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Hornady 75 bthp match

DLT

Silver $$ Contributor
How does the 75 bthp compare to the Sierra 77 matchking in a 223 ? Are they as easy to tune in or finicky. Do they shoot just as good at distance 600 yards and over ?
 
Great accuracy , less expensive .. BUT … have been known to go poof on the way to the target in tight (0.218”) bores that are a little rough. I also found them to shoot well pushed in to 2.235” OAL.
 
I've shot them out of an 8tw 22 250, 7tw 22br, and a 28" 7tw 223. No problems at all. First I've heard of these having a problem(I'm not concerned about my lot at all).

In all those, nothing stood out as amazing or terrible for grouping. I should try and sort them....but I'm not going to.
 
I believe the 75s are secant ogives where the 77s are tangent. Tangent should be less forgiving although I’ve used 75s in chambers that should not be secant friendly but shoot the 75s as good as the 77s. Other barrels of mine with tight chambers shoot the 77s better. IMO 77s are a safer bet but the only way to be sure is to shoot them. If your barrel likes 75s you’ll save a bunch of money.
 
The dimensions and BCs of those bullets are very close. As has been noted, the Hornady 75 is a secant ogive bullet. Although tangent ogive bullets sometimes tend to be more forgiving of seating depth, that behavior is not written in stone. Secant ogive bullets can be loaded with precision fully equal to tangent ogive bullets, but may exhibit narrower seating depth optimal windows. It's generally not a big deal at all to do a fine increment seating depth test that covers a sufficiently wide window when using secant ogive bullets. That should be part of any rigorous load development process, regardless of the bullet used. In other words, secant ogive bullets can work just fine, but one has to put in the effort to optimize seating depth to optimize precision. I've had good experiences over the years with both of these bullets, so picking one over the other would have to involve some direct testing/comparison.

Not surprisingly, different people have differing opinions on bullet choice and tuning loads. It is my opinion that when we find a bullet that just doesn't seem to want to tune in with a given rifle setup as well as some other bullet, what that really means is that we haven't given that bullet what it wants/needs. That is a very different thing than simply stating a particular bullet doesn't shoot well in a given rifle. I believe that most bullets can be made to shoot reasonably well with sufficient effort. The real question is how much time/effort is one willing to devote to tuning in a load with a particular bullet, especially one that proves challenging, if another more forgiving bullet choice is available? Given everything that goes into load development, I would suggest buying a box of each bullet, doing some preliminary load development, and then determining side-by-side at the shooting range which produces the better result and seems easier to tune. Given that a well developed load may be used for quite some time, the minimal cost of two different boxes of bullets and a little time/effort/reloading components should not be the limiting factor in the decision-making process.
 
jelenko said:
Mmmm.
I had 75's coming apart in a 223 bolt action with a 1:8 26" barrel with ~ 2000 rounds through the barrel. The barrel had been JB'd every few hundred rounds. The RPM's on the bullet were ~ 290K.
After backing off the load so the RPM's were under 280K, no more disappearing bullets.
Click to expand...

You were getting 3200 fps out of a 223? 290k is over 3200 fps.
 
I shoot 75s at 2960fps from my 27” bolt gun with a 7 twist and no issues. 75 ELDs is my match bullet but the BTHP are cheaper practice. I know a lot of people who use 7 twist bolt guns and have to stay 77 and under for PRS Tac.
 
There was a problem with Hornady gr BTHP and A-max bullets going poof over 20 years ago (I lost a few myself), but I've had no such issues since. Has anyone had this problem with bullets made in the last decade? I routinely shoot the 75s in a 28" 1:7 spacegun barrel with no problems.
 
Shot them for years at XTC short lines. They worked just fine, the price was right too. No reason not to use them. Shot 80’s at 600.
BTW, never had one go poof, 75 AMX’s, yes, the 75 BTHP, no.
 
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