• This Forum is for adults 18 years of age or over. By continuing to use this Forum you are confirming that you are 18 or older. No content shall be viewed by any person under 18 in California.

.223 1:7 Twist Bolt Rifle 55 grain disintegrating?

Fotheringill

I have a Savage 12 F/TR as in the title. No such problem with bullets 68 gr and heavier. However, and you may imagine how it made me nuts, I could shoot two in a hole at 100 and then completely miss the entire target board, not just the paper target. I am relatively new to reloading and was using Berger 55 target bullets, V-Max and some other one (name escapes me at the moment). Saturday, I saw holes in the target, but also what looked like tears in the paper anywhere from a foot to two feet off the bull. I was loading per Hodgdon site and not anywhere near the max but different loads a grain or more off the max.

A shooting friend at the range suggested the barrel was too fast on the twist and causing the round to disintegrate. Can anyone confirm? I have no problem if this is the case and will stick with heavier bullets and give the 55"s to someone at the range who can use them.
 
Last edited:
Had it happen to me some years ago in 600 NMC shooting. I was OK until I got to 600, when some of my shots were not hitting the target. The pits couldn't hear them going over or hitting the berm. Then the line officer watched me shoot and said, "Your bullets are coming apart about 300 yards out." The scorer and some bystanders confirmed that there was a gray puff about half-way down the range. Needless to say, I had to cool my next batch of ammo down a notch or two. :rolleyes:
 
I believe it especially if the 55s are varmint bullets meant to explode on impact with small mammals. You could tone down the velocity a tad or stick with heavies. Since it is a Savage you could also find a barrel with a slower twist (9" is a good compromise) since they are relatively easy to change out.
The F-TR is meant as a competitive rifle for Palma matches out to 1000 yards using bullets as heavy as 90 grains (80 being used more commonly).
 
I've not seen (or heard of) anyone shooting in F/TR using a 55 gr bullet for the very reason others have stated. It's too light a bullet and will come apart. Guys I know use 69's for 300 - 600 yds and 77's for further out.

Alex
 
Had this happen with a fast twist 6BR and custom bullets. Jacket was too thin and about every 4th shot would come apart. Of course this didn't show up during practice or on sighters. It showed up after 5 shots in a match as I took the 6th shot. Missed the whole target at 50 yards. You may get the 55s to shoot, but will have to load them down, or get some with a thicker jacket.

Good luck.

STeve :)
 
Just for the hell of it put a target up at 25 yds. and shoot through it. Take pics of the holes and post them if anything strange is happening
 
I run 55gr FBHP varmagedons over Winchester powder in a 20" 7 twist with a mk12 (AEM5) can. Rifle shoots them about 3/4" at 100 and I can beat a 5" steel plate up so fast it's boring at 300.

Dave , as usual, has a way of figuring out what is actually happening. I will say if the barrel or fouling isn't destroying the jacket a 1:7 will shoot 55s.
 
I have a Savage LRPV in .223 with 1:7 twist and shoot 80 gr. Bergers for 600 yd. FTR matches.
Mine shoots Hornady factory Z-Max ammo very well. The Z-Max has their 55 gr. V-max bullet loaded with a green plastic tip instead of red.
The bullet is the same. Mine also shoots the Hornady Superformance ammo very well and it has the 55 grain V-Max bullet.

So in my case, the twist isn't too fast for that bullet.

20 years ago, I had an experience with Hornady SX bullets coming apart in my Colt H-Bar with 1:7 twist. They didn't make it to a 100 yd. target.
But, there was a warning on the box to not use them in twists faster than 1:10, as the SX (super explosive) varmint bullets had very thin jackets.
I naturally had to try them and they were correct!
 
The same thing happened to me with a 26' White Oak Armament 1:7 twist and Speer 52 gr HP's. This was at a 100 yd reduced course match and talk about embarising. That barrel does handle Hornady 60 gr V-Max's and is a hammer.
 
boltman13 said:
The same thing happened to me with a 26' White Oak Armament 1:7 twist and Speer 52 gr HP's. This was at a 100 yd reduced course match and talk about embarising. That barrel does handle Hornady 60 gr V-Max's and is a hammer.
Click to expand...
twist matters! I tried to shoot some 70gr bergers in a 22-250 with a 1-14 twist and they hit the target sideways. my buddys were laughing and said they sounded like a buzz saw going in the air!
 
Anyone ever figure up the rpms your bullets are spinning? I don't see how any of them stay together.

Take for instance a bullet traveling 3000fps in a 12 twist barrel for easy math. That is 3,000 revolutions per SECOND. Isn't that 180,000 rpms?

Same load in a 7 twist yield 308,571 rpms.

7 twist barrel at 3350 fps is 344,570 rpms.

Correct me if I'm wrong.
 
Oh so youre a 5 star chef at the top of the game, so can you farm?

Just a smartassed remark about using the right bullet for your twist- sorry.
 
My son & I have used a Savage Model 12 VLP DBM .223 with a 26" 1:7 twist barrel for F/TR shooting.

Since the start we've used 80 gr Hornady A-Max projectiles in Norma cases with 24.7 gr ADI2208 (Varget) for a muzzle velocity of 2840 fps.

Shoots well out to 800 yards and out to 1000 yards in lighter winds.
Does struggle in heavier winds at 900 - 1000 yards.

Haven't tried lighter projectiles as the 80 gr have done the job for us.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Upgrades & Donations

This Forum's expenses are primarily paid by member contributions. You can upgrade your Forum membership in seconds. Gold and Silver members get unlimited FREE classifieds for one year. Gold members can upload custom avatars.


Click Upgrade Membership Button ABOVE to get Gold or Silver Status.

You can also donate any amount, large or small, with the button below. Include your Forum Name in the PayPal Notes field.


To DONATE by CHECK, or make a recurring donation, CLICK HERE to learn how.

Classified Ads

Forum statistics

Threads
165,359
Messages
2,194,135
Members
78,863
Latest member
patrickchavez

Share This Page

Back
Top