80 eld vt in 8 twist 243 lbc

V

varminter .223

Well-known member
So I picked up some of the 80 grain 6mm blems at Midway and started thinking about what I could shoot them out of. Most of my stuff is 10 twist but I do have an 8 twist 243 LBC that might be a candidate. Has any tried this combo yet. I need to see how oal is as far as fitting in the mag and how deep that long bullet needs to be seated in the case. I've got a pretty decent selection of powder as well. Seems maybe benchmark might work.
 
Your 6mm 80 gr. or a should work just fine in a 1 x 10 twist or a 1 x 8 most any powder will push them at at least 3000 fps mag length should be no problem. Murl B.
 
Best I can measure the 80 eld vt's will hit the lands somewhere very near 2.340". At that oal the base of bullet is right at the point where the case wall transitions into the shoulder. That's gonna eat some powder space.
 
IMO I'd run it through a 243 or 6CM (which it's tailored for), way to much case capacity lost in the LBC.

Hope your well Nate!
 
Hornady says 8 twist min. I've tested them in my 8 twist .243 Win AR-10 using my existing Varget charges for the 87 VMAX loads I currently ran as a starting point. I'm running them at 2.800 OAL which seats them right at .035 off lands and the same depth into case as the 87 Vmax @ 2.650(also 0.35 off lands)but the boat tail is much more radical on these vs vmaxes and will consume less volume in case when loaded to the same depth into case than the Vmaxes. I'm found I actually need a grain more powder to equal the velocity I'm getting with the 87's due to the 80's boat tail and nose profile.. My groups continued to improve and I've since loaded up higher charges to test this week.
I've found that 80's group better at the same velocity due to production tolerances etc.and if I can get them to gain enough speed over the 87's to make the $16 per 100 price difference worth it that's another story.
I currently have been hunting with a mag loaded at same velocity of 3200fps (where I had .45" groups and left off testing) and should have a 5-10 volunteers for terminal performance testing by end of month.
I'll update this when I finish my load tests this week(have 40.5gr and 41,0gr Varget loaded). Hopefully can get to 3300+ with same groups.
 
FYI Bullet is 1.18" long with .135 tip. if you use jbm stability calculators, 1:8.5 is breaking point..If you use Berger's which doesn't compensate for the plastic tip, then 1:7.7 is cutoff. Hornady's recommendation of 1:8 seems pretty spot on and I can say that in my 1:8 twist they seem to be stable at least to 200 yds at this point in my testing. I will test further after I settle on a charge/velocity..
 
Tested charges of Varget another full grain above my lower node @ 3200fps. Found another node @3400 fps but began getting ejection issues with stovepipes and primers were getting too flat for my taste. I think with Varget the best groups(and they are nice) that aren't over pressure in my rifle can only achieve 3200fps. I may burn up the remainder of the box with some H4350 and expect to get more speed with equal accuracy to make it tempting enough to make buying another box searching to replace 87vmax load worth doing. Been content with 87's but I always like trying new things.
 
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