What can you do with a 1-10 twist and no freebore in a .223?

[slancey]

I just discovered a new .223 I bought recently has a 1-10" twist and almost no freebore. I've always thought of short throats working better with shorter bullets, and longer throats working for longer bullets, since the bullet is seated out of the powder space. If there is only enough space for a 40 or 50 grain bullet, what good is the faster twist?

 

[Adam in WI]

53 V-Max

 

[Coyotefurharvester]

What's the brand?

 

[Texas10]

Adam has it, 53 grain Hornaday V-Max. Killer B.C. and will shoot tiny groups. Good all 'round bullet. I load it over IMR3031, although just about any powder will do, and it's stepping out at 3350 fps. Stock Savage 12FV has put many into groups in the zero's and one's and will make short work of 4 inch clays at 500 yds.

 

[okie]

50-55 gr
sounds like the guys above like the 53 v-max...

 

[SmokinJoe]

Also Nosler 53 Varmageddon & Sierra 60 TMK should work great in that barrel.

 

[rockhound78]

SSSHHHHH about the 53 vmax!!!

 

[Ackman]

Sounds like you have a good chamber. I don't shoot long target bullets, just varmint bullets. For me zero or very little freebore in a .223, my other guns too, is the way to go. I don't shoot fast twist barrels either. But don't worry about your 10 twist, it'll work fine with the lighter varmint bullets. You never know about barrels and yours could well be fussier about what it likes, meaning that finding the best load could be more time consuming. But it can be very accurate. With a 14 twist barrel it's just stupid easy to find an accurate .223 load. But don't be thinking that with your 10 twist you need to only shoot such-and-such a bullet because that's just not so. If you want to use 50's or 55's or even go as light at 40, do it. May/may not take a bit more load workup, but those bullets will shoot just fine. There are a whole bunch of powders that work beautifully in the .223, I've used several and there are so many other good ones I wouldn't even try to list them all.

 

[DBLNUT]

I just discovered a new .223 I bought recently has a 1-10" twist and almost no freebore. I've always thought of short throats working better with shorter bullets, and longer throats working for longer bullets, since the bullet is seated out of the powder space. If there is only enough space for a 40 or 50 grain bullet, what good is the faster twist?

65 Sierra Gameking and 26.0 of Varget works great in a Tikka T3.

 

[slancey]

Thanks for the reassurance. I'll start with the Hornady 50gr SPSX and just go from there. Never had a .22 that wouldn't shoot that bullet well enough for varmints, sometimes it will shoot very well.

 

[Tommie]

53 V-Max

Bingo!

 

[B23]

As many have already suggested, the 53gr Vmax would definitely be my first choice. I've been shooting that bullet in my 9tw 223 and 223AI since it first came out and it never fails to satisfy. It's a super slippery bullet for its weight and has the highest BC of any bullet in its weight class, not to mention it has worked extremely well for me on coyotes and smaller.

 

[searcher]

I'd think that, with the short free-bore, there would be no need for a faster twist - as you noted the reasons of limitation. Anything 55 grains and under should be awesome. If you want the highest BC and heaviest practical bullet - I'd opt for the Hornady 53 VMax or a Sierra 55 Blitz King,

 

[Shawnba67]

It seems largely acedemic to argue the merits of giving up 50fps occasionally to shoot heavier bullets and still have a great varmint set up.