dstoenner
Silver $$ Contributor
I am posting this because I am confused about where these first 2 bullets have a place. I purchased a box of each of these to do some testing which has not happened yet but sort of wanted other inputs that might cause me to test one feature vs another.
First let me state that SMK 77 and 80's have been my staple bullets for NRA HP. They have always been more accurate than Nosler equivalents and only the Hornady 80 A-Max can come close to the 80 SMK.
So let me explain each bullet as far as my observations go with respect to the measurements I have taken. All of these are based on usage in a 223 cartridge. I also shot a Wylde chamber on both my Match AR15 and my 700.
1) Nosler 70 RDF seems to be an anomaly, to me at least. It is long for weight, appears to be a VLD type of bullet. To load it mag length you have so much of the ass end in the case taking up powder room it seems like while it might be able to be launched at 3K+, I don't think so practically so then it falls in the 80 SMK venue, not a replacement for the 77 SMK. I put one in my stoneypoint chamber measurement and it came out at 2.445 but the max length based on my critera of having the neck stay on the bearing surface for good runout, this can only get to 2.409 so this is going to jump a long ways and VLDs might or might not jump well. At mag length these things are jumping the grand canyon.
2) The Hornady 73 ELD-M seems like a replacement for the 77 SMK with similar lengths and loaded ammo. Again though it seems to be a VLD so at mag length it is jumping a long ways to the lands which may or may not be good. If loaded out it cannot go far enough out so it is still jumping a lot. As a benchmark, it will only go to 2.428 while the 80 SMK will go to 2.558. I am currently at 2.500 in my chasing the lands with the 80 SMK. This one seems like you might be able to get more fps out of it than an 80 SMK so if it would tolerate the jump, it might be good. But its G1 BC is .398 while 80 SMK is .413
I would be interested in anybody's thoughts and maybe even testing data based on a Wylde chamber.
Thanks in advance
David
First let me state that SMK 77 and 80's have been my staple bullets for NRA HP. They have always been more accurate than Nosler equivalents and only the Hornady 80 A-Max can come close to the 80 SMK.
So let me explain each bullet as far as my observations go with respect to the measurements I have taken. All of these are based on usage in a 223 cartridge. I also shot a Wylde chamber on both my Match AR15 and my 700.
1) Nosler 70 RDF seems to be an anomaly, to me at least. It is long for weight, appears to be a VLD type of bullet. To load it mag length you have so much of the ass end in the case taking up powder room it seems like while it might be able to be launched at 3K+, I don't think so practically so then it falls in the 80 SMK venue, not a replacement for the 77 SMK. I put one in my stoneypoint chamber measurement and it came out at 2.445 but the max length based on my critera of having the neck stay on the bearing surface for good runout, this can only get to 2.409 so this is going to jump a long ways and VLDs might or might not jump well. At mag length these things are jumping the grand canyon.
2) The Hornady 73 ELD-M seems like a replacement for the 77 SMK with similar lengths and loaded ammo. Again though it seems to be a VLD so at mag length it is jumping a long ways to the lands which may or may not be good. If loaded out it cannot go far enough out so it is still jumping a lot. As a benchmark, it will only go to 2.428 while the 80 SMK will go to 2.558. I am currently at 2.500 in my chasing the lands with the 80 SMK. This one seems like you might be able to get more fps out of it than an 80 SMK so if it would tolerate the jump, it might be good. But its G1 BC is .398 while 80 SMK is .413
I would be interested in anybody's thoughts and maybe even testing data based on a Wylde chamber.
Thanks in advance
David