your barrel/bullet combo really has a sweet spot in the 2,950 through 3,000+ range!
Great video. You are filling the niche that I have noticed existed for quite some time. The end portion where you document the groups with the load is outstanding work. Thank you for this, looking for more to come!
Just found your channel recently and I think this is one of the best .223 loading videos I've ever seen. You are very informative and I like the relaxed vibe.
Thanks for the review. I'm new to reloading .223 and your videos have saved me a lot of trial and error. Based on your testing I picked up a 1000 and H335 powder. At 25 grs they are the perfect plinking round.
I finished some of my testing on Bob's , 20"gi AR 1/9. front and rear bags, mag feed, 5 round groups. Avg about 1" to 1-1/4". 55 fmj H-335 24.5 with O/L @ 2.250" Lake city brass. No crimp. for me, well worth the money.
I use bacon grease for lube. Smells great and never had a stuck case. Triple up a paper towel an spread the bacon grease on it then roll the brass across.
When you get Flyers you're probably getting variations in your primer weights. Weigh your primers and you'll find some of them are light and some of them are heavy and that variation is the amount of explosive in the primer, so just try to group the primer weights around the most common weight and use all of those for your testing and you'll see a higher level of accuracy.
Point blank (no pun intended), VARGET is the "bee's knees" of powders! I believe that it is literally out of this world. Works very well as an all-in-one!Thanks for the in-depth video.I need to check those out!
Outstanding video on case prep and loading .223. Hope you don't mind my adding some rambling thoughts. Ergonmomics - That plastic bin is great for lubing but too deep to have to reach over to retrieve cases - very tiring in the long term. Shallow plastic food trays work great at the bench. I like to have the sized case receptacle at or slightly below bench top level so it's easy to drop the cases into the container. I once prepped about 5,000 surplus military 5.56 cases so I had to do everything I could to improve efficiency. Dry tumbling with fine ground corncob + NuFinish and mineral spirits works well to remove the lanolin No waiting for the cases to dry and the mineral spirits helps reduce dust. The 55 grain FMJs I've loaded have had inconsistent tip shapes, making the OAL measurement vary even though the bullets were seated the same off of the ogive. A comparator is the only reliable way to measure OAL. If you're trying to fit a magazine then both actual and comparator OAL should be measured to assure that the bullets will both fit in the magazine and will be seated the same within the cartridge. The distance to the lands will be consistent even if the OAL to the tips is inconsistent. It seems to be less of an issue with hunting and target bullets but I still see small variations in tip length compared to the ogive length. Your FMJs are more consistent than what I've used. With the Lee Factory Crimp Die you'll know how hard you crimped when you have to pull a bunch of bullets. Don't ask. :( The shooting test was well done as a video and very interesting. None of the groups were that bad considering you were shooting FMJs but the fliers were interesting. Could the Varget at 2.260 test not be valid because the rifle wasn't autoloading? It seems to me that loading from an open bolt and tripping the bolt release every time is the most consistent (eliminates variations form the first round to subsequent rounds), followed by autoloading and then manually cycling the bolt being the least consistent. The Varget at 2.260" is what I would expect a rifle with good components like yours to shoot. One of the major bullet manufacturers said that FMJs are the least consistent of all the bullets they make because they're made backwards to all other bullets. With everything else the cup is drawn, the core pressed in, the bullet is formed and lastly the tip is trimmed. WIth FMJs the tip is formed, the core pressed in and the jacket is trimmed before being formed around the base. That process can lead to out-of-balance bullets according to the maker. My best shooting AR shoots "patterns" at 100 yards with the FMJs I've tried but with quality bullets like Sierra MKs and Hornady V-Max it will shoot in the threes at tht distance.
Hornady one shot isn't supposed to contaminate powder either. However I dry tumbled a batch after they are loaded just to make them shiny. They look nice, but now I have a 10-20% failure to fire rate. On the case it's fine, but apparently the power can pick it up and screw you. Luckily I only have to take apart a small batch.... Of 500..... Side note- I am really enjoying my new Hornady cam lock bullet puller. Lol
Johnny, Thanks for the review. anyone firing National Match should consider picking these up for the 200-yard line or even the 300. I purchased one thousand of them myself. I plan on using IMR-4895 just to see how they will group (IMR-4895 being similar to Varget) in burn rate. even firing the short course @100 yards these bullets would be a winner. Thanks again. Dave.
Great vid JRB, everyone loves an affordable plinking bullet that shoots well. With H335 I have always used 24.5-25.0 grains for just about any 55 grain bullet with no pressure issues and seems to be the sweet spot for me. Would love to see this bullet pushed a little harder with H335. This bullet looks like it was tightening up as you went up with Varget also. 8208 XBR probably would shoot this bullet well also. Thanks again JRB. I guess I'm headed over to Bobs' to pick up 1K to mess around with.
I use 24gr of H335 with Berry’s 55gr my plinking loads and they’ve been great! I’m not sure about the accuracy but it’s great for improving technique and just hitting some steel!
I asked my English Teacher, and she said, “If there is more than one Bob, it would be spelled Bobs’ Bullets.” Thanks for a great video, I bought 5,000 and can’t wait to test them!
I dont even reload. but looking at Bob's bullet video series. I felt like ordering 5000 bulk pack . ha ha ha ha. I'm here in lexington KY . i would one of these day go to the Sportamn's warehouse reloading class. Good job Johnny . hope my small amount of patreoning help
Thanks. I watch a lot of your vids. I have loaded 1000’s of .223. Never used “Bobs’” bullets though. Good review! I used several different powders. H335, Varget, Tac, Winchester 748 to start with. Primers; CCI 400, CCI 450, 41’s, BR-4’s. CCI 400’s worked best in warm weather. CCI 450’s in cooler/cold weather. (They were more consistent than the 41’s) The H335 worked out to be my most consistent, accurate powder. I know it’s a crazy/weird thing but a velocity of around 3000-3050 fps is the velocity my rifle shoots best at.
