armoredman
Member
I started a thread on this on a different forum, and it quickly blew up because someone didn't understand what I wrote, so I will try here. Hopefully I am precise and clear, with a group that has proven professional and helpful in the past, thank you very much. We'll start off with the obvious - I am not God's gift to rifle shooting, BUT I can hit minute of bad guy steel standing at 200 yards with a red dot, so I am not the worst rifle shot in the world...just close. Second, the rifle in question is using a Bear Creek Arsenal .223 Wylde barrel, and many people have had tons of negative comments about BCA. This is the one I use to hit the steel at 200 yards, so I guess it must be OK, at least to my low standards.
So, after that dramatic entrance, lets get down to business.
I traded off some unwanted ammo, (yes, even in these times), for some reloading components. The gentleman thought he was cheating me, (he wasn't), and insisted on giving me, as he put it, "a consolation prize", which was 78 ArmsCorp 40gr JHP bullets intended for the 22 TCM round. At least, that's what my research on the 'net seemed to show. Nifty, but nothing I had ever played with before. I'd loaded 40 grainers in the past with good results, but they were all MADE for .223 Remington, and these aren't. First - they load short, with a COAL of 2.060. That was right in the crimp groove, so I assumed good. Today after voting I took my two tester loads out to the range, let freedom ring on the steel or something like that. Groups fired front rested at 50 yards on paper, red dot optic.
The rounds left a LOT of empty air at the front of the magazine, but my FrankenRifle worked flawlessly, nice. The first set with 27 grains of H-335 was pretty wide, with an average of about 3 to 3.5 inches at 50. WAY big a group for a rifle that, while not a MOA shooter by any means, has certainly done better than that! I was thinking, nope, this bullet is not for me, but the second set with 24 grains of IMR 3031 dropped the group down to an average of 2 inches. Certainly not great, as that would translate roughly to 4MOA, barely military spec. I want to improve this to be a little coyote buster, iff possible.
Now, I would say it might be important to remember this bullet was reportedly designed for a twist rate of 1-15, not 1-9. I half expected them to disintegrate in air. That was a pleasant surprise when they didn't.
After all this blathering with no pictures, ( the internet is so slow right now I can't upload a single photo anywhere), I was wondering if anyone else here had played with this bullet in .223? Thank you for any constructive replies, much appreciated.
So, after that dramatic entrance, lets get down to business.
I traded off some unwanted ammo, (yes, even in these times), for some reloading components. The gentleman thought he was cheating me, (he wasn't), and insisted on giving me, as he put it, "a consolation prize", which was 78 ArmsCorp 40gr JHP bullets intended for the 22 TCM round. At least, that's what my research on the 'net seemed to show. Nifty, but nothing I had ever played with before. I'd loaded 40 grainers in the past with good results, but they were all MADE for .223 Remington, and these aren't. First - they load short, with a COAL of 2.060. That was right in the crimp groove, so I assumed good. Today after voting I took my two tester loads out to the range, let freedom ring on the steel or something like that. Groups fired front rested at 50 yards on paper, red dot optic.
The rounds left a LOT of empty air at the front of the magazine, but my FrankenRifle worked flawlessly, nice. The first set with 27 grains of H-335 was pretty wide, with an average of about 3 to 3.5 inches at 50. WAY big a group for a rifle that, while not a MOA shooter by any means, has certainly done better than that! I was thinking, nope, this bullet is not for me, but the second set with 24 grains of IMR 3031 dropped the group down to an average of 2 inches. Certainly not great, as that would translate roughly to 4MOA, barely military spec. I want to improve this to be a little coyote buster, iff possible.
Now, I would say it might be important to remember this bullet was reportedly designed for a twist rate of 1-15, not 1-9. I half expected them to disintegrate in air. That was a pleasant surprise when they didn't.
After all this blathering with no pictures, ( the internet is so slow right now I can't upload a single photo anywhere), I was wondering if anyone else here had played with this bullet in .223? Thank you for any constructive replies, much appreciated.