Best 223 bullet for 1:8 twist
- Thread starter Matt_3479
- Start date
80 grain sierra. 23.2-23.4 grains of 8208 and 24.0-24.5 grains of n140 are standard high power loads.
Ned Ludd
Silver $$ Contributor
I think your first step will be to find out how much freebore the rifle has, if you don't already know. That information combined with the 8.0-twist barrel will give you a very good idea of what the maximum bullet weight (length) your are likely to be able to load optimally. Chances are good 80-80.5 gr bullets will be the upper limit, but they might be a bit too long for your chamber and attempting to seat bullets in the 80 gr range to mag length is probably not the best approach. Having to seat a long bullet way deep in the case because the rifle has a very short freebore is not the best way to go for a number of reasons, even if the barrel twist rate is sufficient to stabilize that long bullet. So you may want to consider both pieces of information to narrow down the possible choices.
Chances are good that anything in the 70-77 gr weight range will work well with the chamber as well as the twist rate. That gives you a lot of options. Berger has a number of good choices ranging from 70 to 77 gr. There's always the 77 SMK, the 75 ELDM as you mentioned, or several other choices that would work equally well. If necessary, you could even try bullets in the 60, or 50 gr weight range. Your 8-twist barrel is not so fast a twist rate so as to preclude the use of bullets less than 70 gr in weight. 8208 should work very well with any of those bullets; it's a very good powder. So you really have almost too many options to list. Are there any other specifics about the shooting you intend to do most often (i.e. intended use)? Will this rifle be used primarily for plinking/target shooting/hunting/etc.? What is the maximum range you estimate you will regularly shoot it? Answers to these kind of questions might might facilitate the best suggestions/choices.
Chances are good that anything in the 70-77 gr weight range will work well with the chamber as well as the twist rate. That gives you a lot of options. Berger has a number of good choices ranging from 70 to 77 gr. There's always the 77 SMK, the 75 ELDM as you mentioned, or several other choices that would work equally well. If necessary, you could even try bullets in the 60, or 50 gr weight range. Your 8-twist barrel is not so fast a twist rate so as to preclude the use of bullets less than 70 gr in weight. 8208 should work very well with any of those bullets; it's a very good powder. So you really have almost too many options to list. Are there any other specifics about the shooting you intend to do most often (i.e. intended use)? Will this rifle be used primarily for plinking/target shooting/hunting/etc.? What is the maximum range you estimate you will regularly shoot it? Answers to these kind of questions might might facilitate the best suggestions/choices.
thank you. Unfortunately I do not know the free bore, might just have to buy a heavier bullet and see where it touches the lands to determine. I contacted the guy who had it chambered and he doesn’t know either so I’ll contact the smith.
This rifle’s intended purpose is target. I’m having a second barrel spun up for my main coyote rifle (20 tactical) but this particular barrel is 95% target only. Just to practice fundamentals at a cheaper cost basically! It may take a coyote or too but at 24” mtu I don’t want to be dragging it hunting.
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I have 2 Tikka's, 223 Rems with 8" twist. Both shoot the 60 Vmax's under 1/2 moa with H4895.
Most of my experience with the 223 Rems is with 12" twist rifles using 50 and 55 grain bullets. When I began shooting the 8" twist I discovered, at least in my rifles, that I had to lower the powder charge about a grain from my 12" twist rifle loads to get the 8" twist rifles to shoot decent groups with 55 grain bullets.
Since I'm a varmint and predator hunter. I prefer the lighter bullets especially since I use "hold over" to compensate for distance adjustments. The flatter the trajectory the better for me at the distances I typically shoot, i.e. out to about 275 yards.
Most of my experience with the 223 Rems is with 12" twist rifles using 50 and 55 grain bullets. When I began shooting the 8" twist I discovered, at least in my rifles, that I had to lower the powder charge about a grain from my 12" twist rifle loads to get the 8" twist rifles to shoot decent groups with 55 grain bullets.
Since I'm a varmint and predator hunter. I prefer the lighter bullets especially since I use "hold over" to compensate for distance adjustments. The flatter the trajectory the better for me at the distances I typically shoot, i.e. out to about 275 yards.
77 SMK has worked great in my RRA Wylde Chamber, will try ELDM
For your intended purpose 69 or 77 Sierra MK. Load at mag length. They are jump tolerant. As I recall, 23.2 8208 is a known good load.
For magazines, Sierra 69 or 77 grain MatchKings and 73 or 77 grain Bergers. These are all jump tolerant. If loading for a bolt action the world is your oyster.
Ned Ludd
Silver $$ Contributor
In that case, if you intend to shoot past 300 yards or so, a heavier bullet with a higher BC will work in your favor, as long as the rifle has sufficient freebore to accommodate it. I have loaded heavy .224" bullets for F-TR competition rifles for years (i.e. 80.5 to 90 gr). However, those rifles were all chambered with sufficient freebore for the very long bullets, and in F-Class we single-feed rounds, so loading to mag length is not a consideration.
