Ned Ludd
Silver $$ Contributor
There have recently been a few post with shooters including myself asking whether anyone had tried these bullets, and if so, whether the BC appeared to be as high as Nosler's reported value. I recently broke down and purchased a box of 500 to answer those questions for myself.
To start, I have a .223 Rem rifle that I had purpose-built by GA Precision several years ago as a practice rifle for F-TR. This rifle has a 26" 7-twist barrel. Unfortunately, I did not reload at the time and therefore did not specify how the rifle chamber was throated. When I received it, I realized it was throated very short, and later came to find out from GAP's reamer print that it was actually throated with zero freebore. Nonetheless, that rifle proved to shoot commercial FGMM 77 ammo quite respectably, which is what I used for a while. Eventually, the desire to run a heavier higher BC bullet led me to loading Berger's 80.5 Fullbore bullet. Although they were sunk pretty far down in the case, I was able to make that combination work by using a slightly faster-burning powder than I might have otherwise chosen for an 80.5 gr .224" bullet, Hodgdon H322.
A few months ago, I came across Nosler's add for one of their latest additions to the Reduced Drag Factor (RDF) line, the 77 gr .224" RDF bullet. Having already tried out the 85 gr RDFs with reasonable results, I was quite surprised to see the G7 BC reported by Nosler of 0.228 for this bullet. For comparison, the report G7 BC of Sierra's 77 gr Matchking is 0.193. That is a predicted 18% increase in BC over the 77 SMK without increasing the weight of the bullet, which is quite remarkable, but also a little suspicious to someone such as myself that has seen too many marketing gimmicks that didn't hold up to greater scrutiny. I have now run a preliminary test series and will share my results and hopefully answer any similar questions about this bullet that others may have had.
In my preliminary test, I wanted to use a slightly reduced charge weight of H322 (for safety reasons) to determine an average velocity so as to "calibrate" Quickload, and also to carry out a coarse seating depth test over a fairly wide range to determine whether the 77 RDF exhibited any obvious seating depth preference in my setup. To that end, I first measured OAL for 100 bullets as a prelude to length sorting. The results are shown in the first graph below. I was a little surprised at the distribution of bullet OAL. It is far more common to see reasonable facsimile of a Gaussian distribution, better known as a "bell curve". Clearly, the Nosler 77 RDFs did not follow this pattern, with the majority of bullet lengths clustered very close to the absolute longest bullets in the sample. Although somewhat unusual, this observation is not necessarily a deal-breaker, as it means you will likely end up with a much larger number of bullets in only one or two length-sorted groups, which is actually very positive as compared to fairly small numbers of bullets distributed across a wider range of length groups.
I used bullets from the longest (and most plentiful) length group for the subsequent test(s). The conditions were sunny, with fairly benign wind conditions, occasional breeze to 4-5 mph, but mostly almost dead calm, and approximately 72 degrees F. The rifle used as mentioned above, is GA Precision .223 Rem with a 26" Bartlein 7-twist barrel, throated with zero freebore (2nd attached image). After several foulers/sighters, I fired ten three-shot groups at 114 yd, representing 21.3 gr H322 with the 77 RDF seated from .005" off the lands (-.005") to .050" off the lands (-.050") in .005" increments. Velocity was determined using a LabRadar and a JKL Kinetic Trigger. I then re-fouled the barrel with several shots of FGMM 77 commercial ammo, and fired 4 more three-shot groups with the FGMM for comparison. I stupidly left my [very nicely] prepared target at home when I went to the range. Fortunately, I had an old spare target in the truck I was able to mark with a Sharpie, as shown in the next image of the various groups (3rd attached image). Seating depths for each group are indicated, and the group spread as estimated using OnTarget software is shown in MOA.
