bullet weight for 223

[goshooting]

i,m wandering will a 75 grain bthp work good in a 26 inch barrel with a 1/9 twist as far as stabeling goes

 

[dagger dog]

Probably will but sometimes the 75 grain is just on the cusp for the 1 in 9 twist to stabilize, buy or beg a few and try them in your rifle.

Welcome to the High Road!

 

[goshooting]

thanks . thinking of buying box of 100 hornady a-max

 

[loadedround]

From my experience with my two AR's, I wouldn't go over a 62 gr bullet for a 1/9 barrel twist. The 69 gr and the 75 gr may work in your rifle but I would not expect to see decent grouping. I happened to buy a pristine Colt AR Carbine with a 1/7 twist very cheaply because the previous owner did not understand twist/bullet weights relationship. He was shooting 55 gr bullets in that 1/7 barrel and could understand why the Colt AR wouldn't group. With 69gr match bullets, I can get close to 1/2'' groups from a steady rest. YMMV however.

 

[MtnCreek]

IME, 75gr a-max would not stabilize in a 1:9; oddly, a 77gr SMK would.

 

[LTR shooter]

The 75 Hornady stabilized in my 26" Savage 12BVSS with 1 in 9" twist. The 69 Sierra BTHP Match shoots really well in the Savage and my 700LTR with a 1 in 9" twist.

 

[kingmt]

I haven't tried it but in mine 45 & 55 shoot well while 65 not so good.

 

[Waywatcher]

In my limited testing in my 1:9" twist AR, 55>69>75 as far as accuracy goes.

 

[goshooting]

thanks all tried some 69 grain sierra matchking hpbt-match and was equal to hornady 55 gr v-max. But also found out that butches dore shine was not getting out the cooper i had to drive 2 hours away to find good cooper solvent. found barnes cr 10 wich does better than butches but was told sweets 7.62 was better so i'll try sweets next time i get down that way. never had a gun before that gets cooper fouled after only 10 shots, according to a bore scope and the first patch almost bends the cleaning rod in half. so may end up with a new barrel only shot 1000 to 1500 thru factory barrel. thanks for all your answers and time.

 

[EddieNFL]

Weight doesn't matter. Check the length.

 

[bigedp51]

Three words......................

Foam Bore Cleaner



http://bulletin.accurateshooter.com/2007/07/borescope-video-factory-vs-custom-barrels/

Below a custom hand lapped barrel.



Below, standard factory button rifled barrels

 

[helotaxi]

As mentioned, length, not weight is what matters for stability. Most 1/9 rifles will not stabilize the 75gn A-Max but will do fine with the 75gn BTHP which is a shorter bullet. The 77gn SMK is quite short for its weight and shoots fine. I have a 1:9 AR with a 16" barrel and a 1:9 Savage with a 26" barrel and both shoot 69gn Noslers and 75gn Hornady BTHP extremely well. They also both shoot light bullets very well. A shooter is a shooter, bullet weight and twist have precious little to do with that as long as the twist is enough to stabilize the bullet.

^^^and I would hardly call that button rifling job "standard." That was done with a worn cutter that chattered all the way down the bore.

 

[oldfortyfiveauto]

Since buying a Hawkeye borecope I've found that most production barrel must be done with dull tooling.

 

[ArchAngelCD]

Is there a specific reason for wanting to use a 75gr A-Max bullet?

Unfortunately in .224" the next lightest A-Max is all the way down to 52gr. I'm betting something in the 62gr range would be best with a 1:9 twist. My Howa has a 1:12 twist so I can't use any bullets over 60gr and sometimes if they are long enough not even 60gr bullets will work. I usually shoot 52gr, 53gr and 55gr bullets in my 223 rifle.

How about Hornady V-Max bullets instead? Hornady has 52gr, 55gr and 60gr V-Max bullets in .224" which I'm sure will all work well in a 1:9 twist barrel. (unless there's a specific reason why you need a 75gr bullet)

 

[DANNY-L]

Those bullets wouldn't stabalize in my 1/9 mini

 

[helotaxi]

The 60gn V-Max is a ballistic pig thanks to the flat base. The new 53gn V-max is ballistically superior in every way.

Hornady makes the 68gn HPBT match bullet as well as a 75gn HPBT match. The 68gn will stabilize with some margin and the 75gn should stabilize as well in a 1:9 barrel. Either of those are superior to any V-max bullet at longer ranges.

All of them are accurate and the drop is predictable, but unless the wind never blows where you are, higher BC is your friend at any kind of range beyond 100yds or so.

 

[wingman]

My 223's(bolts,26 and 24 inch barrels) both shoot better with 52 grain match neither groups the 68 and above weight well, 1/9 twist.

 

[helotaxi]

Every rifle is different. Until I had a couple hundred rounds down the tube my Savage wouldn't group anything lighter than 69gn SMK worth crap. 53gn SMK looked more like a shotgun pattern than a group. Now it will shoot pretty much anything at least reasonably well up to the 75gn HPBT (with the exception of the Barnes 50gn Varmint Grenade. I quit trying to work up a load with those for that rifle. My 1:9 AR shoots them great).

 

[amlevin]

Sometimes it's not necessarily the bullet weight in a barrel with a given twist rate, but the quality of the bullet itself. If a bullet is not concentric and wobbles when it spins it won't be as accurate as a precision made bullet of the same weight in the same barrel.

If buying bulk "made by the bazillion" inexpensive bullets don't expect the same accuracy as a match or premium hunting bullet that has uniform jacket thickness as well as uniformity of mass around its axis.

 

[Steve in PA]

Hornady 75gr BTHP shoots great out of my Savage 12FV with a 1:9 twist and a 26" barrel. These targets are 3-round groups shoot at 100yds from a bench.





My Savage.

 

[W.E.G.]

Those bullets wouldn't stabalize in my 1/9 mini

 

[SilentVectorX]

Not to flame, but I lol'ed.

Those bullets wouldn't stabalize in my 1/9 mini

 

[goshooting]

thanks for all the replys. archangel wanted to try heavier bullet for more accuracy i know what the hornady 55 gr v-max does and not happy with it. but now thinking it might be barrel not as accurat as i want , prolly need a laped barrel by schellen or hart or someone. thanks again

 

[oldfortyfiveauto]

My Savage with the 1:9 tumbles the 75's...

 

[Txhillbilly]

My Savage 12 likes both the 75gr BTHP Match,and 75gr Amax.But each barrel is a little different.