Preferred target bullet for a .223 9 twist

[tclaunch]

I am giving serious thought of making a purchase of the Remington 700 .223 Tactical that is a 9 twist. It bears a 20" barrel and the Hogue stock. I know with the shortages bullets will be tough, but I will have trade material as I am well endowed with lighter 22 caliber bullets. Will a 75 grain A-Max work in these barrels. Possibly a 70 grain Berger, any help appreciated, Tim.

 

[LawrenceHanson]

Hey Tim,

Considering your parameters, I would give the Berger 64 grain flat base bullet a try. This is the bullet I use in my 1:9" 223 out to 300 yards. Given its relatively blunt nose profile and long bearing surface, it can often be seated to touch the rifling in the typical long throat of a factory barrel. Cheeks makes a similar custom bullet weighing 63 grains. I have used both with good success. They have performed as well as the boat tail/VLD bullets of similar weight.

Have fun with your new rifle.

LE Hanson

 

[stacy]

IT MAY SHOOT THE 70GRS BUT IFFY ON THE 75GRS I SHOOT 75GRS IN A 8TW MY LOAD IS 25.5GRS H-4895 68BTHP MATCH HORHADY IN MY 9TW 223 SAVAGE TACTICAL

 

[Kermit in Va.]

I don't think you'll have any problems.
I've shot everything from 52's-77ncc's in mine and found a good load with all of'em.
Probally shot the best group with the 60 gr nbt at 200 yrds using aa2520 powder. Wasn't the best at 100 yrds, that was with 53 gr sierra and H4198.


Kermit

 

[MarkS]

Tim,

The 75 Amax may or may not work, give them a try.

Mark Schronce

 

[hothead]

Berger 73gr. are the most accurate out of my 20" 1-9 Remington.
69gr Nozler or sierra come next.
In the summer months it shoots 77 gr relitivaly well , under 1moa
but let the temp drop below 50 degrees they will tumble.
R15, Varget and H4895 are the best performers. my gun dont like cci 450 primers , But Remington 7 1/2 or Federal work fine.

 

[tclaunch]

Berger website says 70 gr VLD as well as the 73 gr Match will run in a 9 twist. I backorderd them both and will hurry up and wait..... :'(

 

[Terry]

Mine like 80 Nosler CC.

 

[boltman223]

I'm just curious what is a .223. Is that the diameter of the bullet?

 

[treeman]

I think boltman223 is trying to be funny!

 

[mac86951]

I am giving serious thought of making a purchase of the Remington 700 .223 Tactical that is a 9 twist. It bears a 20" barrel and the Hogue stock. I know with the shortages bullets will be tough, but I will have trade material as I am well endowed with lighter 22 caliber bullets. Will a 75 grain A-Max work in these barrels. Possibly a 70 grain Berger, any help appreciated, Tim.

Well, as most have mentioned there are a variety of bullets that will work in a 1:9, and heavier tends to be better in that regard. You are also looking at a bolt action, so I'd say the range of 68-80gr you will find something. That said, each barrel tends to be picky, and I've seen two guys on the range, same powder, similar velocities, but one barrel likes Nosler 77gr, and another likes Sierra MK 77gr. The 75A-Max won't cause you a problem to load, it does for us AR shooters (minimum COL is ~2.390" not the 2.26 for magazines), however, you'll have to try it to see if your barrel likes it.

-Mac

 

[FroggyOne2]

If Remington would get smart and start barreling their factory rifles with at least an 8 twist, a lot of these bullet decisions would be solved.

