Midway Dogtowns

[ShaneG.]

I picked up some 55g Hp dogtowns from Midway,so I loaded some up and went to shoot today chrono'd them at about 3700fps average. Well I think they are coming apart out of my 22-250. This is a 26" factory barrel,12 twist. I am using Superformance powder. One shot would make a nice round hole,another would look like it went through sideways and then a shot might not even make it to the target.

My son said they could see something kick up dirt about 10-15 feet from the muzzle,and said most looked like tracers going down range with a distinct smoke trail behind them. also said one looked as if it took a hard turn and curved well away from the target.

I have shot the 50g HP dogtowns with good results,but was using Ramshot TAC at around 3500fps. Midways site says to keep them under 4000fps,which they were unless my chronograph is lying to me.

Anyone else have this happen?

[keeki]

bout 3500 is all they can stand

[ShaneG.]

Well crud I was hoping to find a load on the upper end that shot well. I guess I'll have to find a heavier constructed bullet for that. I drop the charge down and see what happens.

[DoubleUp]

I've shot a fair number of the 34g hollow points in 204 and never had any trouble with them. Have shot them up to 4,000 fps with no trouble, but I usually try to work up a load around 3,850-3,900. Twist is 1x12.

[keeki]

I must correct myself. I looked back through my notes and that was not the bullet that was coming apart on me

[82boy]

Sounds like your pushing them too hard. I have found Dogtowns to be, well worth what you pay for them.

[ShaneG.]

I believe I am driving them too hard as well got a lighter load to try out that should get me around 3500fps. I'll pick up some vmax in 40g and 50g to try out too.

Got a PD trip in the works and want something really effective to try out.

[ShaneG.]

Well I loaded more dogtowns and shot them today and all I can say is they must not like my barrel very much. They were running 3490avg. and printed a group that was about 1/2" in verticle and about 3.5" wide with one going through sideways again. This happened on 2 different groups,I shot 3 69g Matchkings and they went in a group about 1/4" vert. and just about 5/8"horizontal. The wind was blowing right to left and gusty with some pretty good mirage.

This was off a front rest and a heavy rear bag laying prone. Looks like I will have to try them in my AR, I've had much better groups with cheap old Prvi 50g soft points and vmax's.

The 3 shots on the lower right were the 69g,the others were the 55g dogtowns.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v392/sgregory/20110414135843.jpg

[nova1194]

I havent tried them in my 22-250 yet, but I have tried them in 2 of my 223s, both with h335, one is a stevens 200, it did not like them at all, about 5 inch groups at 200 yards, the other is my stainless 9 twist factory barrel tha has been rechambered to 223ai, they shot ok in this rifle, about 1 1/2 inches at 200 yards, I might play around a little with the seating depth and powder t see if I can tighten them up some, but for the stevens its back to the v-maxes that it likes so much. The Stevens will keep a 50 gr v max right at 1 inch at 200 yards.

Mike

[ShaneG.]

Vmax shot well in mine and so did some remington accu-tips. I had tried some 50g dog towns and they seemed to do ok. Just got done loading some other bullets to try out. Some 40g BT's and some 55g softpoints.

I do have a H&R 22-250 single shot with 1-14" twist I might shoot the dogtowns in it to see how they do.

[keeki]

my 14 twist wont shoot the 55's no where near as well as it will the 50's but my 12 twist would shoot both well

[darkker]

I had a long series of emails with Midway last year about this. They told me they were going to change their info, but they have not :(
When this first came to a head, they told me to "Call Sierra" for info about them.
What no one remembers, I will make perfectly clear:
VELOCITY DOES NOT KILL BULLETS!
IT IS CENTRIFUGAL FORCE, THAT RIPS THEM APART!!!

Dogtowns have VERY thin jackets, and cannot withstand a high spin.
What midway doesn't state, is that their 4000 fps rating is based on a Remmy twist and NOT SAVAGES 1-10".
That paticular gun, and my loading info are with MZ5 at the moment; so I can't tell you what max RPM for that bullet is.
According to Sierra, due to contracts, they cannot tell you who makes them but are very familiar with them....
Call Sierra's tech line, and they are always happy to help.

I think the RPM ceiling was about 275,000 rpm, but just call Sierra.

[ShaneG.]

Well I picked up an E.R. Shaw .223 24" stainless 14 twist varmint contour from Midway.

Got in installed and put 3 rounds through it then cleaned it. Took it out today and zero'd it at 150 yards and ran some of the 55g dogtowns through it.
Had about a 10 gusty cross wind and at 300 yards it put 3 in a group that had just under 1.5" vertical and 2.5" horizontal from a less than perfect table.

Looks like the dogtowns are gonna work out in this barrel. Load was LC case,22.5g of RL10x 2.200" length,Wolf primer. I just threw these rounds together but seems to decent so far just need to tune it in a little more.

[Con]

I'll be trying some 6mm 55gr projectiles soon as they arrive through a 6x45 in the coming weeks. I think that's a better application than my 243Win or 6mmRem. ;D
Cheers...
Con

[rcinit]

The 3 shots on the lower right were the 69g,the others were the 55g dogtowns.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v392/sgregory/20110414135843.jpg
Notice how one of the holes for the dogtown bullet has a swirle mark around the hole. I found this happens right before the bullet comes apart. I slowed my bullet down from 3200 fps in a Mod 12 vlp(.223) 1/9 twist w/26in barrel to 3150 fps and no more problems. However I had this occur all the way down to 2950 fps in a Mod 11(.223) with 1/9 twist with a 22 inch sporter barrel. The bullets wouldn't even make it to the target @ 25 yards. Simply explode some where around 10 to 15 yards down range. They don't perform like a V-max but they don't cost like a V-max either. If you want V-max performace buy a V-Max. If you want to save a little money, slow the bullets down. I actually use the dogtowns for practice and plinking. The V-maxs when I really want to be accurate.

[ShaneG.]

I'll save the dogtowns for the .223's I got 1k 50g vmax coming for the 22-250's.

[keeki]

you can save more money and varmint extremes from midsouth

[keeki]

but ill stick with my v-max's. its not but $8 per 500 more than the dogtowns

[rcinit]

you can save more money and varmint extremes from midsouth
I had the exact same performance out of the Midsouth Shooter Supply Varmit Extreme in 55gr soft points as I did with the Midway 55gr Soft point Dogtowns. Between the two different types I have 2,000+ rounds left to shoot up. So when the Dogtowns are gone I'll stick with the MSSS Varmit Extreme 55 grain for practice and general plinking and the V-Max's for P-dog shooting.

[Single Six]

I'm kind of a noob, but I have a retired gunsmith/shooter friend who told me the same kind of story. A friend of his was loading a .22-250 hotter and hotter and the bullets started leaving a white streak and then disappearing. The rifling slices the jacket and the centrifugal force from the RPM tears the bullet apart. Interesting thing was if you could get a jackrabbit at the right range, about 100-150 yds when the white streaks would start, there would only be scattered little pieces left.

Faster FPS = slower twist, heavier jacket