the 1 in 9 twist barrel ??? 223

[acemisser]

I would like to kick this around again...How light of a bullet will this
twist stablize in the 223 cal..I have been sperimenting with some
berger 73 grain and they aint working good for me.Even with different
oal's...Some claim they work great for them in their 1 in 9 .
But back to the main topic...What is the lightest bullet anyone has
tried and what was the accuracy? Also this will be for a 250 yard
match..And it does get windy at times...I have 69 grain SMK'S
that work well,but curious about the lighter bullets..Thanks for any
information you have to offer....John

[scope eye]

I load 40s 45s and 50s for several of my buddies 9 twists bolt and ARs, and have had 9 twists in the past, and are all very accurate you just have to keep them under 3400 to 3500 fps, or they come apart, accuracy was not the problem, holding them together was.

Dean

[Jetpig]

I shoot a ton of 52g's through two 1-8 223 rifles. Very very accurate I might add.

[SK13R]

I've successfully ran the 40gr V-Max, work pretty good on ground squirrels. They were at about 3300 fps.

[bremereric]

Maybe 55 grain Horandy.

[earl39]

Being stable and spinning a bullet apart are two different things. You can go so light that you have enough speed to overspin you bullet and it will fly apart at which time it obviously becomes unstable (in a million zillion pieces). If your speed is right you will have no problem getting any lighter bullet stable.

[Ibex]

+1 on the 40gr, shoots like a laser to 200. Better learn about wind drift beyond that because they get drifty.

[Code4]

I have a Stevens 200 .223 with a 1 in 9 twist. Best results were with the Nosler Competition 69 HPBT for varmints and pure accuracy. The 65 Sierra Spt Bt was very accurate for hunting. I could not get 50's or 55's to shoot x5 under an inch however 40's, 45's and Bulk W-W 46 HP's shot well.

[DennisPA]

In my BVSS 1 in 9 out to 300 yards Berger 52g flat base has worked the best for me. I have not found a boat tail that can group better at 300 and in yet. Just make sure you sort by base to ogive it really helps.

[Bowguy]

40s work great in my 9T 223. p.dogs to 300 very doable. Twice that on occasions. I'm just back from a p.dog shoot in Mt. and had decided on 55 grains for this trip. They did very well but had enough recoil to miss about 25-30% impacts. With the 40 grains didn't miss any impacts.

[mr45acp2u]

My 1/9 loves the Winchester 45 gr varmit load. So much so that I have never needed to look for anything better out to 200.

[Trapper]

My Model 12 1/9 twist likes the flat based 52's and has a love affair with the 69 SMK's. Some guys get the 75 AMax to shoot for them in their 1/9's, I can't. Anything from the mid 40's to the 