22 ARC has knocked my socks off!

Mine is a gas gun with no gas, is it still a gas gun? I was hoping for a little more, but it’ll work just fine for the intended purpose. Just need the right critter to get in front of it now. Got to shoot a couple of jackrabbits last night with the 62 and it was quite dramatic. I hope it performs well for coyotes, that providing that I do my part.
 
Yes, it's still a "gas gun" for reloading purposes. The down-loaded gas gun load data from Hornady is meant to protect the AR15 bolt, which, when expanded to Grendel diameter is weaker than a 223 bolt.
I think the AR15 barrel extension and bolt should be reimagined to allow for higher pressures. But it would have to be standardized somehow. Seems like anything "proprietary" in the AR15 world is DOA.
 
62gr eld-vt has killed 1/2 doz coyotes so far, so far so good. Known accuracy issues likely derived from the type of rifling and twist rates. If you have a barrel that shoots em, I would endorse them at this point. Not a huge advantage over 60gr vmax inside 300yds imo. 60gr vmax is a coyote hammer. My latest thing is the 25-45 sharps. Mv3100 with 70gr bj. Just straight up stones everything it hits. Sounds like someone hitting a pillow with a baseball bat or a a NFL kicker punting a football.
 
I have about 20 coyotes on mine now, running it as a thermal setup. 18” ershaw gas gun, mostly aero parts. Running 53gr vmax at 3350 with 29.4 grains of shooters world AR plus. Very impressed so far. Furthest kill is around 285 and he was DRT. Haven’t seen any fur damage on the closer coyotes. Very impressed with it so far, I shoot tac class in PRS and run 75gr eldms at 2975 in a 26” 223, my arc is 3k from an 18” with room to run. It doesn’t shoot as tight at my PRs gun but it it’s been staying around .75-.625 for a five shot group. Functioning reliably. Once thermal season is over, I’ll run some gas gun matches with it and see how it does with 88’s and 90’s.
 

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9mileprecision said:
I have about 20 coyotes on mine now, running it as a thermal setup. 18” ershaw gas gun, mostly aero parts. Running 53gr vmax at 3350 with 29.4 grains of shooters world AR plus. Very impressed so far. Furthest kill is around 285 and he was DRT. Haven’t seen any fur damage on the closer coyotes. Very impressed with it so far, I shoot tac class in PRS and run 75gr eldms at 2975 in a 26” 223, my arc is 3k from an 18” with room to run. It doesn’t shoot as tight at my PRs gun but it it’s been staying around .75-.625 for a five shot group. Functioning reliably. Once thermal season is over, I’ll run some gas gun matches with it and see how it does with 88’s and 90’s.
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Those are pretty close to "real world" 22-250 speeds. My buddy shoots a Bergara 22-250 with Winchester silver box ballistic tip 55 grain ammo and it only gets about 3450 fps over my chrono. I'll take a 100 fps drop in exchange for the ability to run 88 grain ELD's...
 
MPFD said:
Those are pretty close to "real world" 22-250 speeds. My buddy shoots a Bergara 22-250 with Winchester silver box ballistic tip 55 grain ammo and it only gets about 3450 fps over my chrono. I'll take a 100 fps drop in exchange for the ability to run 88 grain ELD's...
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Yeah I’ve been pretty content with how it’s running. Some days, I wish I went 24” just for the speed but knowing I’ll run it in matches, I like how short and handy it is. I shot some 88gr factory out of it just to see the speed and I was getting around 2700. Shit fairly decent as well. I’ve shot a lot of 88’s from a 223 at 2750 and they’re no slouch at distance. The 62 eldVT factory ammo was right at 3100 but shot at a mind numbing 1”. The 62’s are an awesome bullet in my 22GT at 3500 but I’ve had trouble with accuracy in every other caliber. I’ve gone way down the rabbit hole with them in my 7 twist 223 AI and finally got some decent accuracy with varget but man they’re slow.
 
6.5 Grendel Brass is easy to find ...
1 pass thru the 22 ARC die is all you need...
It's a fun round to play with .....69 Gr Sierra TMK
and 60 GR Vmax are performers..

