223 bullet weight for 200 yards

[IANick]

I am going to be working on a load for my 223 for a 200 yard benchrest competition. I have 55, 62, 69 and 75 grain bullets at home. Which bullet would be the best for the 200 yard line?

I will be using this out of my Savage with a 1in9 twist barrel.

Thanks for the help.

Nick

 

[Forum Boss]

Nick, I would look at the match .22 Flatbase bullets from one of the top BR bullet-makers, such as Gentner, Bart's, Brunos etc.

You'll have to test a few to see which works best in your barrel. At 200 yards, some folks are experimenting with boat-tail bullets to get a higher BC. Try the Berger 73gr Match BT. These should work in your 9-twist barrel.

 

[dreever]

My Savage likes Winchester brass, 25.0 grains of Varget, CCI 450, Berger 70 grain VLD into the lands. Been playing with the 75 VLD Berger, but the jury's still out.

Danny

 

[OldSchool]

What are the conditions you will most likely be shooting in? My first pick would definitely be one of the boutique bullets like Bart's but if your shooting in constant wind like I did in eastern Oregon then a VLD might give you the edge. 200yds. isn't that far but then again its far enough for a good breeze to sneak up on you.
Good Luck

 

[IANick]

I live in Iowa so most of the time there will be no breeze in the morning at the start of the match and a slight breeze up to about 5-7 mph in the afternoon.

I've never reloaded for match shooting before. Do I need to use boutique bullets. I was going to use the 75gr Hornady or 69gr Sierra's. Will I see a noticeable difference using one of the other bullets. Also, I use a Lee press and dies. Should I replace one or both with something better? Remember though I'm on a tight budget and if it will work I'd like to use it.

 

[OldSchool]

Well the answer to all that isn't really that easy. If your Lee press happens to be really tight then it might be accurate enough for what you are doing. If it has some slop in the ram then no boutique bullet in the world is gonna help you. Plus some lee dies actually give very little runnout so they may be ok. Your chances of getting better groups with some better equipment are a lot higher though. Even the good old RCBS Rockchucker will give competitive loads if the ram has little or no play in it. If your not running some halfway custom gear your probably not going to see as big a difference between factory and custom bullets. Many records have been broke with sierra and hornady so check out your reloading gear first then work on the loads with some good factory bullets. After that if your budget allows then play with some custom stuff. You may even find out that going semi custom with some Bergers does the trick.