.223 Heavy Bullets.
- Thread starter nmkid
- Start date
Out of curiosity, what are your plans for shooting this thing? Longer range? Barrel length? Optic? Off of a rest, bi-pod, on your feet?
Since I have a 223AI boltgun with a 7 twist 27.5", I have a pile of heavier Berger's (75 VLD, 80 VLD, 80.5 Fullbore, and 82 BTHP) but never played with them in my AR's.
I do use 70 VLD, 73 BTHP, 75 BTHP (Hornady), and 77 SMK in my AR's. All of mine are 7 twist in 11.5", 16", 18", and 20". With the exception of the 70 VLD, I load to 2.260" and use XBR, Varget, or Re15 pretty warm. Over many boxes of bullets the Berger 73 and 77 SMK would be the stars at 2.260" magazine length. The three mentioned powders all perform well but use more Varget and Re15 than XBR.
Since I have a 223AI boltgun with a 7 twist 27.5", I have a pile of heavier Berger's (75 VLD, 80 VLD, 80.5 Fullbore, and 82 BTHP) but never played with them in my AR's.
I do use 70 VLD, 73 BTHP, 75 BTHP (Hornady), and 77 SMK in my AR's. All of mine are 7 twist in 11.5", 16", 18", and 20". With the exception of the 70 VLD, I load to 2.260" and use XBR, Varget, or Re15 pretty warm. Over many boxes of bullets the Berger 73 and 77 SMK would be the stars at 2.260" magazine length. The three mentioned powders all perform well but use more Varget and Re15 than XBR.
RegionRat
Gold $$ Contributor
From the magazine but how far?
If you don't need to buck wind at 300 yards, you should be looking at lighter (cheaper) bullets. However, if you want to be able to try those distances past 300 while from the magazine, then I would recommend the 77s. They cost more than the lighter bullets, so much so that is worth mentioning.
As far as magazine lengths, the 77 from all companies will do fine. You have to be a pretty good shot to show me the difference between brands of 77s as they can all shoot a clean SR target high X count at 300.
The TMK 77 is a little different and worth mentioning since it can be magazine loaded and the BC is hard to ignore. The BC of this bullet sits closer to the SMK 80 than to the 77 SMK, so that is worth a try.
If you want the easy button, try 77 TMK, 23 plus or minus of Varget tuned for your rig, REM 7.5 Primer, LC brass or equivalent.
I will warn you now, that 556 pressure behind a 77 will make a short life for your brass. It is general practice to inspect or toss after 4 cycles at 556 pressure.
Life can be short, have fun. YMMV
If you don't need to buck wind at 300 yards, you should be looking at lighter (cheaper) bullets. However, if you want to be able to try those distances past 300 while from the magazine, then I would recommend the 77s. They cost more than the lighter bullets, so much so that is worth mentioning.
As far as magazine lengths, the 77 from all companies will do fine. You have to be a pretty good shot to show me the difference between brands of 77s as they can all shoot a clean SR target high X count at 300.
The TMK 77 is a little different and worth mentioning since it can be magazine loaded and the BC is hard to ignore. The BC of this bullet sits closer to the SMK 80 than to the 77 SMK, so that is worth a try.
If you want the easy button, try 77 TMK, 23 plus or minus of Varget tuned for your rig, REM 7.5 Primer, LC brass or equivalent.
I will warn you now, that 556 pressure behind a 77 will make a short life for your brass. It is general practice to inspect or toss after 4 cycles at 556 pressure.
Life can be short, have fun. YMMV
nmkid
Gold $$ Contributor
I will have a 24" barrel coming. No competitive shooting, unless my grandson shows up and I have to show him the old man can still do it. LOL. I have about 2K pcs. of LC brass, so no worries about longevity. I will try the 77 TMK. What about the Hornady 75 gr ELD? I have several boxes from another rifle. As you guys have mentioned, so many choices.
RegionRat
Gold $$ Contributor
Like already said by JB10, bullets with a long length will not fit in the standard magazines.
In your loading manuals, you can tell which of those heavier bullets fit since they will list them at a COAL of 2.260 or less. When they don't, it is usually cause those bullets are too long.
A 24" with 8 twist is a longer barrel than a Service Rifle (20"), so you will pick up speed.
It may be a little nose heavy for offhand (depending on the section) unless you ballast the stock.
It will certainly put a smile on your face when dialed in with the 77 weight bullets.
I have a 1/8 twist tikka super varmint & it shoots the 53 v max very well haven’t chronographed it yet using x terminator powder . Forget how many grains at this time. I know I can shoot heavier bullets but got a 22 creedmoor for that .
Take a look at the 69 grain smk . Very good bullet and will get you out there. Hornaday is supposed to have a 62 grain bullet now might be good take a look at .
I would be interested in your xterminator weight load. I just recently started loading for my ar with the 55 Hornady sp bullets with 23.3 grains. They shoot great but haven’t ran them over a chrono yet.
I do 24.5 grains but this is in a bolt action rifle. Start at 23 and work up .
If I can make the Magneto Sporter work on the AR I’ll let you know what this load is. If is doing 3000 or so I’ll be satisfied to be easy on the brass.
Ned Ludd
Silver $$ Contributor
I will second the suggestion of buying a 7-twist barrel. That would allow you to shoot pretty much any heavy .224" lead core bullet made. An 8-twist barrel is really set up better for what I would consider "mid-weight" bullets; i.e. 75 gr or less. Even the 75 ELDMs are a bit too long for an 8-twist barrel and will be giving up BC unnecessarily.
As has been noted by others, one problem with running heavies in .223 Rem shows up when trying to feed them from a magazine. If you ever pull a commercial 77 gr round, or just hold a 77 Matchking bullet up next to one, you will see that the base of the bullet (boattail) is seated well below the case neck/shoulder junction. Otherwise, it would not fit/feed from a typical .223 Rem magazine. Even some 75 gr bullets suffer from the same issue, especially those with ballistic tips. However, there are magazines made by certain manufacturers that will accomodate and feed much longer .223 Rem rounds with heavies. I cannot tell you off the top of my head exactly who makes them, but they are out there. It may be worth your time to look for a magazine that is compatible both with much longer loaded .223 Rem rounds and your specific rifle setup. Then you could determine exactly what bullet weight/length you could reliably load for the rifle and have a 7-twist barrel chambered with appropriate freebore for it.
jelenko
Gold $$ Contributor
ASC and PRI make magazines with internal dimensions longer than 2.260.
The PRI ones I've got measure just at 2.3. The ASC ones seem to have some number that have what looks like a faulty weld that causes an edge to protrude a bit reducing the max COAL to something under 2.29.
There is another supplier that cuts out the front of the mag so the max COAL is determined by the inside of the mag well.
The PRI ones I've got measure just at 2.3. The ASC ones seem to have some number that have what looks like a faulty weld that causes an edge to protrude a bit reducing the max COAL to something under 2.29.
There is another supplier that cuts out the front of the mag so the max COAL is determined by the inside of the mag well.
Bat Rastard
Gold $$ Contributor
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