I love the long videos man it kinda shows the human element,duality of the reloader, the problems we all face and different ways to reload in the different methods . Just watching this one video I realize are a couple things I can do a little bit better streamline my process, I use H 335 to reload 7.62 x 39 and some of the techniques this guy uses I'm gonna start using . For example, I just got a new lee powder drop that does not have a removable lid and I was dumping the powder used to pre-charge back into the 1 pound powder jug. Just the simple fact of putting that powder into the trickler blew my mind LOL.
Johnny, i wish i would have caught your 243 comment the first 3 times ive seen this vid, i would have sent you my rifle. I'm stationed in Germany and it just sits there needing love. Its a little $300 walmart hohum rifle but my favorite of all, Rem 700 ADL 243win, with handloads i got it at a consistent 3/4moa at 100yd, stretched it out to 600ys consistently, im certain you would have enjoyed it. Keep up the great reloading work!!! This is my fix while im away bud.
I went RCBS bench priming with the vibrating primer tube loader that does both large and small primers. Priming is such a pleasure now, And minimal time wasted screwing around trying to get primers in the cases.
I really appreciate the video. I purchased 1000 bobs bullets a few months back. They seemed to shoot well, but I've ended up spending a lot on hornaday. I think I need to go back and take a second look at Bob's. Thanks for sharing. Love your Channel.
Hey Bud I just Wanted to let you know outta all the videos i watched on youtube. Yours or others I've learnt the most outta this one, in a whole not just on one subject about reloading. Thanks.
For the RCBS shell holder hand primer if U hold the shell up off the base of shell holder it will self align and slide in nicely (post Dillon Swager). If it hits, slide it down towards the center a little. Its taken hundreds and hundreds of attempts to figure this out and get it running smoothly.
I remember now! lol The bigger my channel gets the harder it is to keep track of things. Thanks for the recommendation...these bullets are pretty awesome. I've never seen anything come close in this price range!
I got these bullets for $119/1000 delivered few months ago. These powders hard to find now days. I picked up RE 7 and @21.6 gr can shoot 1" group at 100Y. Brass 1.750" and OAL 2.245". Mil spec AR15/M4 with 16" 1-7 twist, Vortex strike eagle II and TriggerTech adjustable trigger(love it) Of course all barrels are different but a good place to start if can't find Varget, H335 ... etc. Nice video, THX.
You might switch to dry tumbling after your final trim/chamfer/debur. That will make it easier to remove lube and also gives you the option to put some final polish on the brass.
The most cost-effective and excellent working case lube. It is the only lube I use. Just make sure you let the water and alcohol dry off before running them through. The mix ratio I use is 1 to 10. Large zip lock bags work great for lubing shells.
I strongly agree that Hodgdon putting reload data on the bottle is pure marketing genius. I often manage to get out of the house without loading data and the Hodgdon label is a life saver.
Johnny's Reloading Bench, if you want more velocity with H335 your going to need more pressure, to get more pressure your going to have to lower your OAL or add more powder. Hodgdon these powders importer/distributor show OAL with a Speer 55 Grainer @ 2.200.
I'm planning on trying the NOE HTC225-60-RN bullet that was designed for powder coating. With any luck it will be an accurate plinker that costs even less than Bobs' jacketed bullets.
While we are Recommending .223 bullets, have you tried the 62gr bthps from Midsouth shooters supply? $150 for 1500ct and are currently my favorite over 26gr of cfe.223 (work up)
I just may now. Thanks. For whatever reason, I tried some 62g (probably got a bunch of them cheap lol) and couldn't believe the accuracy difference. Wow. I felt like: all this for nothing extra (other than what I was already doing).
I've been shooting these for two years. I like what I get from my ARs . My 20" gun is a 1:9 twist. The 16" is a 1:7 and both shoot them better than I expected. Hornady made a good bullet with this one.
standard primers with 26.5 gr. of H335 with an OACL of 2.750". When I chronographed this load alongside Federal XM193 ammo, the federal was 3,138 fps avg. and my new load with these G.D. bullets clocked 3,158 fps .
have you seen this? the H335 is the same as as mil spec Olin WC844 use by the M193 ball, M196 tracer, M855 ball, and the M859 tracer. Plus others. IDENTIFICATION OF SURPLUS HODGDON VS. MILITARY POWDERS Hodgdon Powder Olin Powder HS-6 540 HS-7 571 H110 296 (before '75 WC820 .30 Carb) BLC-2 WC846 (Ball M80 7.62mm) H335 WC844 (Ball M193 5.56mm) H380 WC852 (Ball M2 Cal. .30) H414 W-W 760 sold to Hodgdon H450 785 (originally WC780) H870 WC870 (20mm) HP38 W-W 231 sold to Hodgdon Trap 100 452AA sold to Hodgdon hence, if your using a 5.56mm you don't have to rely on .223 data from Hodgdon when it comes to 55 grain or 62 grain bullets. Not one of their published loads will match or compare with the 5.56 load. but, you should not use 5.56 loads in a .223. the 5.56 is obviously a hotter load that most .223 can't handle safely. The .223 Wilde was built to handle both,. the .223 is not.
If you're getting neck splitting on your brass and if you've fired the brass 3 times, probably best consider annealing. Another shooter suggested always annealing after a max of 4 reloads.
BOB's raised their prices with the Rona outbreak. I have been ordering them in 1k lots for $80 in the last few months, this time the price jumped to $115. I say that is a price jump high enough to call it price gouging. I am a little upset with Bob now.
12.6 cents for cast 38 SP - no thanks. I can get Berry's plated at Cabela's of all places for 11 cents each. Call me when they have cast for 6-7 cents each shipped.
