The 22 creedmoor thread

[WestTN2288]

Mines at 18in. Bought it used from here, so can’t speak to that.

I will say, just putting it together, shooting it enough to get it to cycle, getting it on paper, etc… it shot and functioned well

 

[TradLife406]

Cheap Hornady “custom” dies working fine for meView attachment 924607m

Would be a great Rokslide thread if someone wanted to try 4-5 different die sets w everything else being the same and post 20-30 round groups.

Yeah honestly I'm trying to figure out if fancy dies are worth it. I own and use both. Both seem to produce really good large sample groups.
Figure if I go with the cheap Hornady dies I'll have an extra 100 bucks for powder


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[TradLife406]

Pipe should be here next week. Got another newb/'tism question. Got Alpha brass and dies coming.
Should I load up 100 rounds of a mild to moderate charge of something just to break the barrel in? Then start load development? Or would I be ok to start load dev on a fresh pipe and not worry about speed up? Want to have this gun ready to go for my girls for youth days. Which is coming up fast.

Kinda strange no one in Great Falls has factory 22 creed ammo yet. Thought about just buying a couple boxes to atleast get the gun on paper with.

Thanks fam

 

[The Guide]

Pipe should be here next week. Got another newb/'tism question. Got Alpha brass and dies coming.
Should I load up 100 rounds of a mild to moderate charge of something just to break the barrel in? Then start load development? Or would I be ok to start load dev on a fresh pipe and not worry about speed up? Want to have this gun ready to go for my girls for youth days. Which is coming up fast.

Kinda strange no one in Great Falls has factory 22 creed ammo yet. Thought about just buying a couple boxes to atleast get the gun on paper with.

Thanks fam

Scheels should have it. I got my Ruger American 22CM at the Billing store last week and got 5 boxes of Hornady 80 ELDX on the shelf. The deal with Hornady 22CM ammo is it is only available from a Horizon Firearm dealer due to the exclusive agreement between Horizon and Hornady when bringing the 22CM to market and getting it SAAMI approved. It does not show any in stock at Great Falls Scheels though. Might have to order it online for pickup in store.

Jay

 

[sndmn11]

Pipe should be here next week. Got another newb/'tism question. Got Alpha brass and dies coming.
Should I load up 100 rounds of a mild to moderate charge of something just to break the barrel in?

I would.

 

[AndrewMT34]

I agree, either load some yourself or buy it from midway for break in.

I have 156 rds on my barrel and it’s probably 150fps faster than it was at 0. The speed up happened between 100-125 rounds.

 

[AndrewMT34]

Yeah honestly I'm trying to figure out if fancy dies are worth it. I own and use both. Both seem to produce really good large sample groups.
Figure if I go with the cheap Hornady dies I'll have an extra 100 bucks for powder


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I have almost exclusively RCBS Matchmaster seating dies. I don’t think they make it any more accurate, but the ease of seating with the built in sleeve and long eldm bullets is worth every penny for me.

 

[satchamo]

Ok so I tried 4350 with both 80/88 in my McGowen 16.5 barrel last night and got serviceable groups but nothing to run home about.

One thing to note is I went up to 40 gr of 4350 with 80s on Peterson LRP and got slight ejector swipe but no crazy bolt lift… that’s 2+ grains above book max from Hornady. Does this brass just hide pressure signs that well?

Are there any other powders worth trying? I have 2 pounds of varget but I’ve always understood it burns too fast for heavier that 60ish grain bullets but that could be BS. Is it worth trying with 80/88s?

 

[Bluumoon]

Yeah honestly I'm trying to figure out if fancy dies are worth it. I own and use both. Both seem to produce really good large sample groups.
Figure if I go with the cheap Hornady dies I'll have an extra 100 bucks for powder

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Ok so I tried 4350 with both 80/88 in my McGowen 16.5 barrel last night and got serviceable groups but nothing to run home about.

One thing to note is I went up to 40 gr of 4350 with 80s on Peterson LRP and got slight ejector swipe but no crazy bolt lift… that’s 2+ grains above book max from Hornady. Does this brass just hide pressure signs that well?

Are there any other powders worth trying? I have 2 pounds of varget but I’ve always understood it burns too fast for heavier that 60ish grain bullets but that could be BS. Is it worth trying with 80/88s?

I'm at 40.5gr H4350, 80s and Peterson brass. Prob not forum approved, but dunked 5 rounds in water and immediately shot w no pressure signs as a pretest for AK next week.

 

[AndrewMT34]

I have good luck with N560 and 80 ELDM's.

I'm at 3150 with a 17" barrel loaded at hornady book max.

 

[wind gypsy]

Pipe should be here next week. Got another newb/'tism question. Got Alpha brass and dies coming.
Should I load up 100 rounds of a mild to moderate charge of something just to break the barrel in? Then start load development? Or would I be ok to start load dev on a fresh pipe and not worry about speed up? Want to have this gun ready to go for my girls for youth days. Which is coming up fast.

