55gr FMJ for reduced yardage Service Rifle matches?

[Jenrick]

I've lucked into a heck of a deal on 55gr FMJ rounds. The last time I was shooting Service Rifle I was loading all my own ammo and I was normally running 68gr for the 200 and 300, with 77gr's out at 600 (I'd have to check my notes). At the time it was costing me as much to load match rounds as I could buy cheap plinking ammo so there was no reason not too.

Now however I can shoot 55grs significantly cheaper then I could load match rounds. The two locals matches are 200 yd reduced (scaled 300 and 600) and 300 yd reduced (scaled 600). How much wind drift am I really going to see at 200 yds with a lighter bullet? I know that there's no way they'd do well at 600, but that's not an issue for a while. 300 is where I can see myself running into issues if they don't buck the wind well.

At the minimum I'll be doing a lot of practice shooting with them, I'm just thinking they may be a big cost saver for me while I get back into service rifle.

-Jenrick

 

[wanderinwalker]

At 2 and 3, it's not so much the wind-drift but the accuracy of those FMJs I'd be concerned about. How hard can you hold? I'd be really impressed with an FMJ load that could hold the 9-ring of an SR-63 (600 reduced to 300).

Honestly, I'd reserve the FMJs for things like 200-yard offhand and sitting rapid practice. Break out the good match hollow points for shooting prone slow. Eventually I would try to stick with just 68-69gr bullets for 2 and 3. For 600 I've found nothing like a good shooting 80gr load.

Good luck and hold hard!

 

[rcmodel]

55 grain FMJ-BT are notorious for poor accuracy.

You want to win matches, you have to shoot the most accurate bullets you can buy.

Same exact load except for the bullets.
55 grain Nosler Ballistic-Tip vs 55 grain Win FMJ-BT at 100 yards.



rc

 

[Walkalong]

When it comes to 55 Gr FMJ bullets they use the cheapest jackets (The thickness is not as even all the way around), and they have crappy bases. The base is everything for accuracy. The concentricity of the jackets is paramount as well. The best jackets are used for match bullets. If the jacket is thin on one side and thick on the other, the lead is out of balance. Like an unbalanced tire.

For accuracy you need a good base, a good jacket, and consistent shape and weight.

Yea, they're cheap, but that's the only good thing about them.

rcmodel's target is a classic example of a 55 Gr FMJ vs any decent open tip, soft point, or ballistic tip bullet.

 

[Jenrick]

Yeah know that's a great point about jacket consistency that I hadn't considered. I need to go out to the range and see what these will actually do in my rifle. Well if nothing else, they should work well for short range indoor practice.

-Jenrick

 

[TrickyDick]

"55 grain FMJ-BT are notorious for poor accuracy."


I learned this the hard way at my first match last sunday.
I used 55gr FMJ BT (remington, so crappier than usual)
on top of 24.5 gr of H335. I was hitting low and right at 300, and was a bit scattered at 200 in center mass, although, i had something to do with that as well.

Next time, I'm switching to 62gr SP and changing my front post to a thinner profile, and investing in a sling, since i didn't have one and could've used it.

 

[rcmodel]

Yeah know that's a great point about jacket consistency that I hand't considered

IMO: The inconstant bullet bases on FMJ are a far more important accuracy destroyer.

A crooked bullet base comes out of the muzzle with more gas pressure escaping on one side then the other.
Sending the bullet wobbling off down range.
Just exactly like a bad barrel crown.

Except a bad barrel crown can reasonably be expected to tip every bullet exactly the same direction, and it sometimes just works itself out.

Bullets of any other type, with the jacket hole in the nose, are very likely to have a perfectly flat, solid copper jacket base that leaves the barrel cleanly with equal gas pressure escaping all around it.

So it flys straighter from the get-go.

Also IMO:
And that is much more critical then a perfect bullet jacket thickness.

rc

 

[Walkalong]

I agree, which is why I put them in the order and the way that I did.

The base is everything for accuracy. The concentricity of the jackets is paramount as well.

If it has a good base and comes out OK, but the jacket is crap, it won't shoot great. Decent maybe, but not great. If the base is crap, and the jacket is crap, it really won't shoot well. It starts out crooked as a dogs hind leg, and then the off balance bullet adds to it. Zero chance for accuracy.

 

[Jim Watson]

A friend had a supply of WWB for highpower short lines. He said it was plenty accurate for that and let him save his carefully reloaded ammo for 600 yard slowfire.

But when he went to demonstrate this, the WWB did not do the job. It was not accurate enough to tell whether an out shot was the round or the hold. He concluded the ammo was "stale." OK.

 

[Jenrick]

Well at least at 200yd the 55 gr's do the job as well as the 68's I was running in my old service rifle. I could probably wring a few more 10's or X's out with some serious handloading, but I'm going to replace this upper for a White Oak Armament soon as I can. No point in doing load work for this one then.

These will definitely work for practice and reduce distance matches.

-Jenrick