urbanrifleman
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Which shoots the smallest groups?
Like from a serious bolt gun?
Like from a serious bolt gun?
Shoots Smaller Smk 77 verses 80 smk?
- Thread starter urbanrifleman
- Start date
tag, interested to see posts.
i dont see either shooting smaller groups than another until you put the target at 300+ yards; then the 80 starts to make up for what i assume are minutiae wind call errors.
within 300, its a wash in my experience.
neither are short range benchrest winning bullets as far as i know.
what distance are you thinking?
-Mac
i dont see either shooting smaller groups than another until you put the target at 300+ yards; then the 80 starts to make up for what i assume are minutiae wind call errors.
within 300, its a wash in my experience.
neither are short range benchrest winning bullets as far as i know.
what distance are you thinking?
-Mac
urbanrifleman
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Yah that Berger is insane.
urbanrifleman
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Gary in MD
Gold $$ Contributor
It would also be interesting to see how the TMK versions stack up against the hp version as long as you are comparing
80's are my go to in 223rem bolt gun and i also have shot a bunch of them in 22br..
This is out of my 28" 22br Mullerworks 1-7 TL3
80smk
29.5gr H4895
3152 SD 5
Lapua 6br 12x converted brass
400yd
This is out of my 28" 22br Mullerworks 1-7 TL3
80smk
29.5gr H4895
3152 SD 5
Lapua 6br 12x converted brass
400yd
jelenko
Gold $$ Contributor
That would be a nice group at 100!
urbanrifleman
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Always good data sir. Thank you!
urbanrifleman
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I'll get some and we will shoot them.
Here some recent 80smk testing accuracy in a 26" Green Mountain 224 1.2" straight blank
Single Shot TL3
26" 416SS GM 1.2" straight 1-8
My 223Rem Eachus reamer 0.088"fb
BNA Comp trigger
Fully bedded UR stock
Seb Neo
80smk
Varget
Lapua brass
Did a load and seating depth test on the same target. They hammer..
And here some final testing at distance on a day that was blowing more than I would like for long distance load testing but it still did great for 223...
300yd
5 Shot group up top and 2 10 shot groups below
Here a 400yd group
Single Shot TL3
26" 416SS GM 1.2" straight 1-8
My 223Rem Eachus reamer 0.088"fb
BNA Comp trigger
Fully bedded UR stock
Seb Neo
80smk
Varget
Lapua brass
Did a load and seating depth test on the same target. They hammer..
And here some final testing at distance on a day that was blowing more than I would like for long distance load testing but it still did great for 223...
300yd
5 Shot group up top and 2 10 shot groups below
Here a 400yd group
Last edited:
Im going to be "that guy" and toss another Berger bullet in the mix. The 80 VLD.
The 80.5 has and is my go to on my 7T barrel. I was gifted 100VLDs and was very impressed when Jammed how well they performed.
YMMV
The 80.5 has and is my go to on my 7T barrel. I was gifted 100VLDs and was very impressed when Jammed how well they performed.
YMMV
I have seen a couple of good shooters shoot/test the TMKs vs the SMKs and both shot very acceptable. But....the TMKs always shot a "round" group where the SMKs were all knotted up. They tested both 69s and 77s.
Jeff Porter
Gold $$ Contributor
My experience as well. TMK shot as well, not better than the SMK so extra cost was not any value.
Lapua Scenar L in 69 and 77 are the best shooting mag length ammo I ever loaded in a gas gun. Berger 80.5 and Berger 90 VLD in a bolt gun. All "bests" were with H4895 or N135.
I have a ton of 80 VLD. Shoot great once you dial them in but definitely took a lot more effort to tune than 80smk or 80 Amax which are another favorite 223rem bullet of mine. Yes the vld likes to be jammed...
I bought 6000 when they were discontinued and the ELD came out and im still shooting them
DLT
Silver $$ Contributor
I know you can fix it but the 77 is fat. Will need to be throated out to keep them above the doughnut if it were to form.
kevinbritvec
Silver $$ Contributor
The 80 grain SMK isn't designed to feed from an AR-15 magazine. They are loaded long and fed one at a time at the 600-yard stage in service rifle tournaments. OAL's around 2.470" from a .223 Wylde chamber, around 2.550" from a 5.56mm NATO chamber.
If you have a bolt action, the longer OAL" will probably feed and function just fine.
I get my best groups using 52/53 grain match bullets, even when fired through 1:7 twist barrels. Nobody can tell you in advance what your rifle will like. You are going to have to experiment to find out. Every barrel is an individual, some will shoot lots of different bullets well, some will be picky and need a particular brand bullet and weight to shine.
Jeff Porter
Gold $$ Contributor
Small sample size but came across this. Fired from a 1:8 bolt rifle with Wylde chamber. Mag length 77 SMK seconds, 23.4 H4895 about 2860 fps IIRC.
ronemus
Gold $$ Contributor
For short range BR you're probably better off with a lighter flat-base bullet. In 100-200 yd BR competition that's the recipe for small groups. Boat tail bullets come into their own at longer ranges where wind is more of a factor.
I second the Hornady 75 as a general-purpose bullet in .223 - it's my go-to for Highpower competition - BTHP at 200 & 300, A-Max at 600+.
I second the Hornady 75 as a general-purpose bullet in .223 - it's my go-to for Highpower competition - BTHP at 200 & 300, A-Max at 600+.
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