85gr Barnes Match Burners

[corn_dork]

Well I am yet to see or find much of any information from people who have any experience with this bullet so I figured I'd get started on it. I'm not going to try and make any arguments on its ballistic superiority to any other bullet. This isn't really meant to be a compare and contrast write up. I just want to try it out, come up with some load data starting points, and see how it performs on paper. This is going to be a slow and on going process too so if anyone has any questions or ideas along the way, or if you have used this bullet already, by all means, chime in. Hopefully this helps someone else out and gets them started.

So to start, last november I had loaded up 5 rounds just to see what I could get velocity wise with a powder I was playing with in another load. The thing was, I'd be shooting in a .223 rifle that had a 26" long, 1-9" twist barrel. So I wasn't expecting it to stabilize. Again, just looking for velocity. That load was seated to a C.O.L. of 2.43" which put it about .015" from the rifling in that rifle. With 25gr of 2000-MR in Lapua brass with Federal Match primers, it clocked an average of 2528fps. The interesting part was that even at 300 meters, it made clean holes in the paper. Granted there no sign of any accuracy what so ever, with only 3 out 5 rounds hitting the 12"x17" piece of paper, 2 being an inch apart and one being 15" south, the point is they didn't tumble. Sadly I don't have a picture of this target to show.

After several months of collecting dust, it was time to really play with them. First of all, here's the information that Barnes posts on their web site for this particular bullet...

Type: BT Match
DIA: .224
WGT: 85gr
LGTH: 1.068"
S.D.: .242
B.C.: .410 (G1)
REQ TWIST: 1:8

<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/126861136@N03/14726021340/" title="IMG_1865 by corn_dork, on Flickr"><img src="https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3836/14726021340_1118edaf72.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="IMG_1865"></a>

Also worth noting, is that on the box it lists the required twist as 1:7" or faster. A little inconsistent but no matter; I just happen to have 2 AR-15's, one with a 1-8" twist and one with a 1-7" twist, both having 16" barrels. So if they don't work in the one, they should work in the other. (Spoiler alert, they shoot just fine out of the 1-8" twist, 16" barrel)

To start, I pulled 10 bullets at random from the box and started measuring length and weight. They averaged out 1.064" long and weighed an average of 85.16gr. So far so good. I did try and measure things like meplat and base diameter and boattail length and angle.... but I'm not really equipped to make those measurements accurately so I gave up on that fantasy.

Here's a little side by side to help you get a visual for how long these things are...

<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/126861136@N03/14726130887/" title="IMG_1869 by corn_dork, on Flickr"><img src="https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3863/14726130887_7265afc2cf.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="IMG_1869"></a>

The one on the left is a Sierra Matchking 69gr, the middle one is a Hornady BTHP match 75gr, and then the Barnes Match Burner 85gr on the right. These things eat up powder space.

For the sake of evaluation consistency, the rest of these will use the same brass and primers and be fired out of the same rifle. I have a bunch of PMC .223 brass laying around so I pulled 100 from the same batch (even though I only need 95 now), deprimed them, cleaned in stainless media, FL resized, trimmed, chamfered, debured, and debured the flash holes, then annealed them. For primers I'll be using Wolf small rifle. Seeing as how this bullet looks as though it was designed for use in AR pattern rifles, and because that's what I'll be shooting them out of, I'll be seating them all at 2.25".

By the way, here's the test rifle...

<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/126861136@N03/14912324402/" title="IMG_2046 by corn_dork, on Flickr"><img src="https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3915/14912324402_7b27d93b57.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="IMG_2046"></a>

It's a LaRue stealth upper assembly with a 16" 1-8" twist polygonal rifling barrel and 11" handguard, Noveske Gen 3 lower (it fits the upper so perfectly, there is NO movement or wiggle what so ever!), and Geissele G2S trigger that breaks cleanly at 4.5 pounds (I measured it). The rest of it shows in the picture.

For the first go around, I'll be testing 3 powders that I have in abundance: Varget, IMR-4895, and 2000-MR. Based on previous experience and by comparing to load data from different sources on 80gr and 90gr bullets, I settled on 22.5gr of Varget and IMR-4895, and my previous 25gr of 2000-MR as a good starting point. Every powder charge was hand weighed on a Gem Pro 250 scale. Much to my surprise, BOTH the Varget and IMR-4895 were COMPRESSED LOADS. Not just barely touching but not crushing the powder down too much, but just compressing. Figure them both around 105-110%. So I think it's safe to say these will considered max loads.

<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/126861136@N03/14726036849/" title="IMG_1872 by corn_dork, on Flickr"><img src="https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3897/14726036849_79e549ffb1.jpg" width="375" height="500" alt="IMG_1872"></a>

What I got was...

Varget 22.5gr- 2287fps

IMR-4895 22.5gr- 2372fps

2000-MR 25gr- 2426fps

Nothing impressive from the extruded powders but the 2000-MR seams like it's worth pursuing more. I think this bullet is too long, eating up too much case space to consider any extruded powder appropriate. It's my opinion that ball powders are the only way to go for this particular bullet. However, all 3 loads performed fairly similarly on paper at 100 meters.

