Contemporary Loads For Cutting Edge Bullets

January 04, 2011 By Lane Pearce

Despite ongoing ammunition and component shortages, the bullet manufacturers are still vigorously developing new and/or improved products.

By Lane Pearce

Bullet makers have been busy designing new projectiles, and the author has developed handloads for the new Barnes 30-grain .22 Hornet Varmint Grenade and 140-grain 7mm Tipped Triple-Shock, Remington 140-grain .277-caliber Core-Lokt Ultra Bonded, Hornady 165-grain .30-caliber GMX, and Swift 100-grain .25-caliber Scirocco II.

Barnes continues to add new calibers to its Tipped Triple-Shock (TTSX) bullet series, and there's a new 30-grain bullet specifically for .22 Hornet in the Varmint Grenade line. Hornady has just introduced a new monolithic copper-alloy, polymer-tipped bullet designated the GMX. Swift has a new 100-grain, .25-caliber Scirocco II bullet. Remington is now packaging several different premium Core-Lokt Ultra Bonded bullets in 50-round boxes for handloaders. Previously, they were available in 100-round or larger bulk packs.

I've been busy for several weeks now conjuring up suitable recipes, assembling and shooting batches of test loads, recording and assessing the data, and, of course, cleaning rifles. All told, I've fired nearly 400 rounds of assorted handloads with some excellent, satisfactory, and just so-so results. Read on.

Barnes
The new Hornet bullet comes in a 250-count box compared to the usual 50 or 100 bullets per box. My first thought when I looked at the label was, "I can't shoot all these for just one column!" As you can see from the chart's myriad data (page 2), I was wrong. They're all gone. Typically, this little case does well to launch 45-grain bullets in the mid-2,000 fps range, but these lightweight, high-velocity Hornet Varmint Grenades can be safely pushed up to 20 to 25 percent faster. I hadn't fired my Ruger Model 77/22H for nearly 10 years, but that deficiency has surely been remedied.

Varmint Grenade bullets are made with the usual cup-and-core design but with a unique twist. The copper jacket surrounds not a conventional lead core but one formed by fusing together a proprietary mixture of copper and tin powdered metal. This ensures the bullet will literally explode at impact.

I safely achieved 3,100+ fps, and since the new 30-grain bullet is marketed for the .22 Hornet, I asked Barnes if there's a muzzle velocity limit. The company rep's response was, "No. Fire them as fast as you safely can in a .22-250 or .220 Swift."

I'll have to try that someday.

The 7mm Mauser is nearly 120 years old. Even so, handloads topped with today's high-tech projectiles fired in strong, modern rifles perform quite well. A few years ago, I traded for a blued Ruger Model 77 Mark II with the early composite stock. To date, my limited experience had indicated it would shoot well enough. I also picked up a 7mm WSM Stainless Model 77 Mark II a year or so ago. As you can see from the chart, while the vintage Mauser velocities trail the hot short magnum by about 300 fps, it clearly excelled in the accuracy department

Hornady
Hornady's Steve Johnson explained the design details of the new GMX bullet as follows: "GMX stands for Gilding Metal eXpanding. Gilding metal is the same alloy as the jacket used in conventional cup-and-core bullets, but there's just no lead core. The nose features a narrow, elongated cavity topped with a polymer tip; however, the monolithic material is not skived like other designs. The tip provides for improved external and terminal ballistics performance. The material properties and physical characteristics ensure that GMX bullets can be loaded using existing data for comparable-weight Hornady SST bullets."

The author used these rifles for testing the handloads for the new bullets detailed in this report: (left to right) Ruger M77/22H, Win. M70, Weatherby Sub-MOA, Nosler M48, Ruger M77, Ruger M77, Sako A7. The .300 Win. Mag. Ruger M77 is not pictured.

He was absolutely correct. I tested 165-grain GMX handloads in both a Sako A7 (.30-06) and a vintage Ruger Model 77 (.300 Winchester Magnum), and a couple of recipes look promising, but more load development is required for both rifles.

Remington
Remington, like all of the major munitions companies, typically procured premium bullets for factory loadings from private-label bullet makers. Not too long ago, the company cranked up internal R&D efforts to design its own premium products. The new bonded Core-Lokts appeared when Remington first introduced the Ultra Mag cartridges.

Last year, Remington decided to market these bullets in several calibers to handloaders. I received some .277-caliber samples and chose to try them in a .270 WSM Nosler Model 48 bolt action. As the chart suggests, the Ultra Bonded bullets aren't just pretty--they shoot great, too.

Swift
The Swift Scirocco is one of the several bonded-core bullets introduced by various bullet makers in recent years, and the Scirocco II is a recent design upgrade that actually delivers improved ballistic performance. With two boxes of the new 100-grain, .25-caliber bullets on hand, I tested loads in three different cartridges.

Although it's an excellent round, the .257 Roberts has languished on the shooting scene for nearly 80 years. The .257 Weatherby Magnum also has limited popularity. And the .25 WSSM is probably going to become a flash-in-the-pan cartridge even though this lightweight, compact rifle/cartridge format is very well suited to the recoil-sensitive shooter.

