30 gr Berger loads for 17 Rem?

kytimberman

kytimberman

New member
Got my new 17 Rem upper from Mike Milli at D-Tech last week, and I can already see that it is going to be one of my favorites. Fine job, Mike! I've got some 30 gr. moly coated Bergers for it, but am having a hard time coming up with any loads for them. Can anyone suggest a good load for this bullet in the 17 Rem? The only load data I can find uses Vhitivouri powder, and although I have a fairly good powder collection at present, that is one brand I have never tried.
 
In my latest Hodgdon magazine manual, I have loads for their different powders and the 30 gr Bergers. Let me know which one you want and I can give it to you.
 
The VV powders are very good and worth looking into. In most calibers they can deliver higher velocities and are very clean burning.

Jack
 
kytimberman-- Jay Johnson gave you a very good resource for 30 gr. bullet loads. A word of caution though. The top loads they have listed at that Web site for VVN 540 powder seem extremely hot to me. I shoot 30 gr. Starkes and I get 3,900 fps from a load of 24.6 gr. of VVN 540 in my 25 1/8" Lilja 4 groove 1 in 9" twist barrel. They have loads of 26.0 gr. listed in there and for my rifle, that was way too hot.

In my 24" Pac-Nor barreled .17 Remington I tried 24.2 gr. of VVN 540 and the average velocity at 12 feet from the muzzle for 5 shots was 3,950 fps. I backed off to 24.0 gr. and the average velocity for 5 shots was 3,930 fps.

I also tried VVN 135 with my Pac-Nor barrel and determined that the max load in my rifle was right about 22.0 to 22.3 gr. with the 30.8 gr. Hammett. Of course, your mileage and experience may vary considerably.

My rifles are bolt actions, so I don't know what it takes to get your AR to operate as far as pressure and what it likes for velocity.

Work your loads up slowly though. Things can go from pretty tame and safe to dicey and dangerous in a tenth or two more of powder in this little caliber.

A tamer load that I use for shooting prairie dogs with the 30 gr. Starke bullet in my Lilja barreled .17 Remington is 21.7 gr. of H4895. I get about 3,635 fps and amazingly good accuracy.
 
I would be very careful as your AR should not be able to take loads for boltguns. Another tip would be to use Rem 7 1/2 primers. They have a thicker cup and can take more pressure. Good luck and be careful. Vit powder is very good.
 
I've always used IMR 4320 and Rem 7 1/2 primers with Berger 30 gr. non-moly match bullets for my BDL .17 Rem. My favorite combo for called coyotes!!! I definitely want a D-Tech .17 Rem upper for my AR. Tell me about the barrel (brand, length, twist-rate, flutes, etc.) that you and Mike worked out. What was delivery time? Keep us posted on what final recipe you work out.
 
Thanks to all for the info. looks like I may have to pick up some VV powder. Anyone got specific data for Varget in the 17 Rem with 30 gr Bergers? Steve, I had switched to Rem 7 1/2 primers in my Contender carbine, as I was getting pierced primers on occaision with the WSR primers. I plan on using the 7 1/2's in the AR loads as well.
 
I contacted Walt Berger about loads for 30 gr. bullets back in May of 2001. For Varget he listed a starting load of 20.0 gr. and a maximum load of 22.5 gr. In the two .17 Reminton rifles I have tried Varget in, even the 22.5 gr. load is pretty tame--REMEMBER--this is in MY rifles and your mileage may vary considerably!

I tried loads of 22.2 gr. and 22.4 gr. of Varget in my Lilja barreled .17 Rem. The temperature was 65º and the 22.2 gr. load gave me a 3-shot average velocity of 3,588 fps and the group measured .697"

The load of 22.4 gr. of Varget on that same day, gave me a 3-shot average velocity of 3,665 fps and a 3-shot group that measured .317". There was just a tiny bit of flattening on the primer shoulders. I tried this same load a few days later when it was 70º outside and got an average velocity of 3,656 fps and a 3-shot group that measured .436". I hope that is of some assitance to you.
 
I never could get Varget to shoot well with heavy bullets in my rifles. However, I use it extensively with 20gr V-max on PD's. My rifles like IMR-4064 but I am going to try the VV that Fox useds when I get the chance. VV powders are expensive but very good! Same goes with the Norma powders.
 
SteveM-- I was trying Varget with the 30 gr. bullets in the .17 Remington because I though that Varget "should" work better with the heavier bullets. However, it didn't work that way for me either. I felt I should be able to get at least 3,800+ fps from the 30 gr. bullets, but Varget was showing small signs of excessive pressure at the 3,665 fps level. I did some reading on the 500 series VVN powders and convinced myself to buy 2 pounds of N-540. The hype was that you could get up to 10% more power (velocity) without dangerously increased pressures with the 500 series powders. That seems to have been borne out since my load for the 30 gr. Starke HP bullets leaves the muzzle at 3,900 fps. Now, how you can get more power (velocity) without increased pressure is beyond my power of comprehension, but I'm not going to try to figure that out. It just seems to work.

Like you, I have found that Varget works just great with my 20 gr. V-Max bullets!! The load I am shooting with that bullet now is usually giving me about 4,000 fps. Sometimes that same load gets up to 4,050+ fps??? The point of impact doesn't seem to change with the 50 fps velocity variation though, so I'm happy.

The load I use for the 25 gr. Hornady hollow point bullets in my Lilja barreled .17 Remington is 23.0 gr. of Varget. I'm not getting as much velocity as I could with a heavier charge, but I am getting some very nice sub .4" groups and the prairie dogs are compalining loudly about that accuracy.

I don't shoot the 20 gr. V-Max in my Pac-Nor barreled .17 Remington, but I do shoot the 25 gr. Hornady HP. I use 23.2 gr. of H4895 for that bullet and get about 4,055 fps muzzle velocity and nice itty bitty groups.

At the present time I am using WW760 with my 27.8 gr. Hammett BT HP bullets in the Pac-Nor barreled .17 Remington with good success. I'm about out of the WW760 and when I run out of it, I'm going to try to work up a load of N-540 for those 27.8 gr. bullets. WW760 is the ONLY powder I have used with these 27.8 gr. bullets. I only tried three different powder weight charges--25.5, 25.8 and 26.0 and quickly decided that 25.8 was excellent for this bullet in my rifle. Muzzle velocity is running right around 3,816 fps.
 
I have been impressed with the VV powders. I have only worked up loads in a few calibers but all had better: velocity, accuracy, and were cleaner burning. If I wasn't so old and lazy I would work up VV loads for all calibers I shoot.

Jack
 
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