Factory ammo

[Mr.Snerdly]

I recently bought some Winchester factory ammo, 223 55 grain bullet. Some shot good, some so so and some not so good. I had a 7/16" group which is about as good as I ever did with the light bullets and a 13/16" which isn't horrible but also a 1.1" and 1.25". I know I am not perfect but I think the group sizes were more than just simple error on my part. I decided to break down the bullets save the powder and primers. The brass and primers were the reason I even ordered them. Anyway, I was curious as to how uniform they are and I was shocked to find out the powder charges could be off by over 2 grains, not tenths of a grain but full grains. There was only one off that far but they varied considerably overall. The bullet weights were fairly uniform but not as uniform as Sierra bullets. Is it common for factory ammo to be like this?

[Dave Hoback]

I do the same with 223. Besides my fired LC brass, which is for my regular loads, I like picking up some of the Norma TAC ammo. They are 55gr and it’s good range/fun ammo. But afterwards, I have the fantastic Norma brass to load with the good good bullets.

[CFJunkie]

Don't feel bad.
I have always had accuracy issues with 55 grain bullets, most seem to be manufactured just to go bang and not necessarily to hit where I aim.
As Dave indicates, there may be a few that shoot pretty well, but you have to hunt for them.

I have had really good results with the 55 grain Berger Flat Base #22410 bullets in hand loads but they are sensitive to where they are seated.

Most .223 factory ammos are manufactured for ARs and especially the heavier bullets are seated to fit the AR magazines.
If you hand load for a bolt action, I find that I have to seat the heavy bullets out further than an AR mag will allow to get accuracy.

[Dave Hoback]

Exactly. True accuracy with 223 & the heavier pills, the OAL needs to be longer than the 2.26” MAX for AR magazine.

[celltech]

A guy on Snipers Hide recently came close to blowing up his AR with some "premium" Berger 77gr ammo. When he pulled a box of them down the charge weight spread was horrendous.

https://www.snipershide.com/shooting/threads/safety-warning-for-berger-77-grain-otm-tactical-factory-loaded-ammunition.7086892/

[Mr.Snerdly]

Don't feel bad.

If you hand load for a bolt action, I find that I have to seat the heavy bullets out further than an AR mag will allow to get accuracy.

That is interesting. I have found in my guns it doesn't make much difference on the distance to lands, at least not with the 69 and 77 grain Sierras. The Axis has an extremely long throat and the 69 grain bullets are.060-.070 off the lands. I have read some of your postings and realize that you get very, very small groups. I am not that good but with the 69 grain am usually a half inch at 100 yards or a little less, occasionally 1/4" but to say I do that regularly would be BS. A half inch or a little less is probably about the limit of my ability. if I shot better maybe I would see an advantage to the closer distance.

[CFJunkie]

All the light bullets will fall out of the neck before they will seat in the lands, so you are right, loading out will probably not make any difference.
I believe that the problem with the 55 grain bullets is the shapes of the old bullet designs that the manufacturers fit in their factory ammos.
The Berger 55s are not your father's bullet shape and they work really well in my rifles.

With the heavier bullets, particularly the match grade bullets, they will touch the lands if you load them out.
It is possible your rifle is ambivalent to jump distances. If so, that's great.

I know the feeling of not being able to see the impact of tuning hand loads.
There was a point, with my shooter induced variations, that I couldn't measure the minor differences in changes I made to hand loads.
It took me two years of working on my technique to get to the point where I could see the minor differences that things like jump and bullet shape can make.
The effort was really worth it.

I now shoot a lot more consistently and more accurately than I did when I thought I was doing everything right and couldn't get any better.
After working at it, I found out that really I needed to work on my consistency and, after a lot of work at it, I'm glad I did.
I probably still could improve but all the easy fixes have been fixed and I am not sure what else to do.
Any suggestions would be welcomed.

[charlie b]

You are probably at the point you need to sit down with a good benchrest shooter to see what improvements you might be able to make.

I know I could benefit from some good coaching, but, I don't know of any close by. Most guys I have run into at the range here shoot the same I do or not as well.