Not surprisingly, the 77 RDFs appear to like being seated a good bit off the lands, as illustrated in Image 4 of group size versus distance from the lands (graphic output processed using Cubic Spline curve fit). There is a clear preferred seating depth window from -.030" to -.040" with the 77 RDF bullet in this rifle. I used the LabRadar muzzle velocity at 0 and 55 yd from these three seating depths (-.030", -.035", -.040", 9-shots total) to estimate and determine the average G7 BC for the Nosler 77 RDF using JBM Ballistics online software. For comparison, I did the same with shots 1-9 of the 12 rounds of FGMM fired for grouping. The estimated G7 BCs are as follows:
Nosler 77 RDF: 0.237 +/- .006
Sierra 77 MK: 0.188 +/-.002
There are certainly caveats to using the LabRadar velocity data to estimate BCs, the chief of which is the relatively short distance (55 yd). Nonetheless, both types of bullets were fired on the same day, under the same conditions, from the same rifle, suggesting that these values are perfectly valid for comparative purposes, if nothing else. Further, the average G7 BC value I obtained for the well-characterized 77 SMK bullet (0.188), differs by less than 3% from the established value of 0.193. It is also worth note that the average velocity of both nine-shot groups was identical, 2764 fps. Together, these observations support the validity and accuracy of using LabRadar data to estimate BCs. Notably, the value of 0.237 obtained for the Nosler 77 RDF is even higher than that claimed by the manufacturer (0.228), suggesting their reported value is in no way inflated or over-optimistic. This 77 RDF BC really is that high.
I still have a ways to go with regard to the load development with the 77 RDF bullet. At ~2760 fps, it is running at about 100 fps slower than I expect it will tune in in a full pressure load, and seating depth will need to be re-visited at the higher velocity. I'm a little concerned about some of the fliers observed in various groups across the range of seating depths tested, which is not desirable, but only further testing will reveal whether those disappear in a better optimized load. The average group spread for the three best seating depths (-.030" to -.040") was approximately 0.37 MOA, which is not bad at all for a load that has not been fully optimized. By comparison, the average of the 4 groups with FGMM 77s which I mentioned this rifle seems to shoot reasonably well was approximately 0.31 MOA. Hopefully with a little more work, the 77 RDFs will equal or better that level of precision. If so, with their 18% higher BC and somewhere in the neighborhood of about 100 fps greater velocity as compared to FGMM 77 commercial ammunition, I expect a marked increase in performance.
To start, I have a .223 Rem rifle that I had purpose-built by GA Precision several years ago as a practice rifle for F-TR. This rifle has a 26" 7-twist barrel. Unfortunately, I did not reload at the time and therefore did not specify how the rifle chamber was throated. When I received it, I realized it was throated very short, and later came to find out from GAP's reamer print that it was actually throated with zero freebore. Nonetheless, that rifle proved to shoot commercial FGMM 77 ammo quite respectably, which is what I used for a while. Eventually, the desire to run a heavier higher BC bullet led me to loading Berger's 80.5 Fullbore bullet. Although they were sunk pretty far down in the case, I was able to make that combination work by using a slightly faster-burning powder than I might have otherwise chosen for an 80.5 gr .224" bullet, Hodgdon H322.
A few months ago, I came across Nosler's add for one of their latest additions to the Reduced Drag Factor (RDF) line, the 77 gr .224" RDF bullet. Having already tried out the 85 gr RDFs with reasonable results, I was quite surprised to see the G7 BC reported by Nosler of 0.228 for this bullet. For comparison, the report G7 BC of Sierra's 77 gr Matchking is 0.193. That is a predicted 18% increase in BC over the 77 SMK without increasing the weight of the bullet, which is quite remarkable, but also a little suspicious to someone such as myself that has seen too many marketing gimmicks that didn't hold up to greater scrutiny. I have now run a preliminary test series and will share my results and hopefully answer any similar questions about this bullet that others may have had.
