Reloading for my RRA Varmint A4 (18" barrel)

[primalmu]

I was curious if anyone else had one of these rifles and could suggest a bullet/powder combination. I bought some 55gr Hornady SP bullets and loaded them up with 23gr of H322 (although after doing some reading the max loads listed by Hornady may be a little conservative). The bad part is that I'm getting very poor groups (1.5-2" @ 100 yards). I know this rifle is more capable than that, and I refuse to believe it is my shooting since I can get 0.5-0.75 MOA groups with my Remington 700 .308 using cheap Hornady 150gr SP bullets.

I may end up loading up the rest of those bullets for plinking rounds and not worry about the accuracy.

In the meantime, I was hoping I could get some suggestions from you all on some bullet/powder combos. I currently have H-4895, Benchmark, and H322 powder to choose from (saving my Varget for the aforementioned .308 loads).

 

[Otto]

Your Rock River Varmint has a 1:8 twist barrel and can stabilize heavier bullets.
If you're trying to eek out the most accuracy I'd go with a 69 or 77 SMK.
In my RR Predator Pursuit I use H335 and Varget.

 

[ultratec1]

My RRA varmint is the 16" and I use 55gr V-max with 24.5gr of Varget. 4 shot 100yrd group. The low shot was the first shot out of the gun.

 

[MtnCreek]

Did you work up your load or just jump on the max listed by Hodgdon? The odds of finding a good load by picking the max and rolling with it are not good and it's not a safe practice. I've lazy loaded before, but I picked a number less than max. That's not a safe practice either and also not a good way to find a good load.

 

[longdayjake]

If you are looking for accuracy, you need to use a bullet designed for it. Try the hornday 50 grain vmax or their 60 grain vmax. I have had better luck with the 50 grain boat tail vmax but some guys really do well with the 60 grain.

 

[carbine85]

My RRA Varmit A4 20" shoots the 69gr Match Kings the best. I haven't had a lot of luck with the 55 grain stuff. As mentioned above the 1:8 is better with heavier and or longer bullets.
You should be able to get sub MOA groups with that rifle.
I'm also using 23.5 IMR4895 behind the Match King.

 

[RainDodger]

I have a RRA 20" "Coyote"... and I'm getting stunning accuracy out of both of these loads:

1. 60 grain Sierra "Varminter" bullets over 24.1 grains of H335

2. 62 grain Nosler "Varmageddon" bullets over 25.0 grains of H335

As you can see, one load is a bit hotter than the other. Both are very accurate in a number of ARs.

 

[primalmu]

MtnCreek, I worked up to it. That load gave me just under 1 MOA, but when I went out the next morning to test the load again I was getting 1.5-2 MOA, so who knows...

 

[carbine85]

MtnCreek, I worked up to it. That load gave me just under 1 MOA, but when I went out the next morning to test the load again I was getting 1.5-2 MOA, so who knows...

That's part of the science behind reloading. Keeps it interesting.

 

[primalmu]

Yea, I couldn't resist 500 bullets for $50, which is why I got them. Heck, they should still be fine for shooting steel out to 200 (the furthest out I can reach at my range).

 

[MtnCreek]

I worked up to it.

Sorry, you know what they say about assumptions. :-/

1" Shooter one day and 1.5 to 2" groups the next outing. I would go back through my loads & notes to see if anything changed. If you got velocity reading on workup, shoot some of the new and compare.

How many shots / group to test vs how many shots / group when shooting the other day. ie Are we comparing 3 shot groups to 5 shot or 5 shot to 10 shot?

What's the odds you just didn't shoot as well? For Me, that would be top of the list.

FWIW, those bullets should do great for steel at 200 yds. I shoot their FMJ cousin at 6" steel at 300 (4" too, but we won't talk about that...).

 

[primalmu]

All my groups with this rifle were 5 shot groups. I don't have a chrono so I can't investigate that. I used steel cases for initial load workup, and yesterday I tested steel with crimp, steel with no crimp, brass with crimp, and brass with no crimp. They all gave me more or less equal group size. I'm just gonna load up some more and try it again this weekend. I might just need trigger time on this rifle...

 

[jb27]

I have a RRA LAR 15 Varmint A4 as well. I believe it has a 20" bbl. It is quite capable with some time spent on load development. Below is a pic of what I've been able to get it to do (5 shot groups) @ 100 yds from a bench.



My recipe is:

Lapua brass
Sierra Match King 69gr
26.1 grains of Reloader 15
Rem 7 1/2 primers

Like others have mentioned, with a 1:8 twist, it is better suited for heavier bullets. I started out with 69 grain and haven't found a need to change. I did buy some 77 grain SMK's, but haven't found the time to experiment with them. I used to use Varget with good results until I tried RL-15. Overall, I'm getting more consistent results with RL-15, although my all-time smallest group with this gun was shot with a load of Varget pushing 69 gr SMK's.

I'm pretty meticulous with case prep. I use a Redding Body Die followed by a Lee Collet Die. For seating, I use a Redding Competition Seating Die. I've experimented with several dies and this combination has yielded the best results for me with consistency.

If you are serious about getting small groups, consider picking up some bag riders. You can read about them here: http://6mmar.com/Benchrest_AR.html

Good luck and enjoy. Load development is the best part of this hobby (in my opinion).

 

[primalmu]

Well, I wanted to "proof" my gun and make sure it can actually shoot, so I grabbed a box of Hornady 75gr 5.56 match ammo from my LGS and went to the range today. This is my second 5 shot group (the first was about 2 MOA, but I attribute that to the fact that I hadn't cleaned the rifle from my previous trip and it was shooting out the fouling from the last ammo I shot).



Now, I could only count 3 individual holes but I shot 5 rounds. Either I was shooting through the same hole, or I had 2 flyers that didn't even hit the target. I'm inclined to believe the former since even Tulammo wasn't bad enough out of my gun to completely miss the target.