<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/126861136@N03/14726034659/" title="IMG_2043 by corn_dork, on Flickr"><img src="https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5583/14726034659_548a3e6b3f.jpg" width="375" height="500" alt="IMG_2043"></a>

The bottom group is the Varget, the top one is the IMR-4895...

<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/126861136@N03/14889695826/" title="IMG_2044 by corn_dork, on Flickr"><img src="https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3894/14889695826_a1c858461a.jpg" width="375" height="500" alt="IMG_2044"></a>

and then the 2000-MR on a different piece of paper.

And there you have it so far. My goal is to be able to push them at about 2500fps out of this 16" barrel. So next up I think I'll try using Ramshot TAC and BLC-2. I considered Win 748 but I think it's a little fast for this heavy of a bullet. Hodgdon doesn't even list it in their load data for anything above 70gr anyway. They do show Win 760 and H414 (which are basically the same powder) but I also feel that they are too slow a powder to use in an AR platform. Even if they're alright to use, I'm not going to. My rifle, my rules.

 

[corn_dork]

Well I've had some time to play with these a little more over the past couple of weeks. Like I said before I started playing with other ball powders; namely BLC-2, TAC, and then I continued with the 2000MR some more. So far though, I can honestly say that I'm not too impressed with this bullet. Pretty much everything I do with it has no measurable difference. I'm not saying it's a poor performer, it's just nothing spectacular.

As far as powder charges and velocities go, here's what I have so far:
(Again, all loads are prepped and annealed PMC brass, Wolf small rifle primers, and a COL of 2.25")

Ramshot TAC
23gr- 2377 fps
23.5gr- 2445 fps

BLC-2
24gr- 2425 fps
24.5gr- 2487 fps

2000MR
25gr- 2404 fps
25.5gr- 2458 fps

I don't have any pictures of targets but TAC seems to be the more consistent and accurate powder so far. 2000MR would be a close second. BLC-2 though doesn't seem to be able to hold a good or consistent pattern. These are just merely observations. But the last time out, they all would put the first three rounds within at least an inch of each other, then open up to over an inch and a half. I thought it was me at first but then I fired a three round group of Fiocchi 55gr FMJ and printed a perfect .76" group. Then a buddy of mine put another 7 rounds into an inch, same rifle and load. So I'm starting to think my rifle just doesn't like the 85 grainers.

Next time out I think I'll run the same charge (probably TAC) through both of my rifles and see if going from a 1-8" twist to a 1-7" twist yields anything different. I understand they're completely different kinds of barrels but this isn't a perfect world and I have no other way of seeing if the twist rate has an effect on performance.

 

[corn_dork]

Well I managed to get out to the range last weekend. It was damn near perfect conditions; clear skies, 80-85 degrees, light to almost no wind.... just awesome

So anyways, I got two things done; bumped up the charges on two powders just to see and tried the same load in two barrels with different twist rates. Let's get into the increased powder charges first. I only did this with Ramshot TAC and 2000-MR because they showed the better results before and because I'm not the biggest fan BLC-2. It just seams to be dirtier and a little rough cycling compared to the other two. Either way, I went with 24gr of TAC and 26gr of 2000-MR. Both put me in the 2520fps range and both cycled smoothly with no ejector marks on the case heads and no cratering on the primers. There were no indications physically or in how they felt when firing that was a pressure concern. That being said, the groups at 100 meters did open up a bit. Especially with the 2000-MR. This time I have pictures too

First up is the 24gr of TAC: (if you count the round to the left as a flier it's not a terrible group)

<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/126861136@N03/15485913721" title="IMG_2171 by Ned Champness, on Flickr"><img src="https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2949/15485913721_1f9ceb885f_z.jpg" width="480" height="640" alt="IMG_2171"></a>

Then the 2000-MR: (Note, the 26gr charge is just touching the base of the bullet so this is 100% fill. It wasn't compressing but you could barely hear and feel it touch at the end of bullet seating)

<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/126861136@N03/15465934226" title="IMG_2170 by Ned Champness, on Flickr"><img src="https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3930/15465934226_d172077aed_z.jpg" width="480" height="640" alt="IMG_2170"></a>

Now then, The next thing I did was load 10 rounds of TAC at 23.5gr and fired a 5 round group through two different barrels, one having a 1-8" twist and the other a 1-7" twist. Yes, they're different make barrels, out of different steels, one being chromed lined, blah blah blah... Just curious to see if twist rate would influence anything on paper. They both 16" barrels though. The 1-7" is a Spikes Tactical hammer forged chrome lined barrel with a mid length gas system same as on the LaRue. Also, I did fire a single round of 55gr ball before each group to make sure I was on paper.

Here's the LaRue with the 1-8" twist:

<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/126861136@N03/15488704302" title="IMG_2168 by Ned Champness, on Flickr"><img src="https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3950/15488704302_54f23b7177_z.jpg" width="480" height="640" alt="IMG_2168"></a>

Then the Spikes with the 1-7" twist:

<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/126861136@N03/15302481677" title="IMG_2169 by Ned Champness, on Flickr"><img src="https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3927/15302481677_8e90fd4816_z.jpg" width="480" height="640" alt="IMG_2169"></a>

I'll let the pictures speak for themselves