Nosler 70 RDF vs Hornady 73 ELD-M vs Sierra MK 69/77

[dstoenner]

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

 

[bullseyeshtr]

I shot a NRA HP match up here in ND with the 73gr ELD match for 200/300 and the 80gr ELD Match for 600. I have been using 69gr Nosler CC and 80gr Nosler CC . I am using a RRA NM A4 with the Wylde chamber. I am using 24.8gr IMR 4895 with the 73s at 2.250" COAL. They performed great and I didn't really notice any difference than the 69s. Both shoot very tight out of that gun at 2 & 300.

The 80gr ELD performed alot better in the wind drift dept at 600. I am using 23.0gr IMR 4895 and they are seated at 2.509" which is 0.010" off. Accuracy is equal to both the CC and ELD match from the testing I have done. It was just the wind drift that was very noticable. 30mph full value cross winds at 600.

In summary, the 73gr ELD match bullets don't mind the jump from mag length. They are seated into the case pretty good but have seen ZERO pressure problems using IMR4895

 

[dstoenner]

Bullseyeshtr,

Thanks for your update on my post. At least it is a good data point.

I sort of gave up getting input so I decided to load some up and test myself. I have just completed loading 50 of the Nosler RDF and 50 of the Hornady 73's. 1/2 of the 50 is at mag length and other 1/2 is set out to max length. 2.410 for the RDF and 2.430 for the Hornady. I will test these in my bolt gun. Powder was Varget since I have a lot of data to compare these to the SMK 69's, 77's and 80's.

I will report back when I get these tested. Have a few other tests ahead of these.

David

 

[doctorxring]

70 RDF is shorter than 69 TMK

 

[tflorman]

I had good luck with the 70 RDF using 23.8 grains of IMR 8208. They do OK at mag length, but they do quite nicely at around 1.900 base to ogive. Since they have a .416 BC, they run about the same BC as 80 grainers so I don't feel too bad loading such a light bullet that long. They also shot well at .010 off the lands. I have also tried the 77 RDF blems from shooters pro shop and the same CBTO works good for that bullet as well, but with 23.4 grains of IMR 8208 instead. I did get them to shoot at mag length using 22.6 grains of the same powder, but they weren't moving fast enough to be interesting to me.

BTW, this was shooting out of my Service Rifle AR with a 1:7 twist Keystone Accuracy barrel (Green mountain button rifled)