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Mouse fart loads

EastTNHunter

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Jun 13, 2018
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I will start out by saying that I am a recovering tinkerer… but I still have occasional setbacks. With that confession made, I also love to help kids and new shooters get into the sports of shooting and hunting. Without going into the details, let’s just say that I have introduced many new shooters and hunters to the sport.

With that as a background, the AR platform gives me an adaptable utilitarian tool to teach with. It is compact, adjustable, and mild recoiling. But even small amounts of recoil can be uncomfortable for new or smaller shooters. For the 5.56, I have used mild charges of Unique to provide recoil slightly more than a 22lr, but these loads will not cycle the action. I have also used mild loads of H4895 to give a little more oomph (including noise and recoil), but they WILL reliably cycle the action.

Yesterday I decided to do some more tinkering on my 6.5G AR with my son. He is 7, and can shoot the “Grendel” accurately for a few shots, but then his accuracy starts to suffer as he tries to anticipate the recoil and begins flinching. The recoil moves his body far more than mine, so I know that he feels the recoil from this mild round far more than I do. So I went to a starting book load of H4895 and Sierra 85gr Varminter, hoping to get lower recoil and still cycle the action.

Eureka! 24gr did the trick. We shot ~1.5” groups at 50yd from a seated position using an attached bipod, which is plenty accurate for busting bottles, cans, and other reactive targets in our backyard shooting range. I’m sure that it will do better than that if I were to try prone or from a bench. Recoil was much lower, they reliably cycled the action, and his enjoyment level went up. This is good news as I get him ready for his second deer season, as he will be able to practice more live shooting using the gun that he will hunt with.

I load similar loads for bolt rifles, but don’t have the cycling concerns. Also, he is too small for the stocks on these bolt guns at this time

Anybody else tried messing with mouse fart loads?
 
I will start out by saying that I am a recovering tinkerer… but I still have occasional setbacks. With that confession made, I also love to help kids and new shooters get into the sports of shooting and hunting. Without going into the details, let’s just say that I have introduced many new shooters and hunters to the sport.

With that as a background, the AR platform gives me an adaptable utilitarian tool to teach with. It is compact, adjustable, and mild recoiling. But even small amounts of recoil can be uncomfortable for new or smaller shooters. For the 5.56, I have used mild charges of Unique to provide recoil slightly more than a 22lr, but these loads will not cycle the action. I have also used mild loads of H4895 to give a little more oomph (including noise and recoil), but they WILL reliably cycle the action.

Yesterday I decided to do some more tinkering on my 6.5G AR with my son. He is 7, and can shoot the “Grendel” accurately for a few shots, but then his accuracy starts to suffer as he tries to anticipate the recoil and begins flinching. The recoil moves his body far more than mine, so I know that he feels the recoil from this mild round far more than I do. So I went to a starting book load of H4895 and Sierra 85gr Varminter, hoping to get lower recoil and still cycle the action.

Eureka! 24gr did the trick. We shot ~1.5” groups at 50yd from a seated position using an attached bipod, which is plenty accurate for busting bottles, cans, and other reactive targets in our backyard shooting range. I’m sure that it will do better than that if I were to try prone or from a bench. Recoil was much lower, they reliably cycled the action, and his enjoyment level went up. This is good news as I get him ready for his second deer season, as he will be able to practice more live shooting using the gun that he will hunt with.

I load similar loads for bolt rifles, but don’t have the cycling concerns. Also, he is too small for the stocks on these bolt guns at this time

Anybody else tried messing with mouse fart loads?
I don't shoot or even own any auto loading rifles, much prefer bolt actions. That said I had a 180gr load worked up in my 30-06 hoping to get my grandson interested, didn't work as he wouldn't shoot it. 180gr cast bullet with about 13grs Red Det was about the same as shooting a 22 RF. For new shooter's cast bullet shooting can be great! of course it does take handloading but I think there's companys that sell cast bullets!
 
My daughter is recoil shy, but wanted me to build her a rifle capable for deer and IF she gets lucky enough to draw an elk tag here in PA.
PA minimum for elk is 27 caliber.
Since i was building on a Mauser action for her anyways, we went with 7X57 Mauser.

IMR 4895 with a 120gr Nosler Ballistic Tip actually has her willing to practice at the range & has taken a buck & 2 does.

Of course i'm sure there's a special place in the afterlife for me, after putting a PURPLE Boyds AT-One stock on a Mauser... :rolleyes:
:devilish:
 
My daughter is recoil shy, but wanted me to build her a rifle capable for deer and IF she gets lucky enough to draw an elk tag here in PA.
PA minimum for elk is 27 caliber.
Since i was building on a Mauser action for her anyways, we went with 7X57 Mauser.

IMR 4895 with a 120gr Nosler Ballistic Tip actually has her willing to practice at the range & has taken a buck & 2 does.

Of course i'm sure there's a special place in the afterlife for me, after putting a PURPLE Boyds AT-One stock on a Mauser... :rolleyes:
:devilish:
Purple is the right answer std7...
 
Purple is the right answer std7...
We were at the Harrisburg Outdoor show a few years ago.
Walking around, she slammed on the brakes at the E.R. Shaw booth.
They had a stainless barrel with purple helical fluting.
She told me THAT was the barrel she wanted for her build!

Of course i told her, "sure, after you order & pay for it".

It's wearing a 22" blued sporter barrel. :ROFLMAO:
 
I went to the local range this past weekend. There was a father and young son working with a 300 Blackout AR with a suppressor. Crazy how quite it was. Got talking with the dad, his son had issues with the sound not the recoil out of a 223 AR. Went to the 300 blackout and suppressed with subsonics, holy cow was it quite. Kid was a hammer with it. Started doing the math, not cheap, but very effective for that family.
 
I went to the local range this past weekend. There was a father and young son working with a 300 Blackout AR with a suppressor. Crazy how quite it was. Got talking with the dad, his son had issues with the sound not the recoil out of a 223 AR. Went to the 300 blackout and suppressed with subsonics, holy cow was it quite. Kid was a hammer with it. Started doing the math, not cheap, but very effective for that family.
Hearing aids aren't cheap either. A pound of prevention...or however that saying goes ;)
 
This is the answer: https://battlehawkarmory.com/product/cmmg-22lr-ar-conv-kit-3-25rd-bravo

There are a ton of reviews that say it's not perfect, but really close.
Those are cool kits, but my problems with them are:
1) cost: I can buy a lot of components to build mouse fart loads with the same amount of money as buying the kit
2) the AR that my son hunts with is a 6.5G and cannot use the 22lr. I want him practicing with the same setup that he hunts with as much as possible.
3) 22lr is undersized and dirty and eventually causes lead buildup in the barrel
 
IMR 4895 with a 120gr Nosler Ballistic Tip actually has her willing to practice at the range & has taken a buck & 2 does.

Of course i'm sure there's a special place in the afterlife for me, after putting a PURPLE Boyds AT-One stock on a Mauser... :rolleyes:
:devilish:

Or from using 120gr NBT in a 7x57. :D
 
What buffer do you have in your ARs? You may be able to mess with buffer/spring combos and go lighter if you desire. You could even experiment with clipping a couple coils off a spare buffer spring.
 
Leupold BX-4 Rangefinding Binoculars

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