.223 Heavy Bullets in a 1:9 twist?

I've got a Savage 11VT 1:9 twist that shoots lights out with Sierra 69gr Match Kings.

I've read where some people have had good results with the Nosler 77gr Custom Comps (slightly shorter than the SMKs).

I've literally got over a thousand of the Nosler 77s. Thinking about trying them out in the Savage.

Anybody here tried that combination?

If so, what powder and charge worked well for you?

I've got:
TAC
Varget
8208 XBR
322
335
2230
2200
X-terminator
IMR 4064
2015
2520 and
ARComp

Any help greatly appreciated!

Thanks in advance!

24-24.5gr Varget
23.2-23.8gr 8208XBR

Work up as always...

I have a 1-9 16 ar barrel that loves 77's.
Varget is a good place to look but 23+ of 8208xbr is where I'd look first.

My stock 1/9 pencil barrel shoots the Sierra 77's just fine. IMR4320

H4895 will be your new friend as well. :)

To bad you don't have Reloder 15. Mine is a 7 twist but like 23.8.

+1 for the H4895. It will give you some impressive velocities.

Thanks for the info guys. Much appreciated.

Just to clarify, this is a Savage bolt action .223

When I was doing load research I see the top powder charges are less than the recommended ones here.

I will of course work my way up (I loaded 10 with each powder charge starting with 21.5 and going up to 23.9).

Are all of you using these charges in 5.56 barrels, or are some of you using .223 chambers??

Thanks for the clarification!

H4895 will also provide excellent accuracy, part of the Hodgdon Extreme line of powders (less temperature sensitive), and burns rather clean.

The ONLY powder that does a better job the H4895, is OLD H4895 (yes, they are different powders).

77's worked in all mine.
http://www.jbmballistics.com/cgi-bin/jbmstab-5.1.cgi

Look up the length on the left, change the appropriate items, and add the velocity from your chronograph.

[QUOTE=Newbe;302150]

I've got:
TAC
Varget
8208 XBR
322
335
2230
2200
X-terminator
IMR 4064
2015
2520 and
ARComp

Hmmmmm…..so THAT'S why I can't find any powder :(

Thanks again guys!

Tac did the best for me in 223
Bechmark for 308

I built my son a 223 bull barrel Savage with 1/9 twist. His rifle LOVES the 75 grain A-Max and Hornady 75 grain BTHP's. He shoots these bullets sub MOA out to 400 yards.

Howdy,
I didn't know that a 1 in 9 would handle a 77gr bullet such as the SMK or AMAX? If it will, I might try them in my new savage 12fv. Thanks!

I regularly shoot 75 grain aAMAX in my 9 twist and they shoot awesome.

Well, I've loaded up a bunch of Hornady 75gr BTHP match and Nosler 77gr pills.

Hope to be able to get out in the next couple of weeks to try them out!

Sorry about the extended absence, but here are the results of the Nosler 77gr Custom Competition in the Savage. All groups shot at 100 yds off a bench.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...s/IMG_0620.jpg

That's good to see, and thanks for actually coming back and reporting the results. I have a Savage Model 11/111 that shoots the 75 AMAX very well with XBR 8208 and TAC. I always heard that they were too big or too long, but like you decided to try it out and see what happened

moral of the story...try it and see what happens. Just work it up safely

Quote:

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Originally Posted by icker96

That's good to see, and thanks for actually coming back and reporting the results. I have a Savage Model 11/111 that shoots the 75 AMAX very well with XBR 8208 and TAC. I always heard that they were too big or too long, but like you decided to try it out and see what happened

moral of the story...try it and see what happens. Just work it up safely

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Yeah, sorry it took so long for me to post up. I took this load out to 600 yds. Up to and including 400 yds, it held 1/2 MOA 5 shot groups.

At 600 yds, it opened up to 1 MOA due to the wind conditions. Vertical spread was still 1/2 MOA or less though.

