55 grain in 600 FTR?

[TroyMN]

If my 75 Hornady HPBT do not group well (2690 fps BC .395) How poor of a choice is a (55 grain BC .218 @ 3150) for my .223? Are they going to group up to 600? I know the wind is going to be bad, but how bad? I also shoot a .308 with 175 SMK, I would use if very windy.
I though someone here could tell me if a .8MOA in the 75's is better choice than a .45MOA with the 55's
Thanks
Troy

 

[ChrisNZ]

Any wind at all and that 55 is gonna get murdered. If the grouping of the 75 isn't that great, reduced wind drift isn't going to save you either. A 600yd X/ centre bull isn't very big..

I'd stick with the .308 until you get the .223 sorted (or traded..)

 

[gaboon]

55 gr bullet is not going to make to 600yd. Without floating them in at the mercy of the wind.

 

[Erik Cortina]

55 gr. at 600 yards will move about 11.5 MOA in a 10 MPH crosswind. That's about the same windage as the 75 gr. at 1,000 yards. So how bad? Real bad!

 

[Cat MD]

Most ranges wont even let u use anything lighter than a 68 gr .22 @600.

 

[white121]

Try the 70 grain Bergers and you should be very happy! I have been getting 3030 fps with great accuracy. Even won a couple local matches with the f-open guys a couple years ago. Mabey find a better load for the 75s with a little more velocity

 

[people]

Is it bad? Mayby. I shot a full summer of service rifle with nothing but reloaded pulled down m-193. I did not do too bad. I was not winning matches but I was not coming in last either. When I went back to 80’s for 600 it took some getting used to but my wind reading skills were much better. You might find it better to use 68 or 69gr bullets.

The target is 6x6 foot and you really have to try to not hit it.

 

[TroyMN]

75 Hornady HPBT (2690 fps BC .395) How poor of a choice is a (55 grain BC .218 @ 3150)

Is that really slow? It is near max powder charge listed. (I know all guns have different max loads my .308 175SMK is 46.0 of RL15) I am not too concerned about max velocities, just looking for an OK (.5MOA)load quickly. This is a bone stock Savage 11-vt, no nothing done to it nothing going to be. Just I would prefer a load to work out to 600 not just 350...,
I was happy with the stock $450 gun--test groups below

 

[white121]

I was using 25.8 grains of varget to achieve 3030 with the 70 gr Bergers and I believe ( without load Data in front of me but I got 2900 ( not a very hot load) out of the 75grain amaxes with reloader 15 in my 24 inch 1 in 9 twist factory Remington 5r mil spec

 

[Erud]

Is it bad? Mayby. I shot a full summer of service rifle with nothing but reloaded pulled down m-193. I did not do too bad. I was not winning matches but I was not coming in last either. When I went back to 80’s for 600 it took some getting used to but my wind reading skills were much better. You might find it better to use 68 or 69gr bullets.

The target is 6x6 foot and you really have to try to not hit it.

The target may be 6'x6', but the part you want to hit is the 12" circle in the middle. Not many competitors are satisfied just to be somewhere on the paper square.

 

[people]

Is it bad? Mayby. I shot a full summer of service rifle with nothing but reloaded pulled down m-193. I did not do too bad. I was not winning matches but I was not coming in last either. When I went back to 80’s for 600 it took some getting used to but my wind reading skills were much better. You might find it better to use 68 or 69gr bullets.

The target is 6x6 foot and you really have to try to not hit it.

The target may be 6'x6', but the part you want to hit is the 12" circle in the middle. Not many competitors are satisfied just to be somewhere on the paper square.

The extra is for missed wind calls. If you drive it is not that bad.

 

[effendude]

For review, the X ring is .5MOA or 3" at 600 yards, the 10 ring is 12". Can you send the 55's 600 yard? Yes, you can. Are you wasting your time? Yes you are. BTW, ERSC requires 69 grains or heavier for 600 yards.

Troy, are those groups at 100 or 350? It looks like you need more tuning, either way.
Scott

 

[TroyMN]

Thanks for the feedback. I forgot I posted this in the competition forum. I did that because I know you all shoot 223 at over 500 yards. This gun will probably not see any FTR shooting. It is just going to be a fun minimum maintenance rifle. Just load and go, plus it turns out to be cheaper than the .308 to shoot.

I am using CFE223 in this gun, that stuff meters GREAT. I am used to reloading with Varget and RL15. Tried Win760 also but that CFE223 seem to drop perfect each time. What other powders are in the same class as that if any.

 

[Turbulent Turtle]

For review, the X ring is .5MOA or 3" at 600 yards, the 10 ring is 12". Can you send the 55's 600 yard? Yes, you can. Are you wasting your time? Yes you are. BTW, ERSC requires 69 grains or heavier for 600 yards.

Troy, are those groups at 100 or 350? It looks like you need more tuning, either way.
Scott

I'm not sure which target you are using but the MR1-FC target has a 6 inch diameter 10-ring.

Since the OP is using a bolt gun, I would suggest he go straight to the 80grain bullet and not even consider anything else for F-class competition. I have sent multiple thousands 80grainers from 300 to 1000 yards out of my AR-15 F-TR rifle. I get about 2825fps with 25.5gr of Varget out of that 26 inch barrel. I moved to a .308 some years back, but there are still some people at the club who shoot .228 80-grainers at all distances and do quite well with them.

It's only when the wind is really bad at 1000 yards that the 80grainers can't stay with the .308s, apart from those conditions, they can do well. So 600 yards is not a big problem with them.

I do agree that shooting 55gr at 600 yards is simply a waste of time and components, and an exercise is frustration. You will learn nothing about wind calls doing that because the deflections are going to be so dramatic and unpredictable.