I only recently started loading .224" bullets of lesser weight (77 gr) for a .223 Rem practice rifle that has effectively zero freebore. In the process of doing this, I have pulled a few rounds loaded with 77 gr Sierra Matchkings, just to have them around for chamber/land measurement purposes. I was quite surprised at how deep in the case the 77 SMKs are seated in commercial ammo. The bullet boattail/bearing surface junction is actually seated down around the middle of the shoulder. They really are way down in there. The practice rifle I have with zero freebore shoots the 77 SMKs very well, so obviously having bullets seated that deep is not necessarily a deal-breaker, but will likely complicate the reloading process over time in terms of brass prep, seating depth, and possibly precision. The bullet I have recently been working with is Nosler's new 77 gr RDF bullet. It is a very different animal from the 77 SMK. I primarily wanted to find out whether the manufacturer's extraordinarily high reported BC for this bullet was accurate (it is), but also to work up a load with a bullet shorter than the 80 to 90 gr bullets I ordinarily shoot because of the extremely short freebore of this practice rifle. Initially, the results with the 77 RDF look pretty decent, but I have not finished the load workup yet. In any event, it may be one to add to your list, simply because the BC is so much higher than any other .224" bullets in the 70-77 gr weight class. If the precision I have seen so far holds up, this bullet will represent a real gamer-changer in .224 bullets of this weight class. Nosler also offers a 70 gr RDF bullet with a reported BC that is extraordinarily high. Given my results with the 77 RDF, I have no reason to believe their reported BC for that bullet is over-inflated, either.
The bottom line is that light .224" bullets suffer much more in windy conditions. Yes, you can certainly shoot them out to 500-600 yds, or even farther. However, they don't work anything like as well as the 80-90 gr bullets at those distances when the wind picks up. So my line of thinking for the purpose of target shooting with the .223 Rem has always been to choose the heaviest, highest BC .224" bullet that can be loaded optimally for your rifle (i.e. barrel twist rate and chamber freebore length). Of course, high BC matters little if a particular bullet doesn't group well (i.e. poor precision), so BC alone is not the whole story. Fortunately, you have available to you a very wide selection of .224" bullets in the 69-77 gr range that have proven performance. In your shoes, I'd probably pick one or two, buy a box of each, and then simply test them to see if one looks better than the other. I doubt you'll go wrong choosing any of the suggestions that have been made so far. The good news is that once you've gotten started and worked up a load with one, you can always buy a box of something else down the road and give it a try if you like to tinker with load development and are always on the lookout for something better, as many of us are. Best of luck with it.
thank you everyone! I was looking for the biggest bc I could find under 80 and that’s how I stumbled across the 75gr eldm. I will buy a box of the eldm, 77 match kings and start there I guess. Just want to get the most out of tbis rifle as possible.
Your best course of action would be to buy some 5 round packs of different bullets to try out and perform a hard jam test to determine your bullet seating depth. Different bullets have much different profiles, and you won't know what fits best without first seating them into the lands. What free bore the barrel started out is not what it will be if it's well used. You'll need to determine that for yourself.
Pick the bullet weight best for the type of target shooting you'll be doing. I found Lapua 69 gn Scenar L to be very accurate loaded over varget, averaging in the low .2's. Interestingly, the 53 gn V-Max is also very accurate, and not expensive.
Pick the bullet weight best for the type of target shooting you'll be doing. I found Lapua 69 gn Scenar L to be very accurate loaded over varget, averaging in the low .2's. Interestingly, the 53 gn V-Max is also very accurate, and not expensive.
searcher
Gold $$ Contributor
Don't know how far your targets will be - but any target bullet from 52 to 80 grains will perform. If work will be 300 and under yards - I'd focus on the middle of this range. That 8208 works well with the lightest to medium heavy in my experience. I'd probably start with the Berger 73, though the 52 Bergers can be pretty wicked at 100 and shoot well with my 1-8's. There are also some really nice custom bullets out there in this range if you find the "shelf" bullets lacking in your rig.
I’d say 90% of my shooting will be done from 300 and less on this rig. Positional practice, trigger control, ans basic fundamentals. Occasionally will be taken to 600 and in but last that will be super slim!
buddy has 70gr rdf’s I’m going try, see what else I can get my hands on. Have 5 pounds of 8208 I’ll be starting with since it’s my go too powder in the 20 tac
buddy has 70gr rdf’s I’m going try, see what else I can get my hands on. Have 5 pounds of 8208 I’ll be starting with since it’s my go too powder in the 20 tac
1-8 twist
69gr matchking bullets @ 200-300yrd.
Remington benchrest primer
IMR 8208
gives me excellent accuracy but thats in a gas gun
There is an easy mathematical formula
You measure bullet length, dia ,weight
+,×,÷..and poof you have the optimum barrel twist for that specific bullet.
Once i learned this method i stop running in circles..i know if a bullet will work good or not with a specific barrel twist.
The math doesnt lie...ever
69gr matchking bullets @ 200-300yrd.
Remington benchrest primer
IMR 8208
gives me excellent accuracy but thats in a gas gun
There is an easy mathematical formula
You measure bullet length, dia ,weight
+,×,÷..and poof you have the optimum barrel twist for that specific bullet.
Once i learned this method i stop running in circles..i know if a bullet will work good or not with a specific barrel twist.
The math doesnt lie...ever
Savagenut71
Silver $$ Contributor
Berger 73 or Hornady 75bthp
Hornady has changed their min recommended twist rate for the 75gr ELD-M from 1:8 to 1:7. Last lot I purchased were all marked 1:7 on the box.
AB Quantum SG calculator comes out with marginally stable in 1:8 at 2700fps.
Not saying they won't shoot but.......
AB Quantum SG calculator comes out with marginally stable in 1:8 at 2700fps.
Not saying they won't shoot but.......
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