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.
 
Update: Finally figured out the speed discrepency with my chrono, and have found a really nice accurate load for 80 ELD-VT in the .243 using Varget at 3275fps and another decent one using H4350 at 3400fps. The Varget load was 3 shots at .15 and best group I've ever shot with this rifle 5 shot groups were .5". This is a wash for me against my 87 Vmax over H4350 load at 3300 fps with similar accuracy (if I consider the 3 shot group a fluke). The H4350/80 VT Load is a step up with the same size groups my current 87 Vmax H4350 load yields so an ever so slight slight gain, but at a pretty big jump in cost per bullet.

I've noticed these bullets are very jump sensitve (unliike the Vmaxes which seem more flexible)but with enough fine tuning in small increments they can achieve better groups.

I have not shot any coyotes with them yet but have some loaded up at 3275fps and plan to shoot a few in the next couple weeks. FWIW I've shot 62 since January primarily with the 87 vmax and 58 vmaxes in .243's(as well as hundreds from years before with 70BT's, 75 Vmaxes) and I can honestly say you can't go wrong with any varmint bullet in the .243...so I'm expecting it to perform on par with the rest of them.
 
Driven2tri24 said:
Update: Finally figured out the speed discrepency with my chrono, and have found a really nice accurate load for 80 ELD-VT in the .243 using Varget at 3275fps and another decent one using H4350 at 3400fps. The Varget load was 3 shots at .15 and best group I've ever shot with this rifle 5 shot groups were .5". This is a wash for me against my 87 Vmax over H4350 load at 3300 fps with similar accuracy (if I consider the 3 shot group a fluke). The H4350/80 VT Load is a step up with the same size groups my current 87 Vmax H4350 load yields so an ever so slight slight gain, but at a pretty big jump in cost per bullet.

I've noticed these bullets are very jump sensitve (unliike the Vmaxes which seem more flexible)but with enough fine tuning in small increments they can achieve better groups.

I have not shot any coyotes with them yet but have some loaded up at 3275fps and plan to shoot a few in the next couple weeks. FWIW I've shot 62 since January primarily with the 87 vmax and 58 vmaxes in .243's(as well as hundreds from years before with 70BT's, 75 Vmaxes) and I can honestly say you can't go wrong with any varmint bullet in the .243...so I'm expecting it to perform on par with the rest of them.
Click to expand...

That bullet weight is right on the line where both of those powders will give outstanding results in a good rifle.

I couldn't agree more that it's hard to go wrong from 55-87gr bullets in the old 243, it's the king varmint caliber IMO when you want coyotes dead!

Thanks for the range report!
 
Should work great. I'm running 75 grain Vmax in front of 27 grains of IMR3031 in my 16" ARC and its running 3000 fps and is very easy on the starline brass. I'd think you could push it quite a bit harder if you were running Lapua or Hornady brass. MIdway has 87 hpbt hornady bullets for less than $20 per hundred currently.
 
You getting some decent velocity out of that ARC with 16”. You running a gas gun. I’ve never chrono’d min 18”. Just never thought 3k was possible. Liking that ARC even more now.
 
Oldcoyotetrapper said:
You getting some decent velocity out of that ARC with 16”. You running a gas gun. I’ve never chrono’d min 18”. Just never thought 3k was possible. Liking that ARC even more now.
Click to expand...
Yes sir, It's a 16" mid length, Faxon/Brownell's collaboration barrel, 1-8 twist and it shoots great.
It's closer to 3150 out of my 20" BA barrel, with a 1-7 twist. The picture below was from the 16".
 

Attachments

  • IMG_3570.jpeg
    IMG_3570.jpeg
    85.1 KB · Views: 19
  • image_cropper_9FC149E5-C0A0-4A59-97F3-8A737CBBE915-3731-0000025F90EF778C.jpeg
    image_cropper_9FC149E5-C0A0-4A59-97F3-8A737CBBE915-3731-0000025F90EF778C.jpeg
    54 KB · Views: 24
Last edited:
Shot 1 coyote this week at 125yds with 80 ELD-VT at 3272MV.(roughly 3k impact speed)Was in high hay field and only had 3" of his back and a moving head visible. Drilled him in spine and had a grapefruit size exit. Obvioulsy dropped on shot. Entrance was dime sized until it hit bone. Obvioulsy any bullet would do the job in spine, but it did hold together well enough to exit and explode well enough to scallop out a grapefruit of flesh on far side. So far I like what I see but will add updates..
 
Driven2tri24 said:
Shot 1 coyote this week at 125yds with 80 ELD-VT at 3272MV.(roughly 3k impact speed)Was in high hay field and only had 3" of his back and a moving head visible. Drilled him in spine and had a grapefruit size exit. Obvioulsy dropped on shot. Entrance was dime sized until it hit bone. Obvioulsy any bullet would do the job in spine, but it did hold together well enough to exit and explode well enough to scallop out a grapefruit of flesh on far side. So far I like what I see but will add updates..
Click to expand...
That is my favorite bullet for 6 arc
 
Back
Top