 

[sscoyote]

If you can get some try the 65 JLK Low Drag. .4BC FB HP. Shot that bullet out of a number of 10-twisted and faster 22's and it beats everything else just about every time.
www.swampworks.com

 

[x-hunter]

I just purchased a Savage mod 12 in 223 and it has a 9 twist but the barrel is 26 in, I noticed that tclaunch was asking about a Remmy that has a 20in barrel, What affect does the barrel lenght have with everything else eqaul? I know it will affect velocity, but what about a barrels ability to stabilize the bullet. Is longer better? Another question I have is, I believe that what makes a heavier bullet better at longer shots is it's ability to buck wind which would send a bullet off course. With that said, why would Kermits rifle prefer a 53grainer over a 60 @ 100yrds but shoot the 60 better @200yrds? I know it seems nit picky but wouldn't a more accurate load at the longer distances just naturally be more accurate the closer you get? I have been reading, trying to find the right load for the 223 and am suprised at the range of answers to that question. The does'nt seem to be a unanimous answer on the best powder or bullet for any given twist. Does this speak to the calibers ability to handle many loads really well? Does anybody have any experience loading for the rifle I have, that may have some insight?

 

[KevinThomas]

tclaunch,

Bear in mind that we're talking about a buttoned barrel here, so the actual twist rate will likely vary from the stated twist by 1/2 inch or so, in either direction. In other words, it might be a 1x9", it might be a 1x8.5" or it might be a 1x9.5". Just the nature of buttoned barrels. Anyway, it's worth remembering when working up a load with what may be a marginal twist for a given bullet. Your rifle may just shoot something that it isn't "supposed" to, and it may also not want to deal with one that it "should." Don't hesitate to experiment with those on the high end, just to see. After all, if you're lucky, the twist might be on the fast side and you can use some of those that conventional wisdom says won't work.

 

[mac86951]

I just purchased a Savage mod 12 in 223 and it has a 9 twist but the barrel is 26 in, I noticed that tclaunch was asking about a Remmy that has a 20in barrel, What affect does the barrel lenght have with everything else eqaul? I know it will affect velocity, but what about a barrels ability to stabilize the bullet. Is longer better? Another question I have is, I believe that what makes a heavier bullet better at longer shots is it's ability to buck wind which would send a bullet off course. With that said, why would Kermits rifle prefer a 53grainer over a 60 @ 100yrds but shoot the 60 better @200yrds? I know it seems nit picky but wouldn't a more accurate load at the longer distances just naturally be more accurate the closer you get? I have been reading, trying to find the right load for the 223 and am suprised at the range of answers to that question. The does'nt seem to be a unanimous answer on the best powder or bullet for any given twist. Does this speak to the calibers ability to handle many loads really well? Does anybody have any experience loading for the rifle I have, that may have some insight?

There is far too much variability in manufacturing for a single bullet/powder combination to work well. Truth is everything suggested works well, but in each rifle, we tend to find that each rifle is picky preferring one over the other. Longer barrel = more velocity with same load (ideally). There is such a thing as too long a barrel, this would be the case that you burn 100% of the powder in less distance than the length of barrel. Usually this might be ~36" or more depending on powder burn rate (for .223).

6" additional barrel length will do two things. 1 is the higher velocity. .223 should be ~25-30fps per 1" longer than 20, so if a 20" is shooting 2600, the 26" should be shooting 2750 with same amount of powder. (there is much more to it that this, and I'm sure I'll be corrected in later posts).

You'll also get different barrel harmonics, so the same load might not shoot well in the longer barrel, it will need to be "tuned" to the different barrel.

-Mac

 

[boltman223]

I shoot .223 in my old hornet. ;D

 

[ColWhitecakes]

Itis my experience that the 75gr Amax is a top performer in both of my 1-9 twist rifles (Mod12 and MVP) with them being used with excellent results in midrange Ftr in both as well. 70gr Berger works well in the Mod12, but not as well as the Amax. You might also try the 77gr SMK

 

[tclaunch]

Thanks guys, so many good suggestions. I did have a good thing happen, and one of my suppliers got in some 73 gr Bergers, so there is 1 bullet I can get my hands on to try. Another shooting buddy has a 9 t Remington and told me that the suggested Sierra 77 with RL15 is about as good as it gets for him in his rig. I have definitely add the 75 gr Hornady A-Max to the list!!

 

[FroggyOne2]

I will have to agree with Kevin on this one.