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Old August 1, 2009, 10:44 PM   #1
Dougie
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Bullet tumbling question

The other day, I picked up some Hornady 50gr SPSX .224 bullets for my 22-250 to try something new. I made some rounds using 32.7 grains of Varget and went to the range. My first group looked pretty fine until I got up close, one of the three tumbled and went in sideways. Now this is the first time I've encountered this and thought "maybe" I was pushing the max fps for this type of bullet as this bullet is rated at a max 3400 fps. Anyhow, I decided I'll cut the powder down to 31.8 grains and see what happens. Tonight I just got back from the range with the exact outcome I had yesterday, .5 and .75 groups with about every third keyholing. What the hell is goin' on here? Do these bullets have an overstabilizing problem? I shoot a Savage VLP 1-12 twist and I somehow think my rate has something to do with it. My rifle was cleaned before I went out, and at the range I shot decent groups before and after the "tumbling" problem. All the other loads I shot tonight seamed normal. Do these 50gr SPSX bullets have an issue with 1-12 twists or could it be something else?
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Old August 1, 2009, 10:48 PM   #2
ophidia
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I had problems with those bullets disappearing in the Tikka .223 I used to have-- apparently they spun apart with the 1 in 8 twist. I'm not a huge fan of that bullet, consequently. I've had awesome luck with 40 gn and 55 gn V-Max in my 22-250, though-- but they are about 50% more expensive.
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Old August 2, 2009, 04:21 PM   #3
amamnn
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A 1/12 is a little fast for a 50 gr. bullet, but not so fast that I would suspect over spin. Assuming that the true diameter of the bullet is actually .224, I would think a failure to engage the rifling properly due to build up in the grooves might be a more likely cause of the problem. I had a similar problem with a barrel that was stripping copper. It would shoot a very nice 3 or 4 round group but #4 or #5 would be a flier. Until the barrel was broken in (long after a match barrel should have been grouping) it shot those kinds of groups. Along the way I was reminded by several friends that 90% of shooters fail to REALLY get their barrels clean.

It may be worth mentioning that the best time to clean is when the barrel is warm. Most, if not all effective bore cleaners need to sit in the barrel for at least a few minutes to work. Patchs need to be rough and tight fitting to the bore to be effective. You do not need so tight a fit that you have to hammer the patch through the bore, but if it slides with no effort it cleans no gunk.

Your problem may be something else, but failure to do proper cleaning is a major cause of this problem, if all else is right.
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Old August 2, 2009, 09:02 PM   #4
Dougie
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Bullet tumbling question

Thanks for the replies guys. I came across some info on the subject and it was the bullets in a 250 that caused them to "blue-streak" and tumble. I know can obliterate the pesty gopher population we got and forget about accurate "paper-punchin'". I should have passed up those SPSX bullets when I heard they had a max fps of 3400 but the price was right. Here is the info I read, it is on page 89, under "extreme stress", also a good read.
http://www.scribd.com/doc/15956243/Target-Shooter-June
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