.224 36gr Varmint Grenade any experience with this in a .22/250 or faster?

[65WSM]

Does anyone have any experience with this bullet on ground squirrels? Does it open up? Does it live up to the hype or is it just another hollowpoint?

I am thinking of loading hundreds of the Barnes Varmint Grenade 36gr bullet in my .224 Nisqually wildcat (.220 Swift volume). I have two shooting sessions of 2" or better groups at 300 yards. I found that 35.6 gr of Alliant 10X is suitable. I have both large rifle primer cases and small rifle primer cases for my wildcat. I got 4323fps with Rem 7.5s and 15.9 SD. The Fed AR Comp primer was faster (4348fps) but had a higher SD and not as accurate. 26 inch barrel. Benchmark proved accurate (under two inches), with the same 35.6gr, which gave 4223 fps with Rem 7.5s. Obviously Benchmark has a slower burn rate and further load development is called for (SD 37.5).

I tried shooting clay pigeons at 400 yards. The Varmint Grenade bullets went through the clay pigeon with minimal damage. Even shots to the rim were less than spectacular. That concerns me.

 

[iowaelkbum]

Shoot something liquid and the results will change! Barnes has a great video of them shooting a grape.

 

[BallisticsGuy]

I've used the 50gn VG's quite a bit in .223Rem. Squirrels pop and I mean POP. To give you some idea of terminal effect that will illustrate properly: From 15' broadside at a very skinny and mangy jackrabbit, I shot it in the shoulder, the bullet did not exit the other side. The chest and stomach cavities were completely emptied and it looked like it'd been gutted with a small chainsaw. Those weren't going super awful fast either and I always shot them from a 16" barrel AR-15. The faster you push them the more violent the effect and less likely you are to get any through-and-through penetration. Hope that helps.