New Express Rifle

[Jeff Higgins]

I've always been a fan of the traditional "express rifle" as laid out by the British over a century ago. Either bolt action or single shot, but my preferences do run to the single shots in the form of the modern Ruger #1 Tropical Rifle or Light Sporter.

Well, now I've found what has to be the oddest example I have seen, and it's newly manufactured by Ruger. It's a full size express rifle, weighing all of 9.5 pounds sans scope. Here it is:



Doesn't look all that different than my Whitworth Express Rifle in .375 H&H:



Same general theme expressed in a single shot platform; my #1's in .375 H&H and .458 Win. Mag.:





So what is so different about this new Ruger? It's chambered in .223 Remington / 5.56 NATO. Ruger ostensibly made these as "practice rifles" for guys who own the big thumpers, but don't want to put up with the recoil or pay the cost of the ammo to practice with them.

Not sure I agree with the premise, but I do think it makes for a rather cool, and very unusual rifle. I can't wait to play with it.

[Rick V]

When the zombies come I am heading to your place

[Jeff Higgins]

Well, I just got through assembling some starting loads for this thing. While doing so, it occurred to me that I have not loaded for a .223 in over a decade. I have lots of .22 caliber bullets on hand that I use or have used in the .220 Swift, and apparently plenty of suitable powders on hand from the myriad of other calibers I reload.

I'm starting with once fired Federal brass, all trimmed to 1.750" and all primed with CCI 400 small rifle primers. I have three loads with H4895; 26 grains under both a Nosler 40 grain Ballistic tip and a Hornady 50 grain V-Max. I dropped the charge to 25 grains with a 60 grain Hornady V-Max for my third load with H4895. Two more loads with the 60 grain V-Max use 25 grains each of Reloder 15 and H335. All bullets are seated to an O.A.L. of 2.60", the maximum that will fit in the magazine. This conveniently works out to right on a .010" jump to the leade into the rifling when chambered.

I'll be heading to the range this weekend to give these all a go. I've mounted an old Leupold VX-2 3-9x scope for load development work. I'm not sure if that's going to stay, or if I will revert to the express sights (or maybe a peep) once I have found a good load for it.

So, any of you handloaders have any favorite .223 recipes? The rifle has a 1:9" twist, so it should like the heavier bullets (hence the focus on the 60 grain V-Max). I may have to actually go heavier in the end, but my Swift features a 1:12" twist, so the 60's are the heaviest I have on hand.

It's going to be fun to shoot an "express rifle" in the total absence of recoil. I normally only get about a dozen rounds down range before I cry uncle... I should be able to shoot this one all day long.

[Craig T]

I like 62gr FMJ Boat tails trimmed to 1.750-1.760, COL 2.20 and 22.8gr H335. I've been using the same load for a couple years now with very good accuracy at 100 yards. I rarely shoot the .223 any farther than 100 yards. It's mostly for my daughter's boyfriend and his zombie killer friends.

[Craig T]

BTW…I believe I have a couple hundred 62 grain if you want some, I'll UPS them down. PM if you do.

[Craig T]

Zombie killers...

[BlueSkyJaunte]

Originally Posted by Jeff Higgins

So, any of you handloaders have any favorite .223 recipes? The rifle has a 1:9" twist, so it should like the heavier bullets (hence the focus on the 60 grain V-Max). I may have to actually go heavier in the end, but my Swift features a 1:12" twist, so the 60's are the heaviest I have on hand.

I was under the impression that the heavier bullets (62-77gr.) prefer a tighter twist, i.e. 1:8 or 1:7. But there are some who would say I don't know very much about these things.

Nice Rugers. I've recently climbed back on the bolt-action bandwagon--by way of shooting at an Appleseed with a Savage MkII. Tough work on the transition stages. I've started looking at Ruger's Gunsite Scout in .308. Seems like a pretty darned solid rifle for 900 clams. And it even comes in a left-handed version!

[71scgc]

1 in 9 good for 62gr. Probably good for heavier (70gr).

Carter

[JTO]

Jeff
My 1 in 7 BCM likes 25 grains of TAC under the 75 grain Swift Scirrico bullet.
Troy

[vash]

Originally Posted by Rick V

When the zombies come I am heading to your place

no way..he has too many "single shots". and old pistols..

i'm gonna find the tactical freak with the black rifles and plastic handguns...

[Jeff Higgins]

Originally Posted by vash

no way..he has too many "single shots". and old pistols..

i'm gonna find the tactical freak with the black rifles and plastic handguns...

Yeah, but I have a qualified gun bearer - my wife can stand behind me and keep handing me loaded ones. It would be awhile before we had to cycle through them again...

[porsche4life]

You need a third person reloading in that scenario Jeff!

[Jeff Higgins]

Originally Posted by porsche4life

You need a third person reloading in that scenario Jeff!

Hmmm... good point. I clearly do not have a viable, well though out "zombie plan" yet.

I do, however, have several rifles with enough "oomph" to not only shoot zombies, but the horses they rode in on as well.

[porsche4life]

Just hope they come in long lines Jeff. Hope the bullets get tons of penetration!

[Jeff Higgins]

Well, not the best weekend for bench testing a new rifle, but I went to the range with it anyway. We have had rain along with gusting winds up into the 20-30 mph range, so I was trying to shoot groups between showers and the big gusts of wind.

I mounted up an old 3-9x Leupold just to have some glass on it for this work; not the best for really precise shooting, but it's all I had just laying around. I fired a couple of five shot groups at 200 yards off the bench with three different loads. All were assembled with the 60 grain V-Max bullet in once fired Federal cases and primed with CCI 400's; O.A.L. was 2.26". Each load had 25 grains of powder, the first was H4895, then Reloder 15, then H335. The H4895 load averaged 1.585" for the two five shot groups; RL15 averaged 1.995", and H335 averaged 2.220".

I'll go to the chronograph next and get some velocities for these. I really wanted to shoot over it while I was shooting the groups, but it was just too rainy and overcast to set it up. None of these loads showed any pressure signs (none are even close to "maximum" loads yet), so I do have some room to work with the charges. It's entirely likely that as I do, group sizes will shrink (or grow) and that these powders will trade places, accuracy-wise. As for now and what I learned at the bench, all three exhibit entirely useful accuracy and merit further development. Plus, as a bonus, when I removed the scope, it shot to the express sights at 100 yards.

[Jeff Higgins]

Wow - what a heck of a community we enjoy here on PPOT. Big, big thanks to Craig T, who was generous enough to send me 100 rounds of his zombie killer ammo. Very carefully assembled handloads featuring 62 grain FMJ's seated over H335. Anyone who handloads knows just how much work he put into these. I'll have to head out this weekend and put the "baby express rifle" to work...

[targa911S]

sweet!

[71scgc]

When I read your propellant list and saw the 4895 I thought, "there's your shooter".

Carter