This is the 62 Gr ELD VT here ....ok but didn't group superb....
I did get 3400 FPS with them at 29.5 GR AA2230 in a 24" barrel



 
Lazer32 said:
Do you know what neck tension you are running, for the 22 ARC?
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Honestly have not mic'd the ID
it feels like .002" ....Tight consistent lock up after 1 pass thru
a Hornady Custom FL Die ....I spray all brass with Pure Lanolin
and 95% Isopropyl alcohol solution ...let it evaporate and rock n roll..
Buy a GOOD spray bottle for a fine even mist ...
BIG Cookie Tray ...keep everything clean...

I forgot add ....remove the expansion mandrel and decapping
rod when doing this ....If you look on my Redding across the body
you will see the FL die with it missing ....


Like butter ....
 
I am working on a 22 ARC build as we speak. My barrel should arrive today. I was able to buy 6.5 Grendel brass for pretty cheap. I am running a Hornady full length sizing die and then a mandrel to set the final neck tension of 2 thou. I also have moved to the lanolin and 99% alcohol solution, except I have a specific brass block where everything gets sprayed. The cookie tray idea is pretty good.
 
Lazer32 said:
I am working on a 22 ARC build as we speak. My barrel should arrive today. I was able to buy 6.5 Grendel brass for pretty cheap. I am running a Hornady full length sizing die and then a mandrel to set the final neck tension of 2 thou. I also have moved to the lanolin and 99% alcohol solution, except I have a specific brass block where everything gets sprayed. The cookie tray idea is pretty good.
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Next step
Load development .....thats the fun....
keep us in the loop .....
 
Lazer32 said:
I am working on a 22 ARC build as we speak. My barrel should arrive today. I was able to buy 6.5 Grendel brass for pretty cheap. I am running a Hornady full length sizing die and then a mandrel to set the final neck tension of 2 thou. I also have moved to the lanolin and 99% alcohol solution, except I have a specific brass block where everything gets sprayed. The cookie tray idea is pretty good.
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Do you also remove the expander button when sizing? When I size using a Hornady FL die, I'm only getting like 1.5 thou neck tension using the included button. I hate extra steps, but you got me thinking I should go to a mandrel.

For some reason, the factory Hornady 62's shoot pretty well out of my rig, but I can't seem to replicate that on my reloads when using the same bullet, same brass, same seating depth, and matching velocity. I'm starting to think that too little neck tension may be a factor. -- I've been reloading for many years and have never had much trouble surpassing factory ammo, but this one has been problematic.
 
SY, I do remove the expander button in the FL sizing die. In fact, I do this in all my dies. I then will then run a mandrel in a mandrel die through the necks to set neck tension to 2 thou for all my reloads.

Edit: I also don't like extra steps but I like knowing the tension so I can control for as many variables as possible.
 
Lazer32 said:
SY, I do remove the expander button in the FL sizing die. In fact, I do this in all my dies. I then will then run a mandrel in a mandrel die through the necks to set neck tension to 2 thou for all my reloads.

Edit: I also don't like extra steps but I like knowing the tension so I can control for as many variables as possible.
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Would you be able to measure the OD of the neck after you size and before you run the mandrel through?

With Hornady brass and a Hornady FL die, I get .247 using the expander button. I removed it and get .2465 (.5 thou less). That doesn't help me much. A mandrel isn't going to do much of anything.
 
Sure. You can measure the OD. However, I don't worry about the OD. I run it through the sizing die with the rod and button gone. This sizes the brass smaller than desired. For 22 ARC the desired inner diameter is .222" which gives us 2 thou neck tension. So I buy a .222" mandrel. However, this works the brass more than I would like, so I usually end up annealing the brass to help with this.
 
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Rich1 said:
Well, here’s the skinny on my setup. From the 18” barrel I got an average of 3250 fps with 32.0 gr of Leverevolution and the 62 gr ELD-VT. Not quite the velocity I was after, but it shoots quite nice on paper. Going to take it out in the morning, got home too late to zero the thermal, and see what transpires. Hopefully a big dog will come see what all the commotion is about. 😉
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Could you update us on how you’ve been doing with that 1-8 barrel? I’ve been toying with the idea of getting a 1-8 to optimize for the 62 grain loading, didn’t know there was a non-custom option for it till now. Have you shot the factory vmatch load through it, and how did it group?
 
I have shot a few of the factory 62 gr loads, but just at rocks. I did notice that they were a little on the hot side, but they didn’t blow primers or lose the primer pocket. It seems to want to shoot the Hornady 55 gr BTHP around 3300. Have only tried a couple of powders with them just to know I have an option if I didn’t want to buy more of the 62 gr bullets.
 
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