Varget gets requested a lot so I use it sometimes. It is not ideal for the light bullets but it works well! We'll be testing a lot more powders with this bullet.
Yea I like varget too and I have noticed the more the marrier but I just noticed you used it twice or three times in succession and that's strange for you Johnny reloading bench
i would suggest, to not change the gas block setting during strings of groups, it might not change groups much , but it is a change in the amount of gas that follows the projectile out of the barrel. consistency is paramount in comparison. keep up the good work buddy really enjoy your channel
Just got my Bob's bullets today. ordered day before yesterday. very quick At first glance, they look ok. load some tonight or tomorrow. thanks for the tip. gonna use 26.4gr of varget. a FULL case for 223. I searched high and low , best price around for boolits.
I’d like to see these at around 3100 to 3200 FPS. It seems as the velocity increased your groups got a lot tighter. I’ve been getting my 55g .223 from surplus ammo. I’ll defiantly give the Bobs’ a try. Thank for the show. Great content!
bob hello,...............this is the other Bob's bullets. im glad your doing well. my specialty is handloading very high quality shotgun shells for a limited clientele who don't care what a box costs. im just realy realy glad there's another Bob out there doing the same stick. i look forward to buying .223 from you for my farm bolt gun. still have a case of black hills but ill get to you soon. vty Bob W, husband of N
H335 and 55gr bullets is like PB&J. They go together very well, but I think your charges are real low. Usually the sweet spot for H335 and a 55gr FMJ is around 25gr. I have some 55gr loads with 27.5gr of H335 so you can definitely go up and see what you get. Some of my most accurate loads are with H335 and 55gr bullets out of a 1-7 barrel.
I am fairly new to reloading rifle, have been doing pistol for awhile. To determine what needs trimmed or doesn't need trimmed, I drop the pieces of brass in the case gauge, if the neck pokes out above the case gauge, it needs trimmed. Anything wrong with that method?
49:00 in, use a rubberband or hairtie and a laundry fabric softener sheet. the dryer sheet will prevent static from making the powder stick to the powder funnel. i just keep it on my powder throw and take a peek as needed. happy reloading!
I know i have mentioned before, but for me the best accuracy in a 55gr 223 bullet seems to almost always come around the 3000 fps range. It would be interesting to see if you can reach that velocity with the H335 and see if the groups shrink.
I find the same thing. 3000fps + give me the best accuracy. if I remember right H335 at 25gr gives me around 3000 fps with the 55gr FMJ out of my 20" barrel. Don't know about a 16"
mojo jojo I get around 2900-3000 FPS out of my Anderson 16" with 25.5 gr. H335 behind a Hornady or Armscor 55 grain FMJBT Pretty accurate. I can ring steel out to 300 yards with a TRS-25 red dot.
I’ve been testing hornady 55gr FMJ with H335. My testing has shown that 25.0 he gets me to average 3000 FPS as well with a similar barrel and chamber and cartridge overall length. You can see in your results that when your velocities reach 3000 FPS your groups tighten up. But why waste varget on a plinking round when you can use H335 at 25.0 gr. It is less expensive that varget which is best used for match grade ammo like the 69 grain HPBT from Sierra.
You are totally incredible! 👍 I truly think you should teach a class at YALE University about reloading. You are certainly the top professor of general cartridges 🙌
For extruded powders that lock up the hopper (Hornady in my case) I've learned to brace my levering hand on it in such a way that I can give my operating thumb an anchor. This allows me to break through with a deliberate movement and get the regular charge even on the hard ones. If I try to cycle a few times to loosen, it just adds more and y hopper tends to stay within a tenth pretty well, so it just makes it easier this way.
You had me laughing at the beginning and when you were talking about being "that guy" hahaha so much good content, august is going to be a good month, I will follow along great job man
One day, would you do a semi auto .308 test? That'd be something the reloading world is missing. My barrel is 16" with a 1/12 twist which makes it an interesting gun to load for. No one has really done it and I'd like someone experienced to bounce ideas off of.
Enjoying this video (perhaps for a second time) in 2024. I have that same scale and love it. May have learned about it from this channel or another RUclips channel
You will find accuracy in H335 at 25 grains. I use that exact load hornady bullets are .08 when you buy by the 1000. And I seat at 2.257. I am in an AR black hole weaponry barrel and get .5” groups average. I say this with confidence as I have shot a lot of this and it is published in noslers reloading manual.
55s shoot well up around 3000Fps so push your other powders up a little the Varget which is our Ar2208 here in Australia if you go 2/10ths up or down may find it also tightens group
That little hole in the threads of the sizing die could serve several functions, as you stated to allow air / lube to escape and prevent ‘hydraulic dents’ and also to relieve any vacuum/ suction that’s created to prevent the case being stuck ? I’m not sure , but I enjoy watching your videos, trying to learn as much as I can before I venture out into this reloading game.
Lee dies also has that hole to let air and lube out. Also seemed to take you a while to trim, you may want to look at the RCBS carbide cutter. It fits the frankford arsenal and cuts really fast and clean.
Hornady bulk 223 bullets are pretty close to that price. If you partially install the lid on the primer tool( the first detent) then shake it to flip over the primers, you will have an easier time.
If you don't want to be measuring all of your casings, you should build a lightly back-lit adjustable jig that can be sized so you can dump a whole bunch of casings into it at a time (regardless of what kind of cartridge you're working with), and so that when lined up square, a proper-length case will fit, but one that needs to be trimmed will not, and any that may be too short could be easily visually-detected (tis the purpose of back-lighting it). You could also re-size it once you're done pressing in the pills to verify overall length. Two birds with one stone. That would speed up your QA process a whole bunch. I know you may not want to go through all of the effort of checking all of your brass, but it's a vital part of the process that cannot be skipped, unless you want to be another one of those reasons why people foolishly think hand-loads are inherently dangerous and that people who hand-load can't be trusted enough to perform the task competently and safely.
