.223 90 Gr for 1000 yard

[NateG]

good luck and don,t give up on 223

Too late. At least for LR and the .223. I still shoot it at mid range (600 yards and less with 80-class and lighter bullets) where some of my best scores have come with a .223 bolt gun. But for LR and the Palma class, I found it was much easier to handle the recoil of the 308 (including the 200gr Hybrids) than to get (and keep) the 90s shooting well. There's still a huge upside for 90s and the .223, of course, but that's more work and greater likelihood of the gun/load deciding not to shoot at a big match.

I got burned by the 90s shooting well at home (including 1000 yards), then not holding elevation at all when I got to Nationals one year.

 

[Matt Pitchon]

My experience with the 223 and heavy bullets reflects those of others. It is difficult to tune and remain consistent. The VLDs are particularly sensitive to seating depth and powders. This is especially true near max loads and velocities.

Distance to lands is affected by throat erosion and it doesn't take much to change things. At max loads, throat erosion is a fact of life. Barrel nitriding has reduced throat erosion in my rifle significantly. The distance to lands has changed in thousands of rounds.

I have also found a powder that seems to give good velocity and is consistent.

Getting 223 heavy VLDs to shoot at competitive velocities and accurately is challenging.

 

[FroggyOne2]

In the current rifle that I am shooting, I am soft seating the bullets, I have not changed the seating depth since the beginning of this rifle and it now has a lil over 1700 rounds on the tube and is still hammering good. Don't mean that won't crap out on me here and the near future, might do it. I only bought 2200 bullets for this rifle and when they are gone, I will pull the bbl, whether it is still shooting good or not.

 

[flatlander]

Randy,
I've shot a few loads with PP2000MR in my 223, but not enough to have an opinion on how well it might do as compared to N550. Bought an 8lb jug of the stuff, so do have a stake in getting the testing done.

N550 has its faults, including temp sensitivity, but I don't believe it's any worse than any other double based powders. It's tedious to load it to within .02gr weight variation, and I don't enjoy paying through the nose to get the Viht powders. As it stands right now, however, I've yet to find anything that will shoot with N550 in the 223 with 90s , not only in respect to velocity, but also accuracy.

 

[jscandale]

Dennis,

What kind of velocity and reaction to the case are you experiencing with N550? I remember trying some several years ago and remembering it being a bit on the slow side, but like I said, it's been a long time. I think if and when I fool with the 90s again, I'll again try 550.

JS

 

[FroggyOne2]

Well shot a Fullbore match today, the elevation on the load is more disperse than the RL15 load, but how it acts in the wind is much better. Ended up finishing with a 444-20X for the match, shot at 8,9 & 1000 yards. I will have to work on it some more, but I will wait till I get the new bbl's from Mike Rock. I am going to try it with moly'd bullets, even in the 22BR when it is up and running. The load is deff pushing the bullet 150 fps faster than the RL15 powder!

 

[flatlander]

John,
I'm getting 2930-2945fps with a very warm load of N550, R7-1/2, & moly'd Berger 90VLDs seated .015" into the lands. Using new WW brass, weight sorted after prep; loading cases in the 93-93.5gr range. Would definitely not go any hotter with N550, based on casehead appearance. Primers don't look excessively flat, but I am seeing a few shiny spots on some caseheads on 90*F days.

Loaded some PP2000MR test loads in neck turned LC brass yesterday; went with Wolf SRM primers on these, and am looking forward to seeing what they'll do over the chrono, as well as what sort of vertical I get at 600 with the 2000 powder. Tough time of the year to find the time to do any shooting, much less careful testing, but will see what happens over the course of this week.

 

[FroggyOne2]

Dennis,

I for one will be looking forward to what results you get with the 2000MR. As it stands right now, my Lapua brass is holding it's own with the loads. But I am putting some serious thought in trying LC brass. The lot of 300 cases that I have right now is a full grain lighter than the Lapua brass that I have right now.

 

[FroggyOne2]

Well yesterday, with tricky switchy winds that were in a steady increasing speeds as the day progressed, using the RL15 load (left over ammo from Perry) and the rifle now has 2000 rounds on it. Shot a 199-9X, 194-8X & a 192-4X, by the time that the last match was shot, the flags were moving from right to left and back so fast that it was truly hard to stay ahead of the wind. I have never yet shot a 200 clean at 1K and came close yesterday again, this time with the 223, but alas, it was not to be. The range faces more east than south east, which makes it hard to see the targets in the morning as the sun rises. By the time that last shot was made, my eyes were so tired from trying to see the target with my irons sights. After I made that last shot, I told Larry, whom was scoring me, that I couldn't even find the bull. It came up a 9 at 2 about 2 inches out. I have to say that I have been very pleased with this rifle this year and the way it has performed. Today will be the last time this year that I will be shooting it with this bbl on it. As soon as the new bbl arrives, it will be going to Randy Gregory for the new bbl to be put on. It will be interesting to know what the bbl looks like after he takes it off.