If you look at the last two dots on the bottom of the target you'll see the impact was almost the exact same spot. These were two different (higher) powder charges (23.3 and 23.7gr) that were too hot. Kinda sucks because it looks like there was another smoking accurate node there. It's still clipping right along at the 22.4 gr charge though at around 2,735 FPS.

I just got a box of 75g A-Max and would like a good starting point for a load work up. I see your target is marked 77 Nosler, did you have similar luck with the 75's?

I load to 1.940 base to Ogive. I'm guessing you load to 1.892 with a .016 jump. Have you tried other jumps?

I'm going to shoot 600 yds for the first time tomorrow but won't have time to work up a load of 75's at 100 yds before going. I'll be shooting 69g Nosler CC's.

Sierra 77 grain Match Kings over 24 grains of Varget in RP brass and Fed 205M primers shoot 5 rounds into 1.060" at 300 yards for me in a Savage factory barrel, 24", 1 in 9 twist. I'm seating the SMKs .005" OTL.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Texas10

I just got a box of 75g A-Max and would like a good starting point for a load work up. I see your target is marked 77 Nosler, did you have similar luck with the 75's?

I load to 1.940 base to Ogive. I'm guessing you load to 1.892 with a .016 jump. Have you tried other jumps?

I'm going to shoot 600 yds for the first time tomorrow but won't have time to work up a load of 75's at 100 yds before going. I'll be shooting 69g Nosler CC's.

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I have not tried other jumps. Perhaps down the road I will. I was so ecstatic with the 3-shot group at that particular load (22.4gr), that I did not want to change anything on it, although I did change the brass from the original load by switching from once fired, processed and primed 08' L.C. brass to Virgin 13' L.C. brass. I was limited in 08' quantities....

I AM anxious to see your results. What will you be shooting them out of?

I have not tried the 75gr A-max.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by GaCop

Sierra 77 grain Match Kings over 24 grains of Varget in RP brass and Fed 205M primers shoot 5 rounds into 1.060" at 300 yards for me in a Savage factory barrel, 24", 1 in 9 twist. I'm seating the SMKs .005" OTL.

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****~! That's nice! 1/3 MOA at 300 is nothing to sneeze at!

I've got a ton of those bullets, but I thought the longer bearing surface would make them unstable. Might have to load some up and see what happens! Especially since I have a bunch of the TIPPED SMKs!! :thumb:

Speaking of the Tipped 77gr SMKs, I bet those SOBs would be supersonic to 1,000 yds at the speeds I'm getting with the Noslers! (2,735 fps)

Newby,
I will be shooting a Model 12 BVSS in .223. 26 in varmint barrel, 1/9 twist.
I was incorrect about the bullet being an A-Max. It's a 75 g Hornaday Match BTHP. I"ll see if I can load some up tonight and give it a go tomorrow.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Texas10

Newby,
I will be shooting a Model 12 BVSS in .223. 26 in varmint barrel, 1/9 twist.
I was incorrect about the bullet being an A-Max. It's a 75 g Hornaday Match BTHP. I"ll see if I can load some up tonight and give it a go tomorrow.

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Excellent! I'd love to hear/see your results! :thumb:

Remember that air become important in this discussion. As stability is about RPM, which is a function of BOTH twist and velocity. The 75gr Amax is much longer than the 77gr class bullets. So while the 77's are good down low where I am, for me the 75's have to be pushed over-pressure to get the required velocity; again in my results. Now go up in altitude, or have a faster twist, and the discussion changes. It is perfectly normal for a mfg to be off by 1/2-twist, from stated. And as always barrel smoothness will play a bit part in this.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by darkker

Remember that air become important in this discussion. As stability is about RPM, which is a function of BOTH twist and velocity. The 75gr Amax is much longer than the 77gr class bullets. So while the 77's are good down low where I am, for me the 75's have to be pushed over-pressure to get the required velocity; again in my results. Now go up in altitude, or have a faster twist, and the discussion changes. It is perfectly normal for a mfg to be off by 1/2-twist, from stated. And as always barrel smoothness will play a bit part in this.

