I'm looking at shooting 300 and 600 yds. I have a 24" heavy spiral flute barrel 1:8 twist. Can anyone advise me on what grain 223 shoots best at these ranges and is it possible to use factory match grade ammo to be competitive with, if so recommendations for brand and grain would be greatly appreciated.
What gr 223 for 1:8 24" barrel
- Thread starter Jared Hitch
- Start date
Hornady 75 or 80 grain ELD-Match, Sierra 80 gr, Berger 80 gr VLD or 80.5 gr fullbore. JLK is apparently going to be up again in the near future, if you can wait, since they may get back to making the 80 gr VLD with rebated rim. If you get that one, jam it 10 thousandths into the lands. That's what Swampy told me, and I won a 600 yd match doing that with an 8 twist barrel. The other listed bullets are easier to tune, and I'd personally opt for the Hornady of either weight. Factory 80 gr ammo will most likely do just fine. I've been impressed with a lot of factory loads in the past few years.
I have been told that the 77 gr Norma shoots very well. Thanks
I will definitely look at trying these and see which one performs the best with my setup. Thanks
My factory 700 with a 9 twist shoots the 70gr RDF with AR Comp into 1 inch groups at 300 with annoying regularity.
Try Sierra's 80 grain Match King's, they are a common bullet in use at 600 yards. 2.470" OAL +/- .005" is normally used in .223 Wylde chambers. Don't jam the rifling without lowering the powder charge first.
My personal preference at the 200/300 yard lines is 24.5 grains of Varget under a 69 grain Sierra Match King. People will state that 75/77 grain bullets have better B.C.'s, but the 69 grain loads hammer at this distance and are 100 fps faster which helps reduce wind deflection. If you can't shoot high X count cleans with this bullet you need to practice more.
Stick with one powder and one bullet brand across the course. Mixing things up can cause issues on the first couple of shots. RE-15, Varget, IMR-8208, H4895 and VihtaVuori N140 all perform well in .223 spaceguns.
My personal preference at the 200/300 yard lines is 24.5 grains of Varget under a 69 grain Sierra Match King. People will state that 75/77 grain bullets have better B.C.'s, but the 69 grain loads hammer at this distance and are 100 fps faster which helps reduce wind deflection. If you can't shoot high X count cleans with this bullet you need to practice more.
Stick with one powder and one bullet brand across the course. Mixing things up can cause issues on the first couple of shots. RE-15, Varget, IMR-8208, H4895 and VihtaVuori N140 all perform well in .223 spaceguns.
Thanks for the info. I do have a 223 wylde barrel. It simply slipped my mind to even mention it. I haven't got into reloading yet so I'm looking at norma 77 match grade Sierra's or noslar 77 gr custom competition as far as something available at the moment
Liven The Dream
Gold $$ Contributor
Have 2 High End AR’s 1-8 for 600 yard F/Class practice .
75 gr. Hornady HP and 80 Gr. Nosler and 80.5 Berger’s get the job done .
Shot 30 10’s and ax’s in two strings of 15 on that 600 Target with Noslers .020 jump .
75 gr. Hornady HP and 80 Gr. Nosler and 80.5 Berger’s get the job done .
Shot 30 10’s and ax’s in two strings of 15 on that 600 Target with Noslers .020 jump .
Ned Ludd
Silver $$ Contributor
The problem most encounter using the .223 Rem with light bullets at 300 and 600 yd will be the effect of the wind. Even a very small puff of wind will have a large effect on light .22 cal bullets, such as those found in factory ammunition. As long as you intend to single feed, there is simply no good reason not to take advantage of the heaviest, highest BC bullet you can load. An 8-twist is not sufficient to stabilize the Berger 90 VLD, or really even the 85.5 Hybrid, although Berger lists it as the minimum twist necessary for the 85.5, it's just a bit too slow. Further, your Wylde chamber does not have sufficient freebore to load either of those bullets optimally. However, your setup ought to work very well with the Berger 80.5 Fullbore or 80 VLD. With their high BCs, either of these bullets will allow you to shoot at 300 to 600 yard with far less wind deflection than most bullets of 77 gr or less. As has been noted, the caveat is that you have to single feed them.
Pretty much what everyone else has said here. Any of the 80, 80.5, 85.5, or 75 VLD or ELD bullets if you plan to single feed.
If you stick with mag length, the Sierra 69 or 77 gr Matchkings are the easy button. They just freaking shoot, and are very tolerant of about any jump. They're giving up a little windage, but the mechanical accuracy is there with any of them.
I was trying out a buddy's rifle at 600 yards to see if it was him or the rifle. He had 77 matchkings, mag length, 24.4 gr Varget (on the hot side, he actually reduced this afterward). I loaded up 10 in a mag, shot 2 sighters, put a 4 clicks right on, and shot the rest at basically rapids pace (1 shot every 5-7 seconds.
If you stick with mag length, the Sierra 69 or 77 gr Matchkings are the easy button. They just freaking shoot, and are very tolerant of about any jump. They're giving up a little windage, but the mechanical accuracy is there with any of them.
I was trying out a buddy's rifle at 600 yards to see if it was him or the rifle. He had 77 matchkings, mag length, 24.4 gr Varget (on the hot side, he actually reduced this afterward). I loaded up 10 in a mag, shot 2 sighters, put a 4 clicks right on, and shot the rest at basically rapids pace (1 shot every 5-7 seconds.
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For factory ammo, I would try Sig Sauer's 77gr load. Works good in my rifle.
Tough to say exactly which bullet will shoot best in your particular barrel but you'll be able to shoot up to 80 grain bullets with the 8 twist. Personally I think the 8/9 twist is best as it shoots anything from 40-80 grain bullets well. Berger's 75/80 vld will be tough to beat at your specific ranges.
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