225 FTX - Going the other way too
Posted: Fri May 21, 2010 9:51 pm
Note from Hoot: I finally got around to fixing the broken image links I posted in this thread due to changing ISP a few years ago
The more I work with the 225 gr FTX, the more I'm liking it over the 200 and 250. While the 250 is the anointed one for the 450b, it is far from the only logical choice. In recent expansion tests using water filler milk jugs, the 225 expanded in best form of the three. Being more stubby at the tip than the sleeker 200 and 250gr bullets turns out not to be a detriment. It puts that stubbiness to good use. When I first sliced it open and noted the thinner jacket, I thought for sure it would blow up or at least over blossom at modest speeds, but it doesn't. While it starts expanding quickly, when it reaches just the right point, it seems to stop and hold its form. Today, I had an opportunity to shoot it through several increments of powder loading and discovered it is quite accurate at 100 yards. It now holds the record for my best 450b 3-shot 4-shot and 5-shot groups. Now I'm sure part of that is me getting used to shooting an AR effectively, but I'm serious when I say it has great potential.
Unfortunately, I discovered a perplexing problem. I'll let you see if you can figure out the problem I saw in my results in this table:
Answer: The velocities both vary widely within a given powder increment and as a whole and they don't go up much with each increasing amount of powder.
Suspecting insufficient neck tension, I loaded up another set and added a pass through the Lee FCD die for each and returned to the range the next day with almost identical results. The velocities tightened up a little, but my gut feeling on this is that Lil Gun is too slow for the 225gr FTX bullet. I will once again some up, but with Alliant 2400, which I used with the 200gr FTX and return to the range yet again tomorrow. At least I'm getting valuable trigger time for my trouble. Again, I am quite surprised that with the velocity variations, the groups were quite satisfying. The 38 gr load put all 5 in the 1 inch bull at 100 yds. I got pictures galore, but looking at pictures of other people's groups is like looking at their vacation pictures....yawn
If anyone wants to see some, I can put some up.
I will continue this saga after my range visit tomorrow using 2400.
Hoot
The more I work with the 225 gr FTX, the more I'm liking it over the 200 and 250. While the 250 is the anointed one for the 450b, it is far from the only logical choice. In recent expansion tests using water filler milk jugs, the 225 expanded in best form of the three. Being more stubby at the tip than the sleeker 200 and 250gr bullets turns out not to be a detriment. It puts that stubbiness to good use. When I first sliced it open and noted the thinner jacket, I thought for sure it would blow up or at least over blossom at modest speeds, but it doesn't. While it starts expanding quickly, when it reaches just the right point, it seems to stop and hold its form. Today, I had an opportunity to shoot it through several increments of powder loading and discovered it is quite accurate at 100 yards. It now holds the record for my best 450b 3-shot 4-shot and 5-shot groups. Now I'm sure part of that is me getting used to shooting an AR effectively, but I'm serious when I say it has great potential.
Unfortunately, I discovered a perplexing problem. I'll let you see if you can figure out the problem I saw in my results in this table:
Answer: The velocities both vary widely within a given powder increment and as a whole and they don't go up much with each increasing amount of powder.
Suspecting insufficient neck tension, I loaded up another set and added a pass through the Lee FCD die for each and returned to the range the next day with almost identical results. The velocities tightened up a little, but my gut feeling on this is that Lil Gun is too slow for the 225gr FTX bullet. I will once again some up, but with Alliant 2400, which I used with the 200gr FTX and return to the range yet again tomorrow. At least I'm getting valuable trigger time for my trouble. Again, I am quite surprised that with the velocity variations, the groups were quite satisfying. The 38 gr load put all 5 in the 1 inch bull at 100 yds. I got pictures galore, but looking at pictures of other people's groups is like looking at their vacation pictures....yawn
If anyone wants to see some, I can put some up.
I will continue this saga after my range visit tomorrow using 2400.
Hoot