Small bullets in a 223 Rem 1:7 twist?

[WillFS]

I have a Shilen 223 Rem 1:7 twist barrel with about 600 rounds on it that's gathering dust. Aside from the usual heavy weight bullets that it was intended for, are there any smaller varmint or target bullets that, in your experience, may possibly shoot well with it? I shoot paper at the range, 100-300 yards.

 

[jelenko]

50-60 grain bullets should do just fine.
The only issue is over spinning them. Over spinning can cause the jacket to come off. You can 'manage' that by reducing the muzzle velocity - i.e., lower powder charges.

 

[WillFS]

50-60 grain bullets should do just fine.
The only issue is over spinning them. Over spinning can cause the jacket to come off. You can 'manage' that by reducing the muzzle velocity - i.e., lower powder charges.

Are match bullets generally more durable than varmint pills which are designed to create maximum damage?

 

[jelenko]

Are match bullets generally more durable than varmint pills which are designed to create maximum damage?

That is my understanding but I don't have direct knowledge of jacket thicknesses.

 

[Idaho-Lefty]

The Sierra 55 gr. Blitz Kings, can go Up to 4,400 FPS ( Twist NOT Specified, by Sierra ) and the 55 gr NBT's are, just,.. as Tough !
I Shoot, Both of them, in my .22-250 with, a 1-8 twist with, NO issues at,.. 3,550 to 3,650 fps.
I Do shoot, the 50 gr. V-Maxes, in my 1-14 twist .22-250 Rem at 3,600 fps ( the Accuracy Node for, This Rifle ) Fine also.

 

[swd]

Are match bullets generally more durable than varmint pills which are designed to create maximum damage?

Yes they usually have heavier jackets than varmints bullets. Try em’

 

[Stugots]

Call the manufacturer and ask them. I have done this with fast muzzle twist/velocities, and from my experiance, they have already arrived with a solution for your potential load.

 

[CF Junkie]

It will depend upon how you intend to load for the light bullets.
The problem you will find is that your barrel will probably have a pretty deep chamber to allow you to shoot 90 gr bullets. My Shilen Select Match 1:7 twist barrel does. The chamber is so deep, that I don't even bother shooting light bullets in it because the jumps would be well over 0.150.

My factory Savage 1:9 factory barrel started life with a much shorter chamber, and I shot bullets from 50 gr to 77 gr with the factory barrel. The following data is for the factory barrel.

Things to consider:
Light bullets like 52 and 53 grain SMKs tend to be about 0.70 to 0.71 inches long from bullet base to tip and have about 0.375 bullet body available from base to ogive to touch the cartridge neck if you let the ogive stay out of the neck. But the 52 gr SMKs have a 0.075 boat tail so the available bullet body is only 0.300.
The 53 SMKs are flat base the the full 0.375 can touch the neck.

(Generally, most reloaders believe that at least 1/2 caliber (0.112) of the bullet body for a .223 is needed to touch the neck if you want to have consistent neck tension. I leave it to you to decide what limit you desire to use, but for comparison, I will go with the limits that most reloaders seem to use.)
A limit of 1/2 caliber would mean that, with a SAAMI standard cartridge BTT of 1.750, you might probably have 2.260 as your maximum COAL with the 52 gr SMK and 2.338 COAL with the 53 SMK if you want to have 0.112 of bullet body in the neck. Depending on your chamber depth in your particular 1:7 twist barrel, Your probably looking at a jump of over 0.100 possibly even longer if your barrel has a VLD chamber.

With my heavier bullets, I generally am looking at jumps of 0.015 to 0.025 to get maximum accuracy.
The lighter bullets with really long jumps might shoot accurately, but in my 1:9 twist rated barrel, that shot 77 gr SMKs very accurately, the 52 gr SMKs and 53 gr SMKs generally averaged 0.285 to 00.268 respectively for 5-round groups at 100 yards.
Hornady 52 gr Match bullets averaged 0.282 for 5-round groups at 100 yards. I seated both about the same, so that put the 53s at a disadvantage.
The Hornady 53 gr V-max bullets averaged 0.279 for 5-round groups at 100 yards,

In comparison, the 69 gr and 77 gr SMKs averaged 0.243 and 0.238 for 5-round groups at 100 yards.
They were seated at 0.100 to 0.120 longer than the light bullets.

I hope this provides some info that you can use.
The light bullets can shoot accurately, but I suspect that your heavier bullets will shoot better in a barrel with deep chambers designed for heavy bullets up to 90 grains which are around 1.25 inches long.

 

[SecondsCount]

I have shot many 53 Vmax out of a 1:7.5 223AI, ~3400FPS

 

[Rickhem]

The Speer 50 grain TNT is an amazingly accurate bullet from all my .223 rifles. It shoots knots from both my R700V, with a 12 twist, and through every barrel I've had on my Service Rifle, both 7 and 8 twists. Even better that it's such an inexpensive bullet. It was my go-to for the 100 and 200 yard reduced matches.