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BEST FACTORY .223 VARMINT AMMO?

searcher

Gold $$ Contributor
I have a friend who has a 1-8" twist .223 rifle and he is asking who makes the most accurate varmint (for ground squirrels, mainly) ammo he can buy. He won't ever get into reloading - so I could only guess, not having bought any varmint ammo in 30+ years. I advised something like Hornady 53 V-Max Superformance load, maybe some of the newer 60+ grain offerings. For those of you who buy factory ammo- what have you found to be very accurate in your rifles?
 
I have some OLD Black Hills 68g BTHP ammo that my Savage 7T loves, MV is around 2800 and prints good groups out to 200 yds. Ammo is close to 30 yrs old, but always stored inside the house. Haven't tried any newer stuff, but I was able to match the accuracy of the Black Hills ammo with the Hornady 68g BTHP and IMR 4064.
 
The Fiocchi field line features 40,50,55g Vmax The 40 has been exceptional in our Savage 9 twist
the 50 has worked for me to get a Lot of PD's Box says 3300 on the 50 and it is really 3200 same with the 40 about 100 less but man that 40 gets the job done for factory stuff I have shot some of the Superformance 53 and while fast it was just average on accuracy nothing special
I will look I may have a case or two if you can't find any
 
What is the best ammo for his rifle might not be the same as what is in another's rifle. So he would have to try various 223 ammo to see what his likes best.
How ever the Hornady 53 Vmax or the new Sierra Prairie ammunition would be good one's to try and they might do very well, in his rifle, for what he wants.
 
dusterdave173 said:
The Fiocchi field line features 40,50,55g Vmax The 40 has been exceptional in our Savage 9 twist
the 50 has worked for me to get a Lot of PD's Box says 3300 on the 50 and it is really 3200 same with the 40 about 100 less but man that 40 gets the job done for factory stuff I have shot some of the Superformance 53 and while fast it was just average on accuracy nothing special
I will look I may have a case or two if you can't find any
Click to expand...
A fellow shooter and prairie dog hunter swears by Fiocchi ammo.
 
CSL grandpa said:
Sierra Prairie Enemy 55 gr. Is very good, not Legal in ca., Black Hills 50 VMax used to be good and cheap many years ago.
Click to expand...
Sorry , I have to ask... Why is it not legal in CA...???? Is it some nonsense like too deadly a bullet like the old black talon rounds or something..????
 
Bill K said:
What is the best ammo for his rifle might not be the same as what is in another's rifle. So he would have to try various 223 ammo to see what his likes best.
How ever the Hornady 53 Vmax or the new Sierra Prairie ammunition would be good one's to try and they might do very well, in his rifle, for what he wants.
Click to expand...
Yes - that is the point of this exercise - trying to find out which ones tend to shoot best in most rifles, in order to give him a list of what "might" work best. Kind of like CCI versus Hornady rimfire ammo in .17 HMR's. The Hornady seems to shoot best in most cases.
 
CSL grandpa said:
Rsadams only unleaded allowed in ca. which was passed with statements of condors being harmed from eating squirrels that had been shot with lead bullets, No Study to confirm this.
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Yes - where we tend to shoot in California, the lead-free is "supposed" to help the condors - of which I have never seen one in my life where we shoot (or anywhere in the wild for that matter...). Anyway - the shooting for this fellow will be done in Oregon. The Hornady NTX line is another I offered up to him for California shooting.
 
Rsadams said:
Sorry , I have to ask... Why is it not legal in CA...???? Is it some nonsense like too deadly a bullet like the old black talon rounds or something..????
Click to expand...
Here in California, anything that sounds menacing or looks menacing is deemed "evil". Seems the average citizen here knows nothing about what is real, versus what is hype from the anti-gun segment. It makes it just too easy to get something banned. If anything can stand out as a potential target to get banned - it will happen. While we only have a 20% gun owner population, that really is a large amount of shooters, even relative to states with high gun ownership. It makes it pretty tough on us shooters, for sure. I can only guess that if it can't be sold here, it was because it had the word "enemy" in the name. Ha!
 
Not legal in California for non-game and game hunting but you can plink/target shoot with it, if you want to play with it in your rifle.
CSL grandpa said:
Sierra Prairie Enemy 55 gr. Is very good, not Legal in ca., Black Hills 50 VMax used to be good and cheap many years ago.
Click to expand...
 
Our commie F&W
Rsadams said:
Sorry , I have to ask... Why is it not legal in CA...???? Is it some nonsense like too deadly a bullet like the old black talon rounds or something..????
Click to expand...
dept has outlawed lead ammo for use on non-game or big game animals/varmints to save the Condors. So for any animal varmint or game we must use non-lead bullets.
 
I bought 200 rds of AAC that they said was loaded with 55gr Vmaxes. I didn't buy it for anything serious. But I took it to the bench in a Remington 783 with a 2x10 scope and tried 5 rounds. Just to see what I had. This is a picture of that 5 shots. I also tried some 55gr AAC that had a black polymer tip. It shot good, but it did not have that explosive expansion I expect out of a varmint bullet. They also have ammunition loaded with 77gr SMK, 70gr Barnes TSX, and 69 gr SMK

Oh, I forgot to mention, when on sale, it's about $10. That's the good news, the bad it is that it sells out awfully quick when on sale.
783 Group Resized.jpg
 
Bill K said:
Our commie F&W

dept has outlawed lead ammo for use on non-game or big game animals/varmints to save the Condors. So for any animal varmint or game we must use non-lead bullets.
Click to expand...
Ohhhh ok sorry I knew cali had lead laws.... I had to ask because some of the stuff states come up with is just insane.... I read an article about the guy who invented the bump stock and in it a news reporter said the bump stock turns an assault rifle into a machine gun making it shoot faster and more accurately.... You can tell they have probably never shot a gun in their life.... But people believe what they read... I have never seen the words machine gun and accuracy put together in 55 years...
 
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