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Favorite 223 rem bullet for 1-300 yards

[QUOTE="Kevin1990, post: 39125592, member: 1336192"

Curious, what's your favorite bullet for 1-300 yard shooting for the 223 rem? Feel free to share your bullet and powder combo.

Thanks fellas!
[/QUOTE]

I have 223's with 1-8" 1-10", 1-12" twist, they alI shoot 40 gr Hornady V-Mx, 40 gr Nosler BT for PD and gophers very well.
For target I shoot 52 grSierra Match King. Powder of choice is VV-133.

By target shooting I am referring to casual target shooting, not formal benchrest competition.
Target shooting - Any of the above bullets will group into a half minute or angle out to 300 yards from any of the twists I use, although the 12" twist does give slightly tighter groups.

drover
 
Well, I went and bought a Krieger rem varmint 8 twist before I went and changed my mind again. Still going to try the 55 and 73 berger and 69 smk. Figured with that twist I could go to 55 grain, and if by some horrible twist of fate, none of those shot well, I have the option to move up in weight.

Thanks for all the reply's everyone!
 
Kevin1990 said:
Over the next month or so I just want to ask some questions in regard to 223 rem while I gather components for this build.
Bolt gun (Kelbly or Mack Bros) mag fed.
Plan on using a 20" 1-8 twist barrel Krieger or hart barrel.
I'm deciding on Varget or N140 for powder. I'd like Varget, but the price of N140 is so much better. I also plan on using the powder for my 6br.

Curious, what's your favorite bullet for 1-300 yard shooting for the 223 rem? Feel free to share your bullet and powder combo.

Thanks fellas!
Click to expand...
55 BK 24.8 H4895 26" Krieger 9 twist. Prairie dog load to about 350 yards. Would probably work further if I didn't have the loose nut on the end of the stock.
 
I have an AR 15 that I have had for about 6 years and I recently started paying attention to it. I installed a 20" heavy barrel, 1:8 twist. Shooting 55 gr. Sierra BK with 25.0 grs. of H-335 I was rewarded with 3 solid groups under .300 I giggled all the way home!
 
For 100-300, I'd get a 26" heavy (ie straight) barrel with a 1-9 twist and load N133, N135 or something similar under a 52gr to 55gr bullet. With the 1-9 twist, you can go up to SOME 75gr bullets (my savage shoots 75gr ELD with no problems) if you want. It can handle everything from 40gr (maybe even 35) up to 69gr with no problems. I have a few loads worked up for my Savage Model 12 and they all do 1/2 moa or better if I do my part.
 
For our local club (reduced target) ft-r matches I use Sierra 69g MK it's a 1"8 barrel and shoot very well, with the 80g SMK's also. If you go with a 1:12 barrel dont overlook the Sierra 50g SPT, Hornady 50g JSP, and the Speer 50g TNT, all are relatively inexpensive and very accurate. I've shot these in my 1:14 .222 rem for a long time and The TNT's are one of my favorites for the .222rem. Out to 300y any of these bullets should do what you want verry well. The Hornady 75g ELD did not shoot great with the original 1:8" barrel that came with my Rem 700.

My $.02
Mike
 
Kevin1990 said:
Well, I went and bought a Krieger rem varmint 8 twist before I went and changed my mind again. Still going to try the 55 and 73 berger and 69 smk. Figured with that twist I could go to 55 grain, and if by some horrible twist of fate, none of those shot well, I have the option to move up in weight.

Thanks for all the reply's everyone!
Click to expand...
Don't forget the Hornady 68; or Berger 70vld. I too recommend the 69 or 77 as they both can be set to mag length. 77 going 2600-2650fps with 24.0gr Varget is a common AR load that does surprisingly well out to 600 (though and 80+ does far better). Since you're 300y limit; I'ma bet that you'll find a good load for the 68-73 class bullets that are great for 1-300. The 52/53 can be really great as well, but that 300y and wind might need just a little practice. Performance difference between 52 and 77 at 300 is really up to the rifle/shooter system more than calculated estimates, be sure to look for sales and be sure to try the top 4 manfs. Berger, Sierra, Nosler, Hornady. All too common I hear of a 223 rifle that doesn't shoot that well; but a change in bullet makes it magically boringly accurate.

One comment, from both Wylde chamber and standard varmint chamber; you can just about forget about distance to lands when mag feeding. A good tangent bullet shape like 69/77 is very jump tolerant. My AR is a 1:7 20" and those 77s at 2.255 are jumping something like .150 to the lands, but still accurate enough to be fun! What I mean to say is take your chambering into account too. 52/53 may perform really well and you won't know till you try.