Gunblue 690 turned me on to Lee size lube that comes in a tube like tooth paste . I've tried all the lubes over the past 60 years . I've dented a lot of shoulders and stuck a lot of cases . Since using the lube from Lee I haven't stuck a case or dented a shoulder . It's easy to use and cheap . See Gunblue 690's video on it .
I would love to see one of your test with and without your CAN. If I remember correctly the last time you tried it. Your groups opened up with your CAN on. And Like always love your videos. I'll be seeing you on PATREON. from now on.
Man I love your videos so hard.. Oooh oooh oooh PS, I load H335 to 24.5 with 55grain varmint nightmare SP bullets @ 2.228 oal. Those get me really great groups at 70yards. 16inch stoner barrel, 1:9 twist.
Im doing .308 rounds in 150 grain for 33 cents au each in 7.62mm-,sure beats paying $27.00 for 20 rounds of factory federal ammo in the same configuration.
Outstanding video, been waiting for an experiment like this and using the very popular powders for the average reloader. Great content Johnny! Maybe you can have these God bullets redeem that PSA barrel you shelved :)
I wonder if we can get them to start making a 68-69 grain OTM? Even if they were twice the price of the 55 grainers, they'd still only be 2/3 the price of Hornady or Sierra...
Also to add to that, your hottest charge generally shot the best. You should go over max, those are for the smallest chamber in that given caliber. LAY THE POWDER TO ER
This is cool, I've had small adjustments with bullet seating make a large difference. Try doing a fine seating test from there for your barrel. Thanks for the great videos
When you get Flyers you're probably getting variations in your primer weights. Weigh your primers and you'll find some of them are light and some of them are heavy and just try to group the weights around the most common weight and use all of those for your testing and you'll see a higher level of accuracy.
All of the worst groups occurred in the 2700-2800 FPS range. The projectile liked everything slower or faster than that. I'm assuming that last H335 load would have done better with a little more powder.
At around 7 minutes when commenting on the differences between Hornady FMJ bullets and Bob's bullets I believe what you meant to say was that the distance from the lands was .035" for the Hornady FMJ bullets and .030" for Bob's bullets. Not that the difference was .035" further from the lands with the Hornady bullets than Bob's bullets. I'm sure most people know what you meant to say but for those of you who didn't this should help.
Use coupon code JRBfreeship for free shipping on 250, 500, and 1,000 packs.
Johnny's Reloading Bench h
It looks like they are already offering free shipping for some of their packs. However, your promocode is still good for $2 off each .223 item in your cart.
Damned vultures
Alliant does offer a free manual they will mail to you. I request a new one every year. Agreed I do like to see something on the bottle when I bored and want to try a new powder
your a good man for this . tyvm SHTF need to know
I really miss these long videos... I just order 5k of these a little while back because I remembered these videos and I'm about to start messing with them and was looking for a little info. It's crazy how often I come back to your older videos looking for info before I dive off into something new. You rock brother I really appreciate all you've done!!!
Me in 2021 watching him play with all those primers 🤤🌊
i did a search on primers.. and there were posts on forums in 2009 about the same lack of primers available..
man i just want powder
Me in 2022 trying to get primers....
In non-lean times order cases of 5000... Cases, not case...
For the lean times.
@@rat-a-tatranch579 oh yeah got plenty of primers to last me the next outbreak or something
I think I just had another birthday watching this video. I know for a fact I missed two meals and my Newfoundland puppy died of old age. He was like 106 in dog years by the time this was over. When I started this video I was still married to my ex wife and not yet married to my current wife. I think I met my third wife about halfway through. Took my youngest Son to his first day of HS just before this video started .... he now graduates from college in three months and we're still talking about Bob's bullets.
Top tier shït posting about vidjéo length sir. I keked.
Rewatching for the thousandth time. Always a great series. Thanks JRB
I cant get over how well done these videos are. If you weren't a high school teacher at some point you should have been.
Your 2,720fps through 2,777fps ALL were the largest (2.0") spreads! That obviously is harmonics in the barrel reacting to that velocity range. It looks like your barrel/bullet combo really has a sweet spot in the 2,950 through 3,000+ range!
Great video. You are filling the niche that I have noticed existed for quite some time. The end portion where you document the groups with the load is outstanding work. Thank you for this, looking for more to come!
Just found your channel recently and I think this is one of the best .223 loading videos I've ever seen. You are very informative and I like the relaxed vibe.
Love the old school long form vids.
chazzott - agreed. Good stuff!
Don't think I've ever watched a 70 minute video on RUclips, until now, great job !
“Be a douche bag all day and have the ammo to back it up.” Le sigh, new life goals FTW. 😂
Thanks for the review. I'm new to reloading .223 and your videos have saved me a lot of trial and error. Based on your testing I picked up a 1000 and H335 powder. At 25 grs they are the perfect plinking round.
I finished some of my testing on Bob's , 20"gi AR 1/9. front and rear bags, mag feed, 5 round groups. Avg about 1" to 1-1/4". 55 fmj H-335 24.5 with O/L @ 2.250" Lake city brass. No crimp. for me, well worth the money.
You can never forget the first time you resize a .223 without case lube...
Tenright77 or a .30-‘06 with insufficient lube. Got to let that lanolin spray blow off the isopropyl alcohol first. Oh, well, practice makes perfect.
You talking about the 2 hours out of service because I had to run to the store and get stuck case removal kit and figure out how to use it......
I use bacon grease for lube. Smells great and never had a stuck case. Triple up a paper towel an spread the bacon grease on it then roll the brass across.
Got Carbide?
Lol I used a tap and die set with a bolt and washer. Fast forward 4months I found out that they sell it as a kit. Sunovabitch
When you get Flyers you're probably getting variations in your primer weights.