In my preliminary test, I wanted to use a slightly reduced charge weight of H322 (for safety reasons) to determine an average velocity so as to "calibrate" Quickload, and also to carry out a coarse seating depth test over a fairly wide range to determine whether the 77 RDF exhibited any obvious seating depth preference in my setup. To that end, I first measured OAL for 100 bullets as a prelude to length sorting. The results are shown in the first graph below. I was a little surprised at the distribution of bullet OAL. It is far more common to see reasonable facsimile of a Gaussian distribution, better known as a "bell curve". Clearly, the Nosler 77 RDFs did not follow this pattern, with the majority of bullet lengths clustered very close to the absolute longest bullets in the sample. Although somewhat unusual, this observation is not necessarily a deal-breaker, as it means you will likely end up with a much larger number of bullets in only one or two length-sorted groups, which is actually very positive as compared to fairly small numbers of bullets distributed across a wider range of length groups.
I used bullets from the longest (and most plentiful) length group for the subsequent test(s). The conditions were sunny, with fairly benign wind conditions, occasional breeze to 4-5 mph, but mostly almost dead calm, and approximately 72 degrees F. The rifle used as mentioned above, is GA Precision .223 Rem with a 26" Bartlein 7-twist barrel, throated with zero freebore (2nd attached image). After several foulers/sighters, I fired ten three-shot groups at 114 yd, representing 21.3 gr H322 with the 77 RDF seated from .005" off the lands (-.005") to .050" off the lands (-.050") in .005" increments. Velocity was determined using a LabRadar and a JKL Kinetic Trigger. I then re-fouled the barrel with several shots of FGMM 77 commercial ammo, and fired 4 more three-shot groups with the FGMM for comparison. I stupidly left my [very nicely] prepared target at home when I went to the range. Fortunately, I had an old spare target in the truck I was able to mark with a Sharpie, as shown in the next image of the various groups (3rd attached image). Seating depths for each group are indicated, and the group spread as estimated using OnTarget software is shown in MOA.
Not surprisingly, the 77 RDFs appear to like being seated a good bit off the lands, as illustrated in Image 4 of group size versus distance from the lands (graphic output processed using Cubic Spline curve fit). There is a clear preferred seating depth window from -.030" to -.040" with the 77 RDF bullet in this rifle. I used the LabRadar muzzle velocity at 0 and 55 yd from these three seating depths (-.030", -.035", -.040", 9-shots total) to estimate and determine the average G7 BC for the Nosler 77 RDF using JBM Ballistics online software. For comparison, I did the same with shots 1-9 of the 12 rounds of FGMM fired for grouping. The estimated G7 BCs are as follows:
Nosler 77 RDF: 0.237 +/- .006
Sierra 77 MK: 0.188 +/-.002
There are certainly caveats to using the LabRadar velocity data to estimate BCs, the chief of which is the relatively short distance (55 yd). Nonetheless, both types of bullets were fired on the same day, under the same conditions, from the same rifle, suggesting that these values are perfectly valid for comparative purposes, if nothing else. Further, the average G7 BC value I obtained for the well-characterized 77 SMK bullet (0.188), differs by less than 3% from the established value of 0.193. It is also worth note that the average velocity of both nine-shot groups was identical, 2764 fps. Together, these observations support the validity and accuracy of using LabRadar data to estimate BCs. Notably, the value of 0.237 obtained for the Nosler 77 RDF is even higher than that claimed by the manufacturer (0.228), suggesting their reported value is in no way inflated or over-optimistic. This 77 RDF BC really is that high.
I still have a ways to go with regard to the load development with the 77 RDF bullet. At ~2760 fps, it is running at about 100 fps slower than I expect it will tune in in a full pressure load, and seating depth will need to be re-visited at the higher velocity. I'm a little concerned about some of the fliers observed in various groups across the range of seating depths tested, which is not desirable, but only further testing will reveal whether those disappear in a better optimized load. The average group spread for the three best seating depths (-.030" to -.040") was approximately 0.37 MOA, which is not bad at all for a load that has not been fully optimized. By comparison, the average of the 4 groups with FGMM 77s which I mentioned this rifle seems to shoot reasonably well was approximately 0.31 MOA. Hopefully with a little more work, the 77 RDFs will equal or better that level of precision. If so, with their 18% higher BC and somewhere in the neighborhood of about 100 fps greater velocity as compared to FGMM 77 commercial ammunition, I expect a marked increase in performance.
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