Don't ask me how I did this.
- Thread starter Paddyd
- Start date
Awesome shooting! It ain't all rifle.
You're load is almost identical to what I feed my 1:9 and faster twist .223s. I use just a tad more powder (23.8 gr.) of 8208 XBR behind the Hornady 68 gr. bullet. I've yet to see a .223 that wouldn't shoot that load at least acceptably. Great combination.
Again, nice shooting!
You're load is almost identical to what I feed my 1:9 and faster twist .223s. I use just a tad more powder (23.8 gr.) of 8208 XBR behind the Hornady 68 gr. bullet. I've yet to see a .223 that wouldn't shoot that load at least acceptably. Great combination.
Again, nice shooting!
Thanks much for the positive feedback. To be honest, I was really starting to grow frustrated with this rifle. It never shot better than 1/2 MOA before today. I hope it wasn't a freak group. Now I guess I need to load up 10 or 15 of the same and go back to the range tomorrow to see if it was real or not.. To be honest, as I shot that last group and wasn't seeing separate bullet holes I was thinking my scope must have came loose or something. I have shot a similar sized group with my Savage .308 before but with the way this rifle had been shooting I thought I was missing the paper..
The last one of these rifles I had in 223 came out of the factory box with a ding on the crown than had displaced metal out over the bore - looked like someone had placed a 1/8" pin punch with half its diameter out over the bore & whacked it with a hammer. Have often wondered if that was an inspection mark meant to indicate the bbl was rejected, because after I'd had the crown re-cut to remove the mark, I found the chamber to be grossly oversized. Sent it back to Winchester, they replaced the bbl with one that had an eccentric chamber - bad enough so that you could see fired cases wobble or jump when they were rolled across a counter top.
Soon after getting a ffl, I ordered a M70 Stealth in 223, and found it to be a pretty good shooter, even with 80gr bullets, even though it was supposed to have a 1-9tw bbl. I checked the actual twist rate with a snug-fitting patch on a Dewey rod with a rotating handle and measured the actual twist rate at 1-8.3. There were some really ratty-looking machine marks in the bore, out near the muzzle that tended to pick up a lot of copper fouling, and I used that as an excuse to re-barrel it with a PacNor 4-groove 1-7.5tw bbl with a contour similar to the OEM bbl. That rifle - with a JARD trigger set at just under 1lb is a very good shooter now. Need to find a DBM unit that will work with it, and use it as a trainer for my PRS-type rifles.
Soon after getting a ffl, I ordered a M70 Stealth in 223, and found it to be a pretty good shooter, even with 80gr bullets, even though it was supposed to have a 1-9tw bbl. I checked the actual twist rate with a snug-fitting patch on a Dewey rod with a rotating handle and measured the actual twist rate at 1-8.3. There were some really ratty-looking machine marks in the bore, out near the muzzle that tended to pick up a lot of copper fouling, and I used that as an excuse to re-barrel it with a PacNor 4-groove 1-7.5tw bbl with a contour similar to the OEM bbl. That rifle - with a JARD trigger set at just under 1lb is a very good shooter now. Need to find a DBM unit that will work with it, and use it as a trainer for my PRS-type rifles.
I tried that load today and it was almost as good as what I got with the 23.5 gr. Opened up slightly. I may experiment with the 23.8 using various seating depths, but I found that this particular M70 likes these 68 gr Hornady bullets .020" short of the lands, at least with the last charge of 23.5. I've also stopped cleaning the bore like before and think that is having a positive effect on my accuracy. Before I'd always scrub it squeaky clean. Now all I've been doing is running a couple of patches wet with a 50/50 mix of ATF and mineral spirits. It won't melt any copper fouling but it is very good at cleaning carbon. Cheap as hell too. As long as it keep trying to put bullets through the same hole I'm not going to brush it out.
snert
Silver $$ Contributor
I have a rifle that won't shoot at all til it has 8-10 rounds down the tube. It shoots under 1/2 MOA then till it hits about 25 rounds. the joy is figuring out how to keep it 'dirty' but not too dirty. I am to where I can do it by feel. Shooters choice, a patch, follow with a soaking and a bronze brush about ten strokes, follow with five wet patches and then dry it out...then it is back to the groundhog fields for another 15 rounds...then clean...
Not all guns shoot when squeeky clean, especailly ones with rough bores, factory bores or are worn.
Not all guns shoot when squeeky clean, especailly ones with rough bores, factory bores or are worn.
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