Weigh your primers and you'll find some of them are light and some of them are heavy and that variation is the amount of explosive in the primer, so just try to group the primer weights around the most common weight and use all of those for your testing and you'll see a higher level of accuracy.
Wow! Excellent tip sir. I shall try it. 🤯👍😎 Thank you
That is an awesome idea thank you my friend!
I don't believe primers will make any difference.....if they are all a quality primer. Much more important is case prep. Cleaned flash hole etc.
Point blank (no pun intended), VARGET is the "bee's knees" of powders! I believe that it is literally out of this world. Works very well as an all-in-one!Thanks for the in-depth video.I need to check those out!
Outstanding video on case prep and loading .223. Hope you don't mind my adding some rambling thoughts.
Ergonmomics - That plastic bin is great for lubing but too deep to have to reach over to retrieve cases - very tiring in the long term. Shallow plastic food trays work great at the bench. I like to have the sized case receptacle at or slightly below bench top level so it's easy to drop the cases into the container. I once prepped about 5,000 surplus military 5.56 cases so I had to do everything I could to improve efficiency.
Dry tumbling with fine ground corncob + NuFinish and mineral spirits works well to remove the lanolin No waiting for the cases to dry and the mineral spirits helps reduce dust.
The 55 grain FMJs I've loaded have had inconsistent tip shapes, making the OAL measurement vary even though the bullets were seated the same off of the ogive. A comparator is the only reliable way to measure OAL. If you're trying to fit a magazine then both actual and comparator OAL should be measured to assure that the bullets will both fit in the magazine and will be seated the same within the cartridge. The distance to the lands will be consistent even if the OAL to the tips is inconsistent. It seems to be less of an issue with hunting and target bullets but I still see small variations in tip length compared to the ogive length. Your FMJs are more consistent than what I've used.
With the Lee Factory Crimp Die you'll know how hard you crimped when you have to pull a bunch of bullets. Don't ask. :(
The shooting test was well done as a video and very interesting. None of the groups were that bad considering you were shooting FMJs but the fliers were interesting.
Could the Varget at 2.260 test not be valid because the rifle wasn't autoloading? It seems to me that loading from an open bolt and tripping the bolt release every time is the most consistent (eliminates variations form the first round to subsequent rounds), followed by autoloading and then manually cycling the bolt being the least consistent. The Varget at 2.260" is what I would expect a rifle with good components like yours to shoot.
One of the major bullet manufacturers said that FMJs are the least consistent of all the bullets they make because they're made backwards to all other bullets. With everything else the cup is drawn, the core pressed in, the bullet is formed and lastly the tip is trimmed. WIth FMJs the tip is formed, the core pressed in and the jacket is trimmed before being formed around the base. That process can lead to out-of-balance bullets according to the maker. My best shooting AR shoots "patterns" at 100 yards with the FMJs I've tried but with quality bullets like Sierra MKs and Hornady V-Max it will shoot in the threes at tht distance.
Hornady one shot isn't supposed to contaminate powder either. However I dry tumbled a batch after they are loaded just to make them shiny. They look nice, but now I have a 10-20% failure to fire rate. On the case it's fine, but apparently the power can pick it up and screw you. Luckily I only have to take apart a small batch....
Of 500.....
Side note- I am really enjoying my new Hornady cam lock bullet puller. Lol
Johnny, Thanks for the review. anyone firing National Match should consider picking these up for the 200-yard line or even the 300. I purchased one thousand of them myself. I plan on using IMR-4895 just to see how they will group (IMR-4895 being similar to Varget) in burn rate. even firing the short course @100 yards these bullets would be a winner. Thanks again. Dave.
Great vid JRB, everyone loves an affordable plinking bullet that shoots well. With H335 I have always used 24.5-25.0 grains for just about any 55 grain bullet with no pressure issues and seems to be the sweet spot for me. Would love to see this bullet pushed a little harder with H335. This bullet looks like it was tightening up as you went up with Varget also. 8208 XBR probably would shoot this bullet well also.
Thanks again JRB. I guess I'm headed over to Bobs' to pick up 1K to mess around with.
I use 24gr of H335 with Berry’s 55gr my plinking loads and they’ve been great! I’m not sure about the accuracy but it’s great for improving technique and just hitting some steel!
I asked my English Teacher, and she said, “If there is more than one Bob, it would be spelled Bobs’ Bullets.”
Thanks for a great video, I bought 5,000 and can’t wait to test them!
I dont even reload. but looking at Bob's bullet video series. I felt like ordering 5000 bulk pack . ha ha ha ha. I'm here in lexington KY . i would one of these day go to the Sportamn's warehouse reloading class. Good job Johnny . hope my small amount of patreoning help
Thanks. I watch a lot of your vids. I have loaded 1000’s of .223. Never used “Bobs’” bullets though. Good review!
I used several different powders. H335, Varget, Tac, Winchester 748 to start with. Primers; CCI 400, CCI 450, 41’s, BR-4’s.
CCI 400’s worked best in warm weather. CCI 450’s in cooler/cold weather. (They were more consistent than the 41’s) The H335 worked out to be my most consistent, accurate powder. I know it’s a crazy/weird thing but a velocity of around 3000-3050 fps is the velocity my rifle shoots best at.
I love the long form videos as well, very thorough
Ive had great results with S&B primers and they're always on sale for $20 per 1000
Ah, those were the days, he said wistfully in 2020
I love the long videos man it kinda shows the human element,duality of the reloader, the problems we all face and different ways to reload in the different methods . Just watching this one video I realize are a couple things I can do a little bit better streamline my process, I use H 335 to reload 7.62 x 39 and some of the techniques this guy uses I'm gonna start using . For example, I just got a new lee powder drop that does not have a removable lid and I was dumping the powder used to pre-charge back into the 1 pound powder jug. Just the simple fact of putting that powder into the trickler blew my mind LOL.
