223 FTR Barrel Length

[Larry70]

I have done the something as you on brass prep I think a lot of my ES is caused by inconsistency in neck tension, I have noticed with new brass my neck tension is pretty good , I anneal my brass after every firing it seems after several annealing the brass changes it’s really not a big deal for me at 300/600 yards . Just something to think about .

 

[calgarycanada]

Just wondering if you guys have any more updates about 88 eldms?

 

[Ned Ludd]

They need a very long freebore (0.220"+++). They have a relatively thin/weak jacket like many Hornbady bullets, so a 0.219" bore and no faster than a 7-twist barrel would be strongly recommended. They have an outstanding BC, much higher in my hands than the reported "box" value. They are very, very consistent dimensionally (at least the two Lot #s I have are). They can be loaded with very good precision (i.e. uniform groups, without a high percentage of "unexplained" outliers). I think that about covers the 88s. They and/or the 90 A-tips are most definitely worth a try if you have a barrel set up with a stupidly long freebore and a 0.219" bore.

 

[APGE]

Just wondering if you guys have any more updates about 88 eldms?

I shot a further 300-400 of them without incident in a 7 twist, 32" 0.219" bore barrel. While they we a brilliant performer, I found the fussy/finicky nature of the 223 to outweigh the benefit of the cartridge for TR shooting (namely low recoil). I went a back to the 308 which is much more forgiving of one's reloading practices.