My take in general is that you should be able to get a feel for if your barrel likes a given powder/bullet/seating depth combo right away. You dont have to season a barrel to see that. Just understand that velocity/pressure might change a bit as the barrel breaks in and brass goes from virgin to fired so you might have to change your charge weight.

I wouldn't go load 100 rounds of a random load without shooting it just to break in barrel and get a firing on brass. If it shot that random load like shit it wont be near as fun to get through those rounds.

 

[Lawnboi]

Pipe should be here next week. Got another newb/'tism question. Got Alpha brass and dies coming.
Should I load up 100 rounds of a mild to moderate charge of something just to break the barrel in? Then start load development? Or would I be ok to start load dev on a fresh pipe and not worry about speed up? Want to have this gun ready to go for my girls for youth days. Which is coming up fast.

Kinda strange no one in Great Falls has factory 22 creed ammo yet. Thought about just buying a couple boxes to atleast get the gun on paper with.

Thanks fam

I tend to agree with @wind gypsy

On a new barrel there’s nothing wrong with finding what it likes and doing some testing. Just know going in that the barrel may speed up, and with speed comes pressure. What I try to avoid is loading a bunch of ammo that looks good for 4 shots in the back yard but is showing pressure signs 150 rounds into the batch.

I also think load development is largely bull. Find a combo your barrel likes quick, break it in, then load it all and shoot.

 

[Nine Banger]

I also think load development is largely bull. Find a combo your barrel likes quick, break it in, then load it all and shoot.

 

[ACHILLES]

Ok so I tried 4350 with both 80/88 in my McGowen 16.5 barrel last night and got serviceable groups but nothing to run home about.

One thing to note is I went up to 40 gr of 4350 with 80s on Peterson LRP and got slight ejector swipe but no crazy bolt lift… that’s 2+ grains above book max from Hornady. Does this brass just hide pressure signs that well?

Are there any other powders worth trying? I have 2 pounds of varget but I’ve always understood it burns too fast for heavier that 60ish grain bullets but that could be BS. Is it worth trying with 80/88s?

Peterson brass is tough. If your 2gr over Hornady’s book max then your probaly 3.5gr over petersons data and h4350 max. Peterson brass has less capacity than Hornady. With the 80eldms in peterson brass I have to run 1gr less powder to achieve the same velocity with the 80s in Hornady or alpha brass. If your seeing ej swipes in peterson your probably well over 70k. Not judging, I run some stout 22creed hunting loads myself.

Other good powder options for the 80s are h1000,h4831,n555
If you want top speed RS magnum, RS Grand, superperformance, or rl26.

 

[satchamo]

Peterson brass is tough. If your 2gr over Hornady’s book max then your probaly 3.5gr over petersons data and h4350 max. Peterson brass has less capacity than Hornady. With the 80eldms in peterson brass I have to run 1gr less powder to achieve the same velocity with the 80s in Hornady or alpha brass. If your seeing ej swipes in peterson your probably well over 70k. Not judging, I run some stout 22creed hunting loads myself.

Other good powder options for the 80s are h1000,h4831,n555
If you want top speed RS magnum, RS Grand, superperformance, or rl26.

Good to know - I didn’t get ejectors swipe on 80s with 40 gr but I did with 88s. I seated them accordingly so I wasn’t jammed. I was just checking for pressure on these loads anyways as my barrel isn’t even broken in yet.

 

[TradLife406]

Thanks chat

 

[ChrisAU]

Anyone used N555 with 77 TMKs? I'm curious about trying N555 before committing to my hunting season load. I have a pound, and VV has data for it so I may load some up to see. I'm getting 3115 from 36.9gr of Varget but I still worry a bit about case fill. I did a pressure ladder at 37.2/37.5/37.8/38.1 and got it up to 3227 but saw some light ejector marks so backed back down to 36.9.

 

[khuber84]

I ran N555 with 77tmk in my first 22cm 3-4 years ago. It was a 22in 8tw. Chamber was throated long to keep the bullet above neck shoulder junction. I was running lapua brass. I was able to find pressure(hot conditions) with somewhere around 44.3gr if I recall. Was using a 12" drop tube and vibrating cases to get room to seat without crunch. This was running mid 3400mv. I eventually dropped it down to mid 3300s for an all season load.

I'm currently running 42.2gr N555 in the new 18in barrel with 88s at 3040mv. You can get up to 44gr in alpha brass.

 

[swavescatter]

I ran N555 with 77tmk in my first 22cm 3-4 years ago. It was a 22in 8tw. Chamber was throated long to keep the bullet above neck shoulder junction. I was running lapua brass. I was able to find pressure(hot conditions) with somewhere around 44.3gr if I recall. Was using a 12" drop tube and vibrating cases to get room to seat without crunch. This was running mid 3400mv. I eventually dropped it down to mid 3300s for an app season load.

I'm currently running 42.2gr N555 in the new 18in barrel with 88s at 3040mv. You can get up to 44gr in alpha brass.

How is the accuracy (compared to other powders)?

 

[khuber84]

How is the accuracy (compared to other powders)?

N555 shoots great in the 22cm! My load with 88s will routinely shoot sub half minute for 5 rds at 300-400y on paper.