Watching this on October 31, 2023. Wonder if they still have any and what the price is now.
Johnny, i wish i would have caught your 243 comment the first 3 times ive seen this vid, i would have sent you my rifle. I'm stationed in Germany and it just sits there needing love. Its a little $300 walmart hohum rifle but my favorite of all, Rem 700 ADL 243win, with handloads i got it at a consistent 3/4moa at 100yd, stretched it out to 600ys consistently, im certain you would have enjoyed it. Keep up the great reloading work!!! This is my fix while im away bud.
I went RCBS bench priming with the vibrating primer tube loader that does both large and small primers. Priming is such a pleasure now, And minimal time wasted screwing around trying to get primers in the cases.
Your hour long videos are always the best. Great to listen to while mass depriming and swagging.
I really appreciate the video. I purchased 1000 bobs bullets a few months back. They seemed to shoot well, but I've ended up spending a lot on hornaday. I think I need to go back and take a second look at Bob's. Thanks for sharing. Love your Channel.
Hey Bud I just Wanted to let you know outta all the videos i watched on youtube. Yours or others I've learnt the most outta this one, in a whole not just on one subject about reloading. Thanks.
I like H-335 for my 223 with the 55 grain Hornady V- max bullet
What grain are you loading them? My ruger american likes 22.3 with h335 and 55 grain vmax
grab yourself a RCBS chargemaster best thing I ever bought. great channel
Time to update your plywood youtube sub board! You gotta love Bobses bullets!
For the RCBS shell holder hand primer if U hold the shell up off the base of shell holder it will self align and slide in nicely (post Dillon Swager). If it hits, slide it down towards the center a little. Its taken hundreds and hundreds of attempts to figure this out and get it running smoothly.
I remember recommending them.
I remember now! lol The bigger my channel gets the harder it is to keep track of things. Thanks for the recommendation...these bullets are pretty awesome. I've never seen anything come close in this price range!
I got these bullets for $119/1000 delivered few months ago. These powders hard to find now days. I picked up RE 7 and @21.6 gr can shoot 1" group at 100Y. Brass 1.750" and OAL 2.245". Mil spec AR15/M4 with 16" 1-7 twist, Vortex strike eagle II and TriggerTech adjustable trigger(love it)
Of course all barrels are different but a good place to start if can't find Varget, H335 ... etc.
Nice video, THX.
You might switch to dry tumbling after your final trim/chamfer/debur. That will make it easier to remove lube and also gives you the option to put some final polish on the brass.
I’m debating getting just for this reason!
The most cost-effective and excellent working case lube. It is the only lube I use. Just make sure you let the water and alcohol dry off before running them through. The mix ratio I use is 1 to 10. Large zip lock bags work great for lubing shells.
I strongly agree that Hodgdon putting reload data on the bottle is pure marketing genius. I often manage to get out of the house without loading data and the Hodgdon label is a life saver.
Johnny's Reloading Bench, if you want more velocity with H335 your going to need more pressure, to get more pressure your going to have to lower your OAL or add more powder. Hodgdon these powders importer/distributor show OAL with a Speer 55 Grainer @ 2.200.
underrated channel
I'm planning on trying the NOE HTC225-60-RN bullet that was designed for powder coating. With any luck it will be an accurate plinker that costs even less than Bobs' jacketed bullets.
I come back to watch these videos as a reloading refresher on Plinking Ammo. Bobs’ses is my go too. I’m going to try No Cannelure model next.
While we are
Recommending .223 bullets, have you tried the 62gr bthps from Midsouth shooters supply? $150 for 1500ct and are currently my favorite over 26gr of cfe.223 (work up)
I just may now. Thanks. For whatever reason, I tried some 62g (probably got a bunch of them cheap lol) and couldn't believe the accuracy difference. Wow. I felt like: all this for nothing extra (other than what I was already doing).
I've been shooting these for two years. I like what I get from my ARs . My 20" gun is a 1:9 twist. The 16" is a 1:7 and both shoot them better than I expected. Hornady made a good bullet with this one.
standard primers with 26.5 gr. of H335 with an OACL of 2.750". When I chronographed this load alongside Federal XM193 ammo, the federal was 3,138 fps avg. and my new load with these G.D. bullets clocked 3,158 fps .
have you seen this? the H335 is the same as as mil spec Olin WC844 use by the M193 ball, M196
tracer, M855 ball, and the M859 tracer. Plus others.
IDENTIFICATION OF SURPLUS HODGDON VS. MILITARY POWDERS
Hodgdon Powder Olin Powder
HS-6 540
HS-7 571
H110 296 (before '75 WC820 .30 Carb)
BLC-2 WC846 (Ball M80 7.62mm)
H335 WC844 (Ball M193 5.56mm)
H380 WC852 (Ball M2 Cal. .30)
H414 W-W 760 sold to Hodgdon
H450 785 (originally WC780)
H870 WC870 (20mm)
HP38 W-W 231 sold to Hodgdon
Trap 100 452AA sold to Hodgdon
hence, if your using a 5.56mm you don't have to rely on .223 data from Hodgdon when it comes to 55 grain or 62 grain bullets. Not one of their published loads will match or compare with the 5.56 load. but, you should not use 5.56 loads in a .223. the 5.56 is obviously a hotter load that most .223 can't handle safely. The .223 Wilde was built to handle both,. the .223 is not.
Stop calling yourself an idiot. You made mistakes, big deal. You didn't hurt anyone.
That's my schtick, bro. Just a bit of self-deprecating humor.
He can call himself what ever he wants.
If you're getting neck splitting on your brass and if you've fired the brass 3 times, probably best consider annealing. Another shooter suggested always annealing after a max of 4 reloads.
