Super accurate 223 load

Ru4real

Ru4real

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Bought a Savage 12 BTCSS. Great gun! Shot it against my Colt Match AR, Krieger barrel, today. Colt won 2 of 4, but only barely with one tie. Four different loads, 77gr, 70gr, 65gr, 55gr. All 8 five round groups at 100 yards were sub MOA. Bipod front, sand bag rear. Raining, windy and 37F no less! Luck helps :)

I shot a 1/4” one hole group with the Savage. Colt can’t beat it, right? And then the Colt puts down a matching 1/4” group. Not expecting two one-hole groups, back-to-back, different guns, same load. All my 223’s shoots this load well, so I’m sharing.

Sierra 55gr Gameking #1390 BTHP over 22gr LT-32.
Federal or CCI non-Mag primer.
My OAL is 2.250” but don’t seem to matter much.
 
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I've found exceptional transferability from 27.3grn of Varget under 50 Vmax's. I've shot it in literally hundreds of 223/5.56's over the years and have handed it to dozens of other shooters (having been handed that load by another shooter over 20yrs ago), and have generally considered - if a rifle doesn't shoot well with this load, there's something wrong with the rifle. It's the kind of stuff which ends up in books like the "Pet Loads" manual.
 
Varminterror said:
I've found exceptional transferability from 27.3grn of Varget under 50 Vmax's. I've shot it in literally hundreds of 223/5.56's over the years and have handed it to dozens of other shooters (having been handed that load by another shooter over 20yrs ago), and have generally considered - if a rifle doesn't shoot well with this load, there's something wrong with the rifle. It's the kind of stuff which ends up in books like the "Pet Loads" manual.
Click to expand...

Agree fully. I’m a big fan of Varget in 223 as well and I load it for several different bullet weights.

I’m not sure why LT-32 works with the Sierra 55gr BTHP. Magic.
 
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My .223 accuracy load:

Bullet: 55 grain Sierra BTHP
Case: TW 67
Powder: 24.5 grains IMR 3031
Primer: Winchester

My target is at 125 yards. On a good day my Remington 700 with 26" barrel makes 5/8-3/4 inch five shot groups with that load. Used in that load, the 53 grain Barnes TSX bullet results in groups that are very slightly larger than the Sierra.

My CZ 427 also likes that load. The Sako, not so much.
 
My standards are not quite so high. I just want to beat the best factory ammo I’ve tried. The best so far has been a 77 grain SMK (no cannelure) over CFE 223. It consistently groups under 1.5 MOA from my 20” AR (carry handle sights) and about 3/4 MOA from my 16” rifle (scoped). From my 16” rifle, a 75 grain Hornady HPBT shoot under 3/4 MOA but my 20” barrel hates it, limiting its usefulness.
 
On the subject of load work-ups and pet loads, I think sometimes we get a little TOO wound around the axle and wandering down rabbit holes of experimenting. There are some combinations of powders/bullets in many cartridges that are just known to work.

For .223 Remington/5.56x45mm, off the top of my head:

69 grain Sierra or Nosler match HPBT
25.0 grain Hodgdon Varget
CCI BR-4 or Remington 7 1/2 primer
Processed Lake City cases
Seat to 2.25" OAL

52 grain Sierra or Nosler match HPBT
26.0 grain Winchester 748
Remington 7 1/2 or CCI 450 SRM primer
Processed Lake City cases
Seat to 2.23" OAL (these are stubby little bullets, you have to seat them short to get enough bullet into the case neck)

Depending on your manual these are right at the edge of their maximum charge weights, so work up to them. But I will say I've used both of these loads in multiple different AR-15 barrels with different chambers and twist rates, as well as a CZ-527 with a 20" 1-9" twist barrel, and all of them have produced groups somewhere between more than acceptable and great.
 
I'm using CFE223 and H-335 at this point.
I enjoy the sand-like metering through my Dillon 550. 1 MOA is achievable at 100 yds through a standard chrome lined M4 style AR, using 7 cent M193 projectiles..... and I've only just begun.

Using 69gr RMRs and CFE 223, I'm getting 1 MOA at 200 yds using my Colt CAR-A3

If I ever get a bolt gun and want to get super tight with my groupings.....I'd try one of the Xtreme series extruded powders like Varget Or H4895 and trickle them to the tenth........yatta, yatta. Single batch LC brass, uniform flash holes, etc.
Takes a lot longer to load per round, but you may only shoot 10-20 rounds per range session....so the low volume shooting makes the extra precision steps worth while.
Haven't got there yet, maybe never will.
 
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I was a fan of Varget for a long time and when I ran out I could have found a do-do quicker so I switched to H 322 and to my surprise found it gave me slightly better groups but only slightly. The upside was it didn't crunch in the powder measure and was available so I stocked up on it and have desire to return to Varget. The 223 was designed as a varmint round and is an excellent one. I really have no interest in shooting long heavy bullets in this caliber..
 
I found a start to mid range load of H322 to be very accurate.
Also about a max load of RE7. But RE7 won't cycle a normal semi auto gas system. Its good for manually cycled guns. Also I haven't seen any RE7 loads for heavier bullets.
 
N555 said:
I found a start to mid range load of H322 to be very accurate.
Also about a max load of RE7. But RE7 won't cycle a normal semi auto gas system. Its good for manually cycled guns. Also I haven't seen any RE7 loads for heavier bullets.
Click to expand...
I got two pounds of 10x, talk about powder you don't see discussed or loads for.
 
N555 said:
10x seems like it would be real close to H322. I saw it a year or 2 ago on a store shelf and looked it up that's the only reason I know.
Click to expand...
I got from a pawn shop before they realized the powder price change. They were always a rip off but I bought 10 pounds at 32 ish dollars where everyone else was 40 or out. I was curious to use it to build a 55 or 62 grain load for my mini14
 
I remember 25 years ago when 10x was a pretty big deal. I had a pound of the high pressure re-call stuff.
 
Ru4real said:
.........

.........
I shot a 1/4” one hole group with the Savage.

Sierra 55gr BTHP over 22gr LT-32.
Federal or CCI non-Mag primer.
My OAL is 2.250” but don’t seem to matter much.
Click to expand...

Which Sierra bullet are you using. I'm going to bet it's the #1390. I have a load with that bullet over 25.0gr of Varget which shoots sub 1/2 MOA 5 shot groups all day long in my Howa 1500 bolt action rifle. That particular bullet seems to be magic!
 
those look like my prairie dog rifles. both like either serria or nosler 55gr bt 55 gr bullets using h335.
 
20230128_121257.jpg

This is a league target that was shot at 100yds.. The very top left target is 1" diameter.. The bottom right target is 7/8" dia.. These are 69gr Sierra MK over Accurate 2460 shot thru a Savage model 11 with a 26" Savage model 12 Barrel.
 
ArchAngelCD said:
Which Sierra bullet are you using. I'm going to bet it's the #1390. I have a load with that bullet over 25.0gr of Varget which shoots sub 1/2 MOA 5 shot groups all day long in my Howa 1500 bolt action rifle. That particular bullet seems to be magic!
Click to expand...

Yup, 1390 Gameking
 
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