As the chart suggests, I still have work to do to develop a really good handload for the .257 Roberts and .25 WSSM, but my Weatherby Sub-MOA Vanguard rifle delivered its best performance yet. I relearned an important lesson during this range session: The most accurate load is often one that's running a bit slower than max-load velocities.

I realize that as ST's reloading editor I have better access to new products in this currently frantic market than most, but don't despair. Check with your dealer or the online mega-distributors to

order these new, innovative bullets. You will be pleasantly surprised. Of course, they're more expensive, but practically speaking, your ammo is probably the least expensive cost you'll incur for your next hunt. So don't scrimp.

WARNING: The loads shown here are safe only in the guns for which they were developed. Neither the author nor InterMedia Outdoors Inc. assumes any liability for accidents or injury resulting from the use or misuse of this data.

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Handloads For 5 New Bullets
Bullet	Powder (Type/Grs.)	Case	Primer	Velocity (fps)	Extreme Spread (fps)	Standard Deviation (fps)	100-yard Accuracy (in.)
.22 Hornet Ruger Model 77/22H, 22-in. Barrel
Barnes 30-gr. Varmint Grenade	2400 / 11.5C	Rem.	CCI 400	3052	52	25	1.20
Barnes 30-gr. Varmint Grenade	AA No. 9 / 11.0	Rem.	Rem. 6 1/2	3160	45	18	1.20
Barnes 30-gr. Varmint Grenade	AA 1680 / 14.0C	Rem.	Rem. 6 1/2	2747	76	27	1.00
Barnes 30-gr. Varmint Grenade	Enforcer / 10.5	Rem.	Rwm. 6 1/2	2947	13	6	0.90
Barnes 30-gr. Varmint Grenade	H110 / 12.5	Win.	Fed. 200	3143	42	14	0.50
Barnes 30-gr. Varmint Grenade	Lil'Gun / 14.0C	Rem.	Rem. 6 1/2	3148	79	29	1.20
Barnes 30-gr. Varmint Grenade	Norma R-123/ 11.0C	Rem.	CCI 400	2964	87	24	1.00
Barnes 30-gr. Varmint Grenade	Vectan Sp3/ 11.5C	Rem.	Rem. 6 1/2	2792	80	33	1.00
Barnes 30-gr. Varmint Grenade	W296 / 12.5	Win.	Fed. 200	3041	47	15	1.70
Barnes 30-gr. Varmint Grenade	W680 / 13.0C	Win.	Fed. 200	3041	47	15	1.90
.25 WSSM Winchester Model 70, 22-in. Barrel
Swift 100-gr. Scirocco II	Hunter / 47.5	Win.	Fed. 210M	3038	38	14	1.30
Swift 100-gr. Scirocco II	Reloder 17 / 46.5	Win.	CCI BR2	3247	25	9	1.90
.257 Roberts Ruger Model 77 Hawkeye, 22-in. Barrel
Swift 100-gr. Scirocco II	Reloder 17 / 45.0	Win.	Fed. 210M	3027	34	14	1.50
Swift 100-gr. Scirocco II	W760 / 44.5	Win.	CCI BR2	3044	62	26	1.30
.257 Weatherby Magnum Vanguard Sub-MOA, 24-in. Barrel
Swift 100-gr. Scirocco II	H1000 / 73.5	Wby.	CCI 250	3474	61	19	1.50
Swift 100-gr. Scirocco II	H4350/ 62.5	Wby.	CCI 250	3315	17	5	0.70
.257 WSM Nosler Model 48, 24-in. Barrel
Remington 140-gr C-L Ultra Bonded	IMR-4350/ 60.0	Win.	WLRM	3177	13	5	1.30
Remington 140-gr C-L Ultra Bonded	Reloder 25/ 67.5	Win.	CCI 250	3213	39	17	0.80
7x57 Mauser Ruger Model 77, 22-in. Barrel
Barnes 140-gr. TTSX	Big Game/ 46.0	Fed.	WLR	2767	41	13	1.50
Barnes 140-gr. TTSX	W760/ 46.0	Fed.	WLR	2721	49	14	1.20
7mm WSM Ruger Model 77, 22-in. Barrel
Barnes 140-gr. TTSX	Magnum/ 75.0	Win.	Rem 9 1/2M	2946	38	15	1.60
Barnes 140-gr. TTSX	MagPro/ 72.5	Win.	Rem. 9 1/2	3115	38	10	1.90
.30-06 Sako A7, 23-in. Barrel
Hornady 165-gr. GMX	Big Game / 54.5	Fed.	WLR	2816	62	19	2.00
Hornady 165-gr. GMX<	W760/ 54.5	Norma	WLR	2808	36	11	1.30
.300 Winchester Magnum Ruger Model 77, 24-in. Barrel
Hornady 165-gr. GMX	Reloder 17 / 71.0	Fed.	Fed. 215	3164	18	8	1.20
Notes:	Accuracy is the average of three, five-shot groups fired from a sandbag benchrest. Velocity is the average of 15 rounds measured 6 feet from the guns' muzzles using an Oehler M35P chronograph.