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Good to know.

Here in NWA I'll +1 the 75gr hpbt hornady but I use 20gr 3031

My model 12 1-9 twist shoots the 75 gr BTHP's excellent,but the longer 75 gr AMax's prefer a 1-8 twist barrel. They shoot great out of my 1-8 twist AR's.

I just loaded up some of the new 77 gr Sierra tipped Match Kings to try out as well.

Should be interesting to see if these will stabilize as well seeing as how they are supposedly a little longer than the Noslers concerning the bearing surface.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...n/IMG_0788.jpg

I've tried the 69gr TMK in my 223AI (1/8" twist) 26" heavy varmint barrel and short action 223 Rem with a varmint weight, 9 twist factory barrel at 24". I've been testing all my handloads at 300 yards lately and so far, the best grouping in the 223 Rem is 1.43" for 5 shots and velocity at 2739 fps. The Ackley has done a bit better with velocity pushing the 69 grain TMK to 2953 fps and grouping into 1.6" at 300 yards.

I have shot 75r AMAX out of a Savage Model 11 with 1:9 twist 22" barrel over 22.8gr and 23.1gr XBR8208 with good results (both sub MOA). I bought and loaded them just out of curiosity to see if they would stabilize. However, I only have a 100 yard range, so I have not bothered to load anymore. I am saving them for when I get the chance to shoot 300yds or beyond. They just aren't worth the extra money for 100yds.

Well I got a couple of good groups with these, but they're too ****ed hot.

Loaded up another batch starting at the bottom load and working up to 1/2 of the max listed charge.

Also loaded up a batch of the tipped 69gr SMKs. Hope to try these out in the next week or two.

9 twist barrels, as noted above, work fine for heavier .224 bullets.
After lots of experimentation I found that 75-77 gr bthp match bullets with 24-24.5 grains of several good powders (including Varget, RE15, H4895, VV N140) does really well. After many thousands of rounds in testing and competition, I am not really excitable about which of the combinations is THE Best.
Most all of my bolt guns, and all of my space guns, will get a half MOA with nearly any of them.
Since I'm shooting at one MOA x-rings, I virtually never have to blame low scores on the ammo. Once I figured out that all the ammo shot better than I do, I quit wasting a lot of my time and spent more time in practice.
You will get slightly better performance with one or the other, depending on your barrel, but most of them will do quite well.
Just my two cents.
Good luck.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by jerry shaw

9 twist barrels, as noted above, work fine for heavier .224 bullets.
After lots of experimentation I found that 75-77 gr bthp match bullets with 24-24.5 grains of several good powders (including Varget, RE15, H4895, VV N140) does really well. After many thousands of rounds in testing and competition, I am not really excitable about which of the combinations is THE Best.
Most all of my bolt guns, and all of my space guns, will get a half MOA with nearly any of them.
Since I'm shooting at one MOA x-rings, I virtually never have to blame low scores on the ammo. Once I figured out that all the ammo shot better than I do, I quit wasting a lot of my time and spent more time in practice.
You will get slightly better performance with one or the other, depending on your barrel, but most of them will do quite well.
Just my two cents.
Good luck.

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Thanks Jerry. I actually got a couple good groups from a more recent work up. The smallest 3-shot groups are around 1/4" @ 100 yds.
I'll need to proof them at 100 yds again, then push them out to 600 or so to see if they remain stable.:cool:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Newbe

Thanks Jerry. I actually got a couple good groups from a more recent work up. The smallest 3-shot groups are around 1/4" @ 100 yds.
I'll need to proof them at 100 yds again, then push them out to 600 or so to see if they remain stable.:cool:

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Thanks. I hope it works out well for you.