• This Forum is for adults 18 years of age or over. By continuing to use this Forum you are confirming that you are 18 or older. No content shall be viewed by any person under 18 in California.

Tumbling bullets. Gun or reloads?

Nowhere Man

A buddy has a Savage 12FT/R in .223 Firing a string of 30 rounds will result in 1 or 2 bullets tumbling at 100 yards. The other 28 will group exceptionally well. The tumblers will be on the same plane as its counterparts but usually 5-6" to the right.

Savage says they fired 10 rounds, 2-5 round groups of .4" at 100 yards and returned the rifle to him.

How is it possible to get 1 or 2 flyers out of a gun when the other 28 hit the mark? I'm stumped......
 
Tumbling usually is due to undersized bullets which is not spin stabilized - I would check the bullets diameter first.
 
Nowhere Man said:
A buddy has a Savage 12FT/R in .223 Firing a string of 30 rounds will result in 1 or 2 bullets tumbling at 100 yards. The other 28 will group exceptionally well. The tumblers will be on the same plane as its counterparts but usually 5-6" to the right.

Savage says they fired 10 rounds, 2-5 round groups of .4" at 100 yards and returned the rifle to him.

How is it possible to get 1 or 2 flyers out of a gun when the other 28 hit the mark? I'm stumped......
Click to expand...

It would help if you told the type of bullet and the twist rate. I have a PhD in tumblie bullets ;)

Comettails001_zps57b16a5f.jpg
 
Nowhere Man said:
I'll pass it on. Thanks.
Click to expand...
It's easy to find out if what I said is true, just use a good pair of calipers or better still a micrometer and check 50-100 bullets. At the rate he is seeing a problem, an undersized bullet will show up.

You have not told us if he is shooting factory or reloads?
 
I have the same rifle with a 1/7 twist. I cannot use 55 gr rounds, either factory or handload. They either disintegrate or hit the target sideways at 100 yards. After that occurred, I stick with minimum 69 gr.
 
That's interesting. I've shot lots of 55gr bullets out of my 1:7 twist with no problem and I am pretty sure most people find them compatible.
 
jlow said:
That's interesting. I've shot lots of 55gr bullets out of my 1:7 twist with no problem and I am pretty sure most people find them compatible.
Click to expand...


Yup........ every barrel is different.......... and I`ve saw it both ways....... not enough twist.... and too much twist.......
 
Bullets are 77 gn SMK's, Lapua brass, and 25.2 gn of CFE-223 powder. Chrono'd velocity averaged 2,885 fps. (I'm the buddy with the tumbler problem).

John
 
Wow thats crazy, I've shot and they shoot extremely well and super accurate the federal 50gr varmint tipped out of my 1/7 twist and also the 55gr fmj with no problems. Of course it's a 16 inch m4 barrel.. My buddy has the keyhole problem with anything over 55gr but he's shooting a bolt action that's probably 1/12 twist.. 62gr will keyhole like crazy at 100 yards for him..

As the previous post says, are you sure about the twist rate?? That's nuts...
 
The Savage FTR .223 Rem some buddies shoot loves 80 SMKs and hates 50-55 grain bullets. Once we realized what was happening, we didn't bother to try and fix it, we just rolled with it.

Life's too short to try and make rifles shoot bullets they don't like. Find one they do like, and be glad you did.
 
Berger.Fan222 said:
The Savage FTR .223 Rem some buddies shoot loves 80 SMKs and hates 50-55 grain bullets. Once we realized what was happening, we didn't bother to try and fix it, we just rolled with it.

Life's too short to try and make rifles shoot bullets they don't like. Find one they do like, and be glad you did.
Click to expand...
I think one of mine is 9-5 twist . Larry
 
Probably a bad batch of bullets.

Had this happen with Factory 7mm-08 140gr Remingtion Accutip. They broke in half in mid air. Found 2 pieces from 2 different bullets and they broke in the same place.

Factory 140gr corelokts shot fine so do my 140gr & 175gr handloads. 9.5 twist barrel.
 
Which shots are tumbling? First couple? Last couple? Somewhere in between? I do know what happens when my competition guns start heating up. Accuracy goes south as fast as temperature rises beyond that acceptable level. Expansion in the bore is detrimental to bullet stabilization and even heavy barrels expand to a degree. If slow, methodical, shooting, I would check into bullet quality. If more of a rapid fire, I would look at barrel expansion and possibly a cooler burning powder. A lot of PD shooters are using different cooling methods to keep their rifles in "shootable" temperatures. If I can't hold my barrel, I will not fire the gun. Seen too many ruined...especially inexperienced shooters emptying ARs as fast as they can....smokin' is a term that comes to mind.

Just my opinion and experience.

Steve :)
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.

Upgrades & Donations

This Forum's expenses are primarily paid by member contributions. You can upgrade your Forum membership in seconds. Gold and Silver members get unlimited FREE classifieds for one year. Gold members can upload custom avatars.


Click Upgrade Membership Button ABOVE to get Gold or Silver Status.

You can also donate any amount, large or small, with the button below. Include your Forum Name in the PayPal Notes field.


To DONATE by CHECK, or make a recurring donation, CLICK HERE to learn how.

Classified Ads

Forum statistics

Threads
165,050
Messages
2,188,971
Members
78,678
Latest member
Janusz

Share This Page

Back
Top