which prefered bullet?

[bheadboy]

223 26" heavy bbl, bedded etc 700 shoots great, for pd out to 450 about max what is your favorite bullet, i have used Sierra bk 55s in my 22-250 and 50' in the 221 and 222,

curious

Bob

 

[pacificman]

The bullets I have been shooting in my .223 heavy barrel 9 twist are the 50 grain z-max. They are less expensive for prairie dogs and have been very accurate in my rifle. I have had great results with Sierra and Berger bullets as well. I shoot 55 v-max in my 22-250. I use 39 Sierra blitz in my .204. I use 30 grain Berger in my .17 Rem. and I have a load with the 25 grain v-max also. I shoot 35 grain v-max in the 22 Hornet. What I do when developing a load is pick a bullet I like then shoot at short and long range to see the accuracy. My .204 for example would shoot two bullets extremely well at 100 yards but the Sierra 39 Blitz won out at 2 and 3 hundred yards every time. Hope this info is helpful.

 

[bheadboy]

thanks,
i have had such good luck with the Sierra bk 50 and 55 i have not tried the v-max i think i will as you say they are cheaper and possible more available now.
Bob

 

[5spd]

50g Vmax, the only bullet I ever use for p-dogs to 900 yards in my .223s
Find the 50g Zmax if you can as well...same BC over all its the same bullet...about $60 at powder valley for 500.
I was buying the 50g & 55g Vmax at $25 per 250 box & 10k at a time...should of bought a pallet back then...$46 now...OW!!

 

[7x57 Shooter]

I like the 52 grain Sierra for the 22-250, speed, accuracy and blows up distant bunnies with ease.
What's not to like....

 

[Hosted]

My favorite so far in my Savage has been the Nosler 55gr Ballistic Tips. For some reason I can't get the V-Maxs to shoot as well. I really want to give the 53gr VMax a try though since they have a nice ballistic coefficient for a varmint bullet.

 

[boltman223]

The only experience I have in the prairie dog fields and that was with a 221 fb LVSF using 40 grain nos bt's. I did buy a heavy barrel 221 to help with those longer shots (thanks bheadboy, it is shooting great). So what I'm saying is all I can use for info is ballistic calculators. Looking at those I would think that the 53 gr vmax would be a no brainer. Also, using the ballistic calculator, the 40 gr nosler bt at 3700fps would be a really good choice too.

I am able to get 3700fps in my 223 with the 40 noslers and comparing ballistic tables to what I am getting with the 50 and 55's the 40 nosler looks to be flatter shooting and have less wind drift but, everyone says the 50's and 55's do better in the wind.

My next bullet choice is going to be the 53 vmaxes.

 

[K22]

The following comments pertain to hunting groundhog and predators,

In my 223's, I've had a lot of success with 50 and 55 grain Noslers with Varget and recently with H4895 since I've had trouble finding Varget.

Some of my 12" twist 223's prefer the 55 grain Noslers while others prefer the 50 grainers.

With my 14" twist 22 250, the 50 grainer work best for me behind IMR 4350 (I know - this is not a popular powder for this cartridge but it shoots sub 1/2 moa in my rifle at about 3,500 ft/sec).

The 50 and 55 Vmax's also have performed well for me as well as the Sierra 50 grain Blitz bullets in the 222 and 223.

 

[Witchhunter]

I use 40 Vmax out of my .223 and love the speed. 50's out of the Swift.

 

[stinnett1981]

The first bolt action rifle I bought is a Rem 700P chambered in .223 with a 1/9 twist 26" Remington varmint contour barrel with a H&S precision stock. I bought it about 2 years ago and its the first rifle I reloaded for. I shot about EVERY .224 bullet out of it. The hands down best bullet I ever shot out of it is the 53 grain Hornady V-Max. Its an amazing bullet! I dont understand why anybody would shoot any other .224 cal V-Max beside it. The 53 grain V-Max has the highest BC (.29) out of all the .224 V-Max's. Hornady actually list the 53 grain V-Max as a Target/Varmint bullet. All the other V-Max's are listed as only Varmint bullets. I did some testing with the 69 grain Sierra Matchkings and the 53 grain Hornady V-Max's at 500 yards. I dont have the exact number on hand, but lets just say the 53 grain V-Max won hands down! The bullet drop, wind drift, impact on steel gongs at 500 yards and accuracy almost seems like your shooting a light load in a 22-250! Im a HUGE fan of this magnificent little bullet!!!

