Been playing with this cartridge since 2004, but mostly have shot the heavier 75-80gr bullets through it. The 1-8" twist Douglas barrel is pretty much on it's last leg at this point with 8-10 inches of alligator skin forward of the chamber, but the damn thing continues to shoot good groups.

Decided this year I was going to save a little money and load up some cheaper 50-53gr bullets rather than my typical 80gr Nosler's. Most of my shots on groundhogs are inside of 300 yards so I can't really justify the need for the longer/higher BC bullets around here.

So to start out I'm trying some Barnes 50gr Varminator's loaded over H4895. Think it was the Sierra manual that listed this combo with a max load of 37.2 grains, so I'm starting with 10rd batches of 36.6, 36.9 and 37.3 grains, and a 5rd batch of 37.5gr (fewer bullets to pull if it proves to be to hot). This rifle has regularly allowed me to load well over book max without pressure signs, so I'm fairly confident I'll probably be able to go a little hotter yet. At this point I'm just wanting to see how they group and get some chrono data to see how consistent the powder/bullet combo is via the ES and SD.

Brass: Lapua
Primer: CCI BR-2
Powder: H4895
Bullet: Barnes 50gr Varminator
Trim Length: 1.895"
OAL: 2.376"
Ogive: 2.040"

First time trying the Varminator bullets so no clue what to expect from them. Also have a decent supply of Nosler 50gr BT's and a couple of boxes of the Sierra 53gr Match bullets to try if the Barnes don't pan out.

Hoping to hit the range tomorrow if it's warm enough and the wind isn't too crazy. Bad part of living in NW Ohio - it's flat as a pancake and all open farm ground so the wind is a real nuisance. Closest thing we have to hills are highway overpasses.