BOB's raised their prices with the Rona outbreak. I have been ordering them in 1k lots for $80 in the last few months, this time the price jumped to $115. I say that is a price jump high enough to call it price gouging. I am a little upset with Bob now.
12.6 cents for cast 38 SP - no thanks. I can get Berry's plated at Cabela's of all places for 11 cents each.
Call me when they have cast for 6-7 cents each shipped.
@@keithshoup I agree. I will move my plinking ammo over to Hornady 55gr fmjbt.
Its 125$ now
Yeah they are definitely lowlifes taking advantage of the situation. Buy elsewhere folks.
Everglades has held their pricing.... just out of stock for last 3 weeks
The H335 max load is 25.0 grains on the Nosler website and 25.3 depending on bullet type.
You really like the varget in 223 I've noticed. And never doubt anyone or anything until you try then for yourself
Varget gets requested a lot so I use it sometimes. It is not ideal for the light bullets but it works well! We'll be testing a lot more powders with this bullet.
Yea I like varget too and I have noticed the more the marrier but I just noticed you used it twice or three times in succession and that's strange for you Johnny reloading bench
i would suggest, to not change the gas block setting during strings of groups, it might not change groups much , but it is a change in the amount of gas that follows the projectile out of the barrel. consistency is paramount in comparison. keep up the good work buddy really enjoy your channel
Just got my Bob's bullets today. ordered day before yesterday. very quick At first glance, they look ok. load some tonight or tomorrow. thanks for the tip. gonna use 26.4gr of varget. a FULL case for 223. I searched high and low , best price around for boolits.
Hello and greetings from AZ
new to reloading here and I have learned quite a bit from your vids
thank you.
I’d like to see these at around 3100 to 3200 FPS. It seems as the velocity increased your groups got a lot tighter. I’ve been getting my 55g .223 from surplus ammo. I’ll defiantly give the Bobs’ a try. Thank for the show. Great content!
Same. I wouldn't go one smidge under 3100 with an 18" barrel. I'd want to keep it over 3170.
J-ames bullets has coated lead 9mm cheaper than their lubbed version. Not trying to stir anything up. I ordered 1k earlier this week to test out.
bob hello,...............this is the other Bob's bullets. im glad your doing well. my specialty is handloading very high quality shotgun shells for a limited clientele who don't care what a box costs. im just realy realy glad there's another Bob out there doing the same stick. i look forward to buying .223 from you for my farm bolt gun. still have a case of black hills but ill get to you soon. vty Bob W, husband of N
H335 and 55gr bullets is like PB&J. They go together very well, but I think your charges are real low. Usually the sweet spot for H335 and a 55gr FMJ is around 25gr. I have some 55gr loads with 27.5gr of H335 so you can definitely go up and see what you get. Some of my most accurate loads are with H335 and 55gr bullets out of a 1-7 barrel.
I developed a load for my wife’s cheap AR build and she is shooting under .472 @100 yards all day long with the H335 powder and bulk Bullets.
I am fairly new to reloading rifle, have been doing pistol for awhile.
To determine what needs trimmed or doesn't need trimmed, I drop the pieces of brass in the case gauge, if the neck pokes out above the case gauge, it needs trimmed. Anything wrong with that method?
49:00 in, use a rubberband or hairtie and a laundry fabric softener sheet. the dryer sheet will prevent static from making the powder stick to the powder funnel. i just keep it on my powder throw and take a peek as needed. happy reloading!
I know i have mentioned before, but for me the best accuracy in a 55gr 223 bullet seems to almost always come around the 3000 fps range. It would be interesting to see if you can reach that velocity with the H335 and see if the groups shrink.
I can do that! I'll be interested to see as well. I'll also be interested to see how these fly out of the 22 Nosler!
I find the same thing. 3000fps + give me the best accuracy. if I remember right H335 at 25gr gives me around 3000 fps with the 55gr FMJ out of my 20" barrel. Don't know about a 16"
mojo jojo I get around 2900-3000 FPS out of my Anderson 16" with 25.5 gr. H335 behind a Hornady or Armscor 55 grain FMJBT
Pretty accurate. I can ring steel out to 300 yards with a TRS-25 red dot.
;Just seeing this and I agree your H335 loads were too mild. I too run 25.0 - 25.5 grains with 55 FMJBT.
I’ve been testing hornady 55gr FMJ with H335. My testing has shown that 25.0 he gets me to average 3000 FPS as well with a similar barrel and chamber and cartridge overall length.
You can see in your results that when your velocities reach 3000 FPS your groups tighten up. But why waste varget on a plinking round when you can use H335 at 25.0 gr. It is less expensive that varget which is best used for match grade ammo like the 69 grain HPBT from Sierra.
You are totally incredible! 👍 I truly think you should teach a class at YALE University about reloading. You are certainly the top professor of general cartridges 🙌
For extruded powders that lock up the hopper (Hornady in my case) I've learned to brace my levering hand on it in such a way that I can give my operating thumb an anchor. This allows me to break through with a deliberate movement and get the regular charge even on the hard ones. If I try to cycle a few times to loosen, it just adds more and y hopper tends to stay within a tenth pretty well, so it just makes it easier this way.
You had me laughing at the beginning and when you were talking about being "that guy" hahaha so much good content, august is going to be a good month, I will follow along great job man
One day, would you do a semi auto .308 test? That'd be something the reloading world is missing. My barrel is 16" with a 1/12 twist which makes it an interesting gun to load for. No one has really done it and I'd like someone experienced to bounce ideas off of.
Enjoying this video (perhaps for a second time) in 2024. I have that same scale and love it. May have learned about it from this channel or another RUclips channel
You will find accuracy in H335 at 25 grains. I use that exact load hornady bullets are .08 when you buy by the 1000. And I seat at 2.257. I am in an AR black hole weaponry barrel and get .5” groups average. I say this with confidence as I have shot a lot of this and it is published in noslers reloading manual.
