Barnes 36grn grenades?

[Yetidude69]

Hi, just wondering if anyone on here has used these through a 1-8 twist barrel?

If so what was the accuracy and what load did you settle on?

regards James

[Tony.H]

Hi, just wondering if anyone on here has used these through a 1-8 twist barrel?

If so what was the accuracy and what load did you settle on?

regards James

are you talking abot a .22calibre .223?

[kernel gadaffi]

Not used them in a .223, but in my .22 Hornet K, they are evil.

[Yetidude69]

are you talking abot a .22calibre .223

 

 

Sorry i should have said, but yes in .223 flavour.

regards James

[gbal]

James, Only shot a few groups so far in 222,but quite nice coming in sub .25,in a well used sako A2,and very pleasant to shoot.

 

A little better than sierra and nosler 40g.My load was 23.5 V130,no flat primers,and I wont change it much.if the accuracy is repeatable..4g less wasn't quite so good,on a small sample,in my rifle.

I'll try them in a 1/8 223 some calm evening!

I didn't find a lot of reports on them,just one you tube,and similarly for Speer TNT and Varmageddons.Very effective on small vermin,perhaps too frangible for fox- for which there are better well tried,no risk bullets.

[achosenman]

James, Only shot a few groups so far in 222,but quite nice coming in sub .25,in a well used sako A2,and very pleasant to shoot.

 

A little better than sierra and nosler 40g.My load was 23.5 V130,no flat primers,and I wont change it much.if the accuracy is repeatable..4g less wasn't quite so good,on a small sample,in my rifle.

I'll try them in a 1/8 223 some calm evening!

I didn't find a lot of reports on them,just one you tube,and similarly for Speer TNT and Varmageddons.Very effective on small vermin,perhaps too frangible for fox- for which there are better well tried,no risk bullets.

 

FWIW I use the 50gn variety exclusively for fox with a 223 on a 40 acre chicken farm. I use 23.7gn of N133. The bullets are long so even with a long throat and seated .002 off the lands, they are deep into the case.

 

They work as advertised and after testing for frangibility by shooting at various ranges onto the hard flat ground with a witness board behind to catch the fragments, I'm happier using these in tight situations at night dealing with charlie. Amax and Ballistic Tip had the odd large fragment carry through the witness board so for me in a tight situation it was a no brainer. So far they have proved to be deadly with foxes and rabbits. They are a draggy old lump so I limit all shots to 200m or less at night since I can't be bothered with faffing about with changing my zero, plus the energy drop off is alarming with a target the size of Charlie

 

ATB

[gbal]

Achosenman makes a couple of good points-the lead free Varmint Grenades just have to be longer-esp in 50g weight-and that might compromise bullet seating.They also-perhaps especially in 36 g bullet,shed velocity and therefore energy a bit faster...compare (factory loadings to be comparable,223MV,energy at 200y and 300y

 

36 VG @3750 469 ft lb 284 ft lb

40 Vmax @ 3800 677 ft lb 479 ft lb

55 Vmax @3240 763 ft lb 576 ft lb

 

So,while around 200 ft lb loss from 200-300 yards is about the going rate,the issue with the 36g Varmint grenades,at least-(sorry,I don't have data for the 50g) is that it is already a couple of hundred lower,by 200...

As Achosenman implies,this might have advantages in niche applications,but is not a recommendation for more general use-there are better bullets.

I am happy to trade exceptional accuracy (if that is in fact delivered) for unneeded foot pounds,for small targets,at slightly reduced ranges-which is what the 222 has always been about (more than Hornet,less than 22/250). But I can see why the 36s won't take over.

g

[achosenman]

Achosenman makes a couple of good points-the lead free Varmint Grenades just have to be longer-esp in 50g weight-and that might compromise bullet seating.They also-perhaps especially in 36 g bullet,shed velocity and therefore energy a bit faster...compare (factory loadings to be comparable,223MV,energy at 200y and 300y

 

36 VG @3750 469 ft lb 284 ft lb

40 Vmax @ 3800 677 ft lb 479 ft lb

55 Vmax @3240 763 ft lb 576 ft lb

 

So,while around 200 ft lb loss from 200-300 yards is about the going rate,the issue with the 36g Varmint grenades,at least-(sorry,I don't have data for the 50g) is that it is already a couple of hundred lower,by 200...

As Achosenman implies,this might have advantages in niche applications,but is not a recommendation for more general use-there are better bullets.

I am happy to trade exceptional accuracy (if that is in fact delivered) for unneeded foot pounds,for small targets,at slightly reduced ranges-which is what the 222 has always been about (more than Hornet,less than 22/250). But I can see why the 36s won't take over.

g

 

Just to add to the excellent info from gbal

 

The measured Coeff over two chronographs from my rifle came out at .1893 from a muzzle velocity 3351fps

 

That gives 1247ftlbs muzzle, 869ftlbs at 100m 591ftlbs at 200m and 387ftlbs at 300m. At 500m you're down to the transonic region of flight and 162ftlbs

 

The 50gn bullet is better than the 36gn for fox work IMHO, but as gbal states, it's a niche bullet, you have to want to use it.

 

ATB

[Yetidude69]

Guys thankyou for the info, its much appreciated, Im going to try them and see how they perform.

atb James

[Biathlonjimmy]

James,

 

I know it is a slight deviation from your original question but carrying on in the vein of the thread, I use 43g Speer TNT in .22-250 and have found them highly effective for foxes. I will caveat that by saying I will not shoot past 200y (I rarely can on most of my land) due to the rapid energy loss. Zero is the same at 50y and 200y with 100y being under an inch high. Point and shoot.

 

It is running a touch over 4000fps / 1550ftlbs but this drops to 3260/1015 @ 100y and 2620/655 @ 200y

 

It is way too much powder to be throwing at rabbits and foxes at the ranges I’m shooting when there are better calibre/bullet combinations for the job however I only have three rifles for field use, the .22lr cannot do the job and the .308 is way too much. Slightly more economical in your .223 though.

 

There are probably few bullets the are able to transfer the same percentage of kinetic energy at point of impact to the target itself than the Varmint Grenade / Speer TNT. But as mentioned above it is not a good all rounder and only useful at “short range”.

 

ATB,

 

J