question on Berger 77 gr OTM tactical bullets

[rebs]

Is anyone reloading these bullets for 223 cal ? Do they shoot any better than the 80.5 full bore ? Has anyone shot them both and can tell me the difference ? I am shooting at 300 yds bench rest.
Does anyone have a good starting point for loading the 77's

 

[Cfshooter]

Is anyone reloading these bullets for 223 cal ? Do they shoot any better than the 80.5 full bore ? Has anyone shot them both and can tell me the difference ? I am shooting at 300 yds bench rest.
Does anyone have a good starting point for loading the 77's

I have used both, but have chose the 80.5's. The 77's are just as good but i found 1000 80.5 for a good price so that was the deciding factor. I started at 23.7gr of N140 with the 77 OTM and wen to 24.5.

 

[mac86951]

I cant say better or worse than the 80.5; however they'll seat to mag length. Somewhere 23.5-24.0 Varget / n140 / h4895 should get you in the ball park. Work up, as each 223 is different, and throat of chamber will make all the difference.

I'm doubting that you'll see a huge change from the 80.5 in a 300y bench setting; but they're worth a try. You might want to look to balancing BC and velocity, something like the 69smk / berger 70 vld might be worth a shot too.

-Mac

 

[dstoenner]

I think loading long like the 80.5 they would be indistinguishable except the 80.5 has a better bc for wind. I load 77’s only at mag length with 23.5 varget. They hold about .6 average which was the x ring on a mr31 target.

David

 

[Ned Ludd]

I used to shoot SMK 77s, which have essentially the same BC as Berger's 77 OTMs, and the 80.5s in 300 yd F-Class matches. If there's much wind where you shoot, the higher BC of the 80.5 (0.226 vs 0.192 G7 BCs) can definitely make a difference (~0.3 MOA less wind deflection, full-value 10 mph wind), even at only 300 yd. However, you may be able to have the best of both worlds with Hornady's 75 ELDM; lighter weight, meaning higher velocity in a tuned load, AND extremely high BC for a bullet of that weight class (0.235 G7 BC). You might give them a try in your setup. If they tune in and shoot as well as they have for me, I think you'll be hooked.

 

[padom]

+1 for 75 ELD.. They shoot lights out in my 26" bolt guns with 223 Wylde chamber with both H4895 and Varget. Stupid accurate to 700yd...

https://imgur.com/iSuANRH

https://imgur.com/OFKppU1

 

[RegionRat]

I am shooting at 300 yds bench rest.

Do you mean bench rest competition, or that you are shooting from a bench?

Like the others have mentioned, the vast majority of the usage for the 77 SMK/TMK/OTM is magazine length ammo as in XTC shooting, then the 80.5 is common in several games like F-T/R as well as single feed through the Service Rifles for the 600 yard slow fire stage in XTC.

The 77 SMK has also been used in the DoD where they call it the OTM for Open Tip Match. It caused some controversy when folks argued it was a treaty violation to use a "hollow point", but it set a precedent for the use of a tactical/match bullet in a military context.

There is nothing that says you cannot load the 77 SMK/OTM/TMK longer than magazine length, but the 80 SMK and Berger 80.5 are not designed for AR magazine length ammo.

So that is the basic background difference between them, in addition the the face value weight and BC difference. The 80.5 usually requires a 7.5 twist minimum to get the recommended SG factor of 1.5 or better, while the 77 OTM can get above SG 1.5 with an 8 Twist. YMMV