Nice.
55s shoot well up around 3000Fps so push your other powders up a little the Varget which is our Ar2208 here in Australia if you go 2/10ths up or down may find it also tightens group
That little hole in the threads of the sizing die could serve several functions, as you stated to allow air / lube to escape and prevent ‘hydraulic dents’ and also to relieve any vacuum/ suction that’s created to prevent the case being stuck ? I’m not sure , but I enjoy watching your videos, trying to learn as much as I can before I venture out into this reloading game.
Lee dies also has that hole to let air and lube out. Also seemed to take you a while to trim, you may want to look at the RCBS carbide cutter. It fits the frankford arsenal and cuts really fast and clean.
Hornady bulk 223 bullets are pretty close to that price. If you partially install the lid on the primer tool( the first detent) then shake it to flip over the primers, you will have an easier time.
If you don't want to be measuring all of your casings, you should build a lightly back-lit adjustable jig that can be sized so you can dump a whole bunch of casings into it at a time (regardless of what kind of cartridge you're working with), and so that when lined up square, a proper-length case will fit, but one that needs to be trimmed will not, and any that may be too short could be easily visually-detected (tis the purpose of back-lighting it). You could also re-size it once you're done pressing in the pills to verify overall length. Two birds with one stone. That would speed up your QA process a whole bunch. I know you may not want to go through all of the effort of checking all of your brass, but it's a vital part of the process that cannot be skipped, unless you want to be another one of those reasons why people foolishly think hand-loads are inherently dangerous and that people who hand-load can't be trusted enough to perform the task competently and safely.
Gunblue 690 turned me on to Lee size lube that comes in a tube like tooth paste . I've tried all the lubes over the past 60 years . I've dented a lot of shoulders and stuck a lot of cases . Since using the lube from Lee I haven't stuck a case or dented a shoulder . It's easy to use and cheap . See Gunblue 690's video on it .
There great bullets. Just loaded 1k for plinking. I had good results at 2.200 with my colt 6920 25.gr cfe.
how do you think they compare to something like PPU Prvi?
So..... their site is down, did everyone that just view this hit the site too?!?!
It's loading ok now. Did you get in?
Johnny's Reloading Bench Just getting in now. Thanks.
Love nerding out on this with you.
Thank you.
The intro to this video was ducking fantastic .
I would love to see one of your test with and without your CAN.
If I remember correctly the last time you tried it. Your groups opened up with your CAN on. And Like always love your videos. I'll be seeing you on PATREON. from now on.
Man I love your videos so hard.. Oooh oooh oooh
PS, I load H335 to 24.5 with 55grain varmint nightmare SP bullets @ 2.228 oal. Those get me really great groups at 70yards. 16inch stoner barrel, 1:9 twist.
70 yards wtf do 100 or 50 for accuracy why 70 yards?
Im doing .308 rounds in 150 grain for 33 cents au each in 7.62mm-,sure beats paying $27.00 for 20 rounds of factory federal ammo in the same configuration.
Outstanding video, been waiting for an experiment like this and using the very popular powders for the average reloader. Great content Johnny! Maybe you can have these God bullets redeem that PSA barrel you shelved :)
I wonder if we can get them to start making a 68-69 grain OTM? Even if they were twice the price of the 55 grainers, they'd still only be 2/3 the price of Hornady or Sierra...
I would like to see you work on a 1/10 twist 243!
At 15:33, you might try adding a glass marble to the lanolin bottle, makes mixing easier.
Also to add to that, your hottest charge generally shot the best. You should go over max, those are for the smallest chamber in that given caliber. LAY THE POWDER TO ER
This is cool, I've had small adjustments with bullet seating make a large difference. Try doing a fine seating test from there for your barrel. Thanks for the great videos
Welcome to 2021 where Bob wants 16 cents each now.
So do all the massive companies they doubled prices
.11c right now, just picked up another thousand
Rocky Mountain Reloading has 55gr FMJ for $82 with free shipping. Maybe compare the bobs to theirs?
So far the list is Bobs' vs RMR vs X-Treme vs Berry's. Sounds like a good series of videos to me!
Id like to see that as well. So far out of all the 55gr FMJ bullets I have tried, Hornady has been the most accurate
That circle around the top of each bullet means that Bobs' is Jewish and likes to circumcise all his rounds.
Oy veh.
When you get Flyers you're probably getting variations in your primer weights.
Weigh your primers and you'll find some of them are light and some of them are heavy and just try to group the weights around the most common weight and use all of those for your testing and you'll see a higher level of accuracy.
End the Zionist occupation of America.
@@vinsanity4203885 Zionism is a hell of a lot more attractive than the alternative of Islamic jihadist agenda.
@@DaveSmith-cp5kj "islam is the broom of zionism" - some lube a biatcher..
These 2 things are intertwined
All of the worst groups occurred in the 2700-2800 FPS range. The projectile liked everything slower or faster than that. I'm assuming that last H335 load would have done better with a little more powder.
Holy cow congrats man on youre way to 13k subs, ive been w you since the pre 1k days. Keep up the good work and info, thanks you
The shot at 58:16, good lord. Same hole. I literally went frame by frame to see the difference.
It barely tore the paper on the upper edge. 👍
At around 7 minutes when commenting on the differences between Hornady FMJ bullets and Bob's bullets I believe what you meant to say was that the distance from the lands was .035" for the Hornady FMJ bullets and .030" for Bob's bullets. Not that the difference was .035" further from the lands with the Hornady bullets than Bob's bullets. I'm sure most people know what you meant to say but for those of you who didn't this should help.
Looks like you are into rcbs ...check out their bench top priming tool .... It works very well
Great video! I still have a couple thousand bulk FMJ but these will be my next plinking bullet. Thanks!