Good Luck with the plethora of options, keep us posted on what you learn!

-Mac
 
mac86951 said:
Don't forget the Hornady 68; or Berger 70vld. I too recommend the 69 or 77 as they both can be set to mag length. 77 going 2600-2650fps with 24.0gr Varget is a common AR load that does surprisingly well out to 600 (though and 80+ does far better). Since you're 300y limit; I'ma bet that you'll find a good load for the 68-73 class bullets that are great for 1-300. The 52/53 can be really great as well, but that 300y and wind might need just a little practice. Performance difference between 52 and 77 at 300 is really up to the rifle/shooter system more than calculated estimates, be sure to look for sales and be sure to try the top 4 manfs. Berger, Sierra, Nosler, Hornady. All too common I hear of a 223 rifle that doesn't shoot that well; but a change in bullet makes it magically boringly accurate.

One comment, from both Wylde chamber and standard varmint chamber; you can just about forget about distance to lands when mag feeding. A good tangent bullet shape like 69/77 is very jump tolerant. My AR is a 1:7 20" and those 77s at 2.255 are jumping something like .150 to the lands, but still accurate enough to be fun! What I mean to say is take your chambering into account too. 52/53 may perform really well and you won't know till you try.

Good Luck with the plethora of options, keep us posted on what you learn!

-Mac
Click to expand...
Will do! Thanks for the info!
 
69-80 grain bullets are my preference in 223 to fight the wind and have some energy on steel.

My 223, an 18" 1:8 twist Bartlein, surprised me with how well it shot the 52 grain Nosler Custom Competition at 300 yards. Powder was a Nosler manual max load of Benchmark.
 
Just yesterday zeroed some PMC .223 77 grain X Tac Match through my Savage Model 12 LRPV, 7 twist. Zeroed with a .5 “ 5 shot group at 100 yards. That load uses a SMK bullet. Am looking for something a little heavier for the wind out to 500 yards. Anxious to give it a try on 4 and 5” gongs today.
 
Turkeytider said:
Just yesterday zeroed some PMC .223 77 grain X Tac Match through my Savage Model 12 LRPV, 7 twist. Zeroed with a .5 “ 5 shot group at 100 yards. That load uses a SMK bullet. Am looking for something a little heavier for the wind out to 500 yards. Anxious to give it a try on 4 and 5” gongs today.
Click to expand...

Sierra 77mk bc is .375. That bullet was designed to be shot at 300 yards even from the magazine in an AR-15. It is a really great bullet design. The BC is STARTING to be respectable, but is killed by the 75 ELDM which is .467. Just for reference.

Here are all the BC numbers for the bullets that are appropriate for shooting 300 plus yards.

Honestly, shooting bullets with a BC closer to .2 seems like a complete waste of powder and primers for serious practice at any distance really. Even the slightest puff of wind is going to move those around a lot.

20230626_114628.jpg
 
urbanrifleman said:
Sierra 77mk bc is .375. That bullet was designed to be shot at 300 yards even from the magazine in an AR-15. It is a really great bullet design. The BC is STARTING to be respectable, but is killed by the 75 ELDM which is .467. Just for reference.

Here are all the BC numbers for the bullets that are appropriate for shooting 300 plus yards.

Honestly, shooting bullets with a BC closer to .2 seems like a complete waste of powder and primers for serious practice at any distance really. Even the slightest puff of wind is going to move those around a lot.

View attachment 1628142
Click to expand...
I was trying to find a factory load , since I don’t hand load, on the more “ budget friendly “ side . If there’s one utilizing a better bullet I’m open to it. Have had good performance from Sierra bullets.
 
Kevin1990 said:
Well, I went and bought a Krieger rem varmint 8 twist before I went and changed my mind again. Still going to try the 55 and 73 berger and 69 smk. Figured with that twist I could go to 55 grain, and if by some horrible twist of fate, none of those shot well, I have the option to move up in weight.

Thanks for all the reply's everyone!
Click to expand...
FWIW, I have a 22" 1:8 Wilson barrel on one of my ARs and it shoots 40gr and 50gr extremely well (under 1/2 moa) also. Personally, I think people put WAY too much into twist rates. Obviously, the twist rate has to be fast enough to stabilize the bullet. After that, unless you are expecting actually BR level precision, its not all that important until you're spinning them so fast that they don't always make it to the target. That's just my opinion though.
 
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