Good Load For a 223 Remington 24"

[trapper500]

Iam looking for a good varmit load for a 223 what do you guys use

 

[steve4102]

Depends on the bullet weight. Light bullets I like XT/2230, heavy bullets I like Tac and Varget.

 

[KansasPaul]

Any idea of barrel twist? 1/12 - stay with the light bullets (<55 grn) 1/9 - anywhere from 50 to 62 grn.

Super-Accurate .223 Handloads
BULLET POWDER GRNS VELOCITY ( OVERALL LENGTH (inches) DATA SOURCE
Speer 52-gr. Match BTHP W748 27.5 3397 2.240 L. Simpson
Sierra 53-gr. HP MatchKing TAC 26.0 3219 2.240 L. Simpson
Hornady 55-gr. V-Max Varget 27.0 3344 2.240 Hodgdon
Nosler 55-gr. Ballistic Tip Reloder 7 22.5 3284 2.250 L. Simpson
Sierra 55-gr. BlitzKing VV N-130 24.0 3300 2.250 Sierra
Nosler 60-gr. Partition Benchmark 22.5 3048 2.260 Nosler
Sierra 60-gr. HP VV N-133 24.0 3100 2.250 Sierra
Berger 64-gr. HP Match H335 25.0 3928 2.250 Les Baer
Hornady 75-gr. A-Max W748 23.3 2600 2.390 Hornady
Hornady 75-gr. A-Max H4895 24.5 2861 2.273 Les Baer
Hornady 75-gr. BTHP BL-C(2) 24.4 2600 2.250 Hornady
Swift 75-gr. Scirocco Varget 23.0 2714 2.270 L. Simpson
Sierra 77-gr. MatchKing Reloder 15 24.0 2648 2.260 L. Simpson
Berger 80-gr. VLD H4895 23.7 2744 2.350 Les Baer
Hornady 80-gr. A-Max Varget 24.4 2752 2.230 L. Simpson
Nosler 80-gr. J4 Comp H335 22.5 2719 2.450 L. Simpson
Sierra 80-gr. MatchKing Reloder 15 23.8 2600 2.550 Sierra
Berger 90-gr. VLD Reloder 15 22.0 2611 2.635 L. Simpson
Berger 90-gr. VLD VV N-550 23.0 2574 2.635 L. Simpson
Berger 90-gr. VLD IMR-4320 22.0 2561 2.635 L. Simpson
Sierra 90-gr. MatchKing H4895 21.7 2600 2.550 Sierra
Sierra 90-gr. MatchKing IMR-4064 22.4 2600 2.550 Sierra

 

[TonyAngel]

What's the rifle, what kind of varmints and at what distances?

 

[trapper500]

223 Load

Iam adding the 24"bull barrel to my NEF Handi-Rifle iam ordering it in July & iam looking for some good accurate loads to work up

 

[ArchAngelCD]

For use in my bolt action rifle I found a very accurate sub 1/2MOA load. It's a Sierra 55gr GameKing bullet (#1390) over 25.0gr Varget. When I sent that load over the chrono it was on the slow side (AV 2797 fps) so I tried 26.0gr Varget and the accuracy was just as good but the velocity was better. (AV 2996)

 

[TonyAngel]

Kinda shootin the dark, not knowing the twist of the barrel or the intended quarry, but generally speaking, I've had good luck with Sierra bullets in the 50 something grain range with Varget Powder and Remington bench rest primers using Lake City brass from a trusted source.

 

[tri70]

I like Nosler 55 bt and 21.5 gr RL7, also same bullet and 24.5 gr H335.
Hornady 60 Vmax and 22 gr RL10 col 2.260 on both.

 

[m6tlogistics]

26 grains 4895 for 52-55 grain projectiles

 

[cougar1717]

My favorites are H335 and Re-10x for 55gr; Tac for 68gr+.

 

[KansasPaul]

I'm about 99% sure that the twist rate of NEF .223 barrels is 1/12. A quick call to their customer service will confirm this. At one time I owned a Handi-rifle in .223. It really liked 50 grain bullets. It might take a bit of experimentation. I'm a huge fan of Varget but I've never really played with it for light bullets -

Have fun! For me, working up the load is the most fun.

Paul

 

[cfullgraf]

I use Accurate 2230 with 55 grain bullets, any style, for 223 Remington. I use Varget for 69 Sierra SMK loads.

Check a reputable reloading source for powder charges.