best load for a stag ar15 with a 24" 1-8 twist

[philschoppers]

Hey finally got my stag arms ar15 in ! I have only been waiting like 7 months . Im looking for what other people have found that works good in this or similar setups . It's got the 24" bull barrel with a 1 to 8 twist rate . So far ive saw some people that are shooting heavier bullets like 62gr to 78 grain . Does anyone have any reloading thoughts that they would like to share with me ? If you have a full data for a load I would greatly appreciate it .

Thanks guys

 

[fkimble@charter.net]

Tell us what you are gonna do with it. Plink? at what distance? shoot competition? which disclipline? something else? Th 8 twist barrel is best for the heavier bullets mostly used in competition. You can shoot lighter bullets, down to 53/55 maybe lower. Problem is lighter bullets go faster and can blow up the jacket from excessive centrifucal force due to the higher spin rate. Any out of balance in lower priced bullets such as 55 FMJs will be affected more by the higher spin speed and may not be as accurate as when fired in a 12 or 14 twist barrel.

 

[Phil3]

I would recommend you read this.

http://www.6mmbr.com/223Rem.html

and especially this.

http://accurateshooter.net/Downloads/sierra223ar.pdf (found in the above URL as well).

The latter is Sierra's reloading manual info for an AR-15, which is different than what they have for a bolt gun. Between the two sources of info, you should have sufficient info to get started. I would still recommend another reloading manual or two.

And per the previous poster, knowing your purpose (plinking, hunting, target shooting, distance, etc.) will help you get a more specific response. Your question is quite broad.

Phil

 

[philschoppers]

I don't plan on shooting competition with this rifle but I want to start shooting long range with it and wack a few woodchucks .

 

[Turbulent Turtle]

For magazine length bullets, the 77SMK or any other 75-77 (Nosler, Hornady, etc.) non-VLD will work very well for you. I could get about 2800FPS with 24.something Varget in a Winchester case with the Remington 7 1/2 primer. That load should be supersonic to 900 yards or so.

 

[nastynatesfish]

Really would help too if we knew what components you had available. Would be silly to worry about load info for something you cannt get. I load 25gr TAC with 68g bthp and also 26gr varget with the 50-55gr bullets. The 1-8 will stabilize everything but the real light bullets well I think. I've shot 40 gr fiochi and got 3-4" groups and then my 68/69 gr bullets which are constantly at or under 3/4-5/8"

 

[RonS]

Just my two cents, I have a 20" barrel 8T AR. I use 75gr. Berger VLD with 22.3gr Win 748 with bullets seated .020" jump, I single load this combination. I don't have a chrony so I have no idea how fast they are. Shooting off the bench it produces less than half MOA at 100 yards when I can do my part. Upper built by John at White Oak Armament.

 

[philschoppers]

At the moment I'm able to get pretty much any bullets , powder and primers are a huge issue ! I have a box of cci large rifle primers and a box of Winchester large rifle primers . I've got a small stash of powder , varget , h335, and some arcomp . some other powders are starting to find there way into the gun stores but I have had very good luck with varget in the past .

 

[philschoppers]

Sorry I meant to say I have cci small rifle primer and Winchester small rifle primers . I also have some cci small rifle magnum primers too

 

[philschoppers]

???

Ok I took some of the advise and loaded a few different variations of 70 grain bullets and up . I got really mixed results and by accident I grabbed a box of 40grain vmax that I loaded for a buddy and those shot spectacular ! 100 yards and all 5 shots touching . Why is this lighter bullet doing that much greater in my barrel when if I go with my twist ratio I shouldn't even be firing them ?

I'm so lost now !