 

[scope eye]

40 Vmax all the way for me they just work so flawlessly 223AI 12twist 4000+fps 22-250AI 14twist 4400+fps 220swiftAI 16 twist 4800+fps, and they come in 250 packs and 500packs Zmax's, and my local guy keeps them in stock just for me gotta love it.

Dean

 

[SS427]

55 grain Nosler Ballistic Tips and Sierra Blitzkings. Never have gotten V-max bullets to shoot as well, but I will be trying some of the Z-max bullets because of the lower price. I will make them work.

 

[Mr. Ten-X]

Had real good luck with the Blitz and the Hornady SX in the .223 for many years on PD's. Blow the feathers right out of them out to about 300 yards. Switched to the V-Max 50's and they are pretty effective. Beyond 300yds the 22/250 would come out for reliable fur-flying action.

 

[stinnett1981]

Kunuck you are getting 4800fps with the 40 grain V-Max? I would pay $100 to see a white fluffy bunny get hit by one of those at 50 yards

 

[scope eye]

I love hitting crows the best, it looks like one of those Daffy Duck cartoons with all the black feathers flying all over the place, and dropping for several minutes after the shot was fired,LOL

Dean

 

[BJ343]

in my Remington 700P the 55gn Nosler Bal Tips work a charm, 24.5 gns Benchmark....zen arrows

 

[Webster]

Several months ago someone clued me into how good 75 gr bullets shoot in a 223. Run some of the numbers through Bergers ballistic program.

50 gr Berger G1 BC = 0.196
75 gr Berger Match VLD G1 BC = 0.423 probably doesn't expand well. See if some else makes a 75 GR Varmint bullet.

 

[searcher]

These work best in my various .223's (no gun will shoot all well)
Please work up to these as most are NOT starting loads:


NON-LEAD
40 Gr. Nosler Lead-free ballistic tip, Rem 7 1/2 primer, 27.7 Win 748, 2.250" O.A.L. 3,500 f.p.s. The low recoil (combined with a brake) lets you see everything... Lake City brass

50 Gr. Barnes Varm. Grenade, Rem. 7 1/2 primer, 25.5 grns. TAC, 2.20" O.A.L. 3,100 F.P.S Lake City brass

50 Barnes Varmint Grenade, 24.1 IMR 8208XBR, Rem 7 1/2 primer, Lake City brass

LEAD
50 Z-MAX OR 52 A/MAX, 25.8 VARGET, 2.250" O.A.L., Rem 7 1/2 primer, 3,150 f.p.s., Winchester brass

SECRET WEAPON 52 gr. Moly-coated Berger Match, Lapua brass, Federal match primers, 24.0 IMR 8208XBR (or 24.2 grains w/o moly) Shoots .200" groups in stock Remington varmint

50 Grn. ZMAX, 23.0 RL7, Federal Match primer, Lake City brass, shoots like great match ammo for cheap!

For long range, try the Hornady 75 grain AMAX and Reloader 15 powder (either Rem 7 1/2 or Federal A/R Match primers) Wicked!

Note these loads are all fired from 9 tw. barrels (1 Shilen, 1 stock Remington and two Kriegers)

 

[AckleymanII]

I have that exact gun.......

my rifle will shoot many loads with many powders, a very accurate rifle indeed, just bedded it and adjusted the trigger.

26.0g of Vit N135 with a CCIBR-4(thick cup primer) with the 55g Nosler Ballistic tip is 3500 fps, tiny, tiny groups are the result. No other load even comes close to this load. I would advise you to try some N133 with the 50g Ballistic tips at 3600 fps and the N135 with the 55g. EXTREME accuracy with speed is a rare gift. For high volume shooting, H335 or benchmark is what I use, but the speed is way slower than the Vit powders.

I like the Nosler ballistic tip due to the thick base that does not deform during rotational stresses and will hang together longer in coyotes or what evers.