Starting to really love Blue Dot

Rustydust

Rustydust

Active member
It was mid-60's and sunny today here in Idaho. Not bad for late November. I had been wanting to head back to the range and since one of the posters here (hi Matt!) wanted to try out some his new handloads off we went. Just for grins (that happens a lot) I wanted to try to fireform some .243 loads with Blue Dot. I had a thousand or so of those 55 grain Nosler Varmageddons laying around so after finding some load data off of 24 Hour Campfire I loaded me up a few and tried them. What a pleasant surprise! Cold clean barrel gave me three shots into a bit over 1/4" inch at 100 yards. Luck? Tried it twice again with the groups right at 3/8". 18 grains of it gave me speeds just shy of 3000 fps. Hmmmm....might this be a fun ground squirrel load? Yes! Yes I think it will. I have used BD in my .223, .223 AI and my .221 FB and they all shot similar groups. Speeds not blazing but so what? I am not trying to make a 500 yard prairie dog kill with them. Just a fun and quiet (fairly) and accurate load and this it did for me-again! I did not have a lot of them loaded up for this trial run but for sure next time I go I will have more of them. If I can duplicate this these results again, and I dont see why I shouldn't be able to, then for sure I will be out in the squirrel fields with come springtime with them. Sure dont see any reason not to.
 
Rustydust, did you notice that in the .223 the brass is cool to the touch after being fired. Warm round off the truck dash, cool brass once fired...wierd
 
I tried some blue dot loads this summer in a 223 while in the prairie dog town,my friends were using 22 k hornets and I wanted to shoot along with them with no velocity advantage and the blue dot loads worked perfectly.40 grain v-max and a medium load of blue dot is very impressive.I will have more loaded for next year.
 
It was 12 grains. I used the standard CCI SR primer to light it off.

Those 40 grain Vmaxes do not have a very high BC but should be just fine out to 200-250 yards.
 
Russ, just think, 300 rounds inbetween cleanings, with zero copper fouling!!! Yee Haa!!!

I shot 600 rounds inbetween cleanings with the 223(14.3 was my absolute max load with a 40g) and twice went 900 rounds inbetween cleanings with a 221 FB with 12g and 40g bullet.

I Used JB when I did clean, now would use Montana Extreme Copper Cream as it is easier to use.
 
Yeah buddy, Keith! And I have around 10 lbs of the stuff on my shelves too. And to think that 30+ years ago I only used it in my .44 Magnum!

Oh, and I forgot to mention how much fun it is in my .17 Remington too. 10 grains of BD with a 20 grain Vmax will still explode a ground squirrel you betcha.

And I loathe cleaning my guns. A necessary evil to be sure though. Why do I have to clean them every time I shoot them? Why cant it be just once or twice a month like when I take a bath?
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Had a blast hitting the range with you on Thanksgiving Day. Weather cooperated, range wasn't crowded, and finally got to test my first handloads. Already a lot to be thankful about there.

I'd like to load up some reduced Blue Dot loads for our Nevada trip next spring. I had a blast shooting those last year. Less blast and recoil, yet they still make the squirrels dead. Can't seem to find anything to not like about that.
 
Enjoyed having you out again, Matthew. And you got to witness how good those BD load shot in my .243 too. I'm going to load some more of them up now that I know how good they are. And oh yeah- some of those will be going back down to Nevada with us. Fer sure!
 
That's right Bill. More and more anyway. I get more than ample speeds for sage rat shooting and brass last like...forever. I am not going to get any fan mail from barrel makers though as it likely will never toast a tube unless the shooting gets into the tens of thousands.

Yes, I have tried it in the .17 Rem,.221, .223, and now the .243. I was actually fireforming brass to make it .243 AI but this was a fun way to do it.

Blue Dot will never be my reach out there and touch someone powder but it sure does a fine job of being a fun gun powder.

I dont know where I read or who first told me about using BD in a rifle case. But I sure do like it now. For my kind of shooting it does just fine. At least for 90% of it anyway.

Trying some loads in my .204 and my .22/250 next. I expect equally good results.
 
Originally Posted By: 1100 Remington Man What would you recommend for a 6 mm Rem. with 85gr Sierra BTHP how many grains of Blue Dot. Thanks.

Here are the loads for a .243 using an 87 grain bullet. I see no reason why they would not be very similar in your 6mm Remington.

Bullet: 87 grain Hornady SP:

8grs: 1057 fps 14grs: 2026 fps 20grs: 2580 fps
9grs: 1434 fps 15grs: 2108 fps 21grs: 2652 fps
10grs: 1558 fps 16grs: 2226 fps 22grs: 2741 fps
11grs: 1683 fps 17grs: 2323 fps 23grs: 2782 fps
12grs: 1806 fps 18grs: 2415 fps
13grs: 1898 fps 19grs: 2487 fps

Max is recommended at 22 grains for reliable brass life.

Natch the 85 grain bullet will work just fine for the 87 grain bullets. I bet between 18-20 grains will be really fun your gun.
 
Someone have a link to Seafire's load data? This guy, that goes by that handle, on some shooting sites, has an extensive library of Blue Dot loads, in centerfire rifles. These loads won't cycle a semi-auto, but they are a ton of fun in bolt actions.

Some people freak out about Blue Dot loads, in centerfires, because they could easily be double charged(turns rifles into pipe bombs!), and there is a possible issue with poor ignition in partially filled cases, but using extra caution, I never had an issue with any loads I tested.

Squeeze
 
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