223 Savage
- Thread starter MarkS
- Start date
well, that depends. all barrels are different. I had a 20" 9"twist barrel on one of my AR-15s. That barrel would stabalize the 75 grain Hornady hollow point out to 200 yards. Now after 200 yards I don't know if it was still stable--I didn't shoot it past 200. I guess try it and find out. I would be willing to bet that your barrel will stabalize it out to 400 yards then it will start to wobble after that.
Mark,
the 1-9" twist should just cope with the 75gn A-Max. You can't use anything much longer and that rules the 80gn bullets out. You might just get away with the 77gn Sierra MatchKing and similar, but most 9" twist rifles I've come across don't work with them.
TAC should do well with the 75gn A-Max. Most people use H4895, Varget, or Reloder 15 that all give good results in .223 Rem with this bullet, and can produce very good velocities, especially Varget. I've also had good accuracy and very high MVs with AA-2520 with this bullet, but it produces very hard case-neck fouling that is difficult to shift.
Incidentally, Savage factory barrels often need 200 rounds through them before they really perform, so don't be too worried if early groups aren't as small as you hoped.
Regards,
Laurie,
York, England
the 1-9" twist should just cope with the 75gn A-Max. You can't use anything much longer and that rules the 80gn bullets out. You might just get away with the 77gn Sierra MatchKing and similar, but most 9" twist rifles I've come across don't work with them.
TAC should do well with the 75gn A-Max. Most people use H4895, Varget, or Reloder 15 that all give good results in .223 Rem with this bullet, and can produce very good velocities, especially Varget. I've also had good accuracy and very high MVs with AA-2520 with this bullet, but it produces very hard case-neck fouling that is difficult to shift.
Incidentally, Savage factory barrels often need 200 rounds through them before they really perform, so don't be too worried if early groups aren't as small as you hoped.
Regards,
Laurie,
York, England
k80skeet
Silver $$ Contributor
I have a Savage LRPV in 223 1 in 9 twist. The best load I have found is a 69 gr Sierra Match king with 25.0 grs of Winchester 748 powder Federal 205M match primer with the bullet just touching the lands. It doesn't make much difference if you use Remington Winchester or Lapua Brass they all work great. Another load that is almost as good is 73gr Berger bullet 24.0 Winchester 748 Federal 205M bullet just touching the lands. Both of these shoot in the sub .2's That should please everybody except the top bench rest crowd and they won't be shooting a Savage or a 223.
All of my 9 twist barrels, 223 Rem. (Bushmaster, Shilen & Harts) have always consistantly performed best with the ever reliable 69 gr. Sierra HPBT #1380. Varget has also been the first powder of choice. Primers and brass ( Lapua vs Winchester) does not seem to matter. Seated to touch or .020" of jump also not critical. 
I've got a Mdl 12 stainless varmint in 223 with a 1-9TW. My rifle will stabilize the 75gr Amax, it just won't shoot it for spit. It will shoot the 69gr MK inside of 1" just nothing to brag about. Now with 55's it really shines and on down to 40's. Interesting thing about this rifle is that the best load out of it is a 40 gr vmax with 12grs of Bluedot at 100yds, sub 1/2". As the weight of the bullets rise so do the group sizes.
Mark,
My M12 in 223 9-twist liked the 75VLD Berger and 77SMK with Re15; the 80SMK with Varget. Each rifle has it's own preferences, common wisdom says no 80s in a 9 twist but I'm glad I tried them. The Sierra is the shortest 80 which may be why it works; longer 80s like the VLD and A-Max didn't work as well. The 80SMK is available in 50 packs if you just want to check whether they work or not.
My M12 in 223 9-twist liked the 75VLD Berger and 77SMK with Re15; the 80SMK with Varget. Each rifle has it's own preferences, common wisdom says no 80s in a 9 twist but I'm glad I tried them. The Sierra is the shortest 80 which may be why it works; longer 80s like the VLD and A-Max didn't work as well. The 80SMK is available in 50 packs if you just want to check whether they work or not.
Quite a few fellows at range shooting 223 1/9 twist Savages, Rem,Tika and a Sako and a few customs with 1/7 twist, almost all tried the A-max and none shoot them now, The ones shooting 1" and under at 300y all use Bergers or Sierra's
Hornadys to many flyers red Tips ?
75gr Berger VLD you have the powders RL15 will give you a little more speed than Varget and so wil VT 540
Hornadys to many flyers red Tips ?
75gr Berger VLD you have the powders RL15 will give you a little more speed than Varget and so wil VT 540
I use the Hornady 75 and 80 grain AMAX in different rifles, the 75's work in one of my Sav. 112BT with 1-9" but doesn't seem to pop out of my 12FV as nice......I even run the 80's in my 1-7" twist Kierger out to 1K.
Hello Mark....
I know this might be a bit late in the posting, but I just finished load developed on a Model 12 .223 using RL 15 and TAC. I started with 69 grain Hornady BTHP and then the 75 grain Hornady BTHPs. WOW!!!!! Huge difference! The 75 grain bullet rocks! I also moly coated my bullets. With TAC (24.7 grains / RP Primer) I'm getting 2925 vel average. With RL 15 (24.7 grains / RP Primer) I'm getting 2875 Vel average. Both loads are awesome at 500 yards on a 7 inch metal swinger. I moved it to 300 yards and the RL15 seems to shine, but not by much. Same swinger size, but used a 2.5 inch bullseye. I went 25 in a row inside a 4 inch cirlce on the 300 yard swinger.
I only shoot from the prone off a Bipod since that's how I shoot for F (T/R) Class. Push it to it's limit! It's crazy what those little Savage's can do!
Ken
I know this might be a bit late in the posting, but I just finished load developed on a Model 12 .223 using RL 15 and TAC. I started with 69 grain Hornady BTHP and then the 75 grain Hornady BTHPs. WOW!!!!! Huge difference! The 75 grain bullet rocks! I also moly coated my bullets. With TAC (24.7 grains / RP Primer) I'm getting 2925 vel average. With RL 15 (24.7 grains / RP Primer) I'm getting 2875 Vel average. Both loads are awesome at 500 yards on a 7 inch metal swinger. I moved it to 300 yards and the RL15 seems to shine, but not by much. Same swinger size, but used a 2.5 inch bullseye. I went 25 in a row inside a 4 inch cirlce on the 300 yard swinger.
I only shoot from the prone off a Bipod since that's how I shoot for F (T/R) Class. Push it to it's limit! It's crazy what those little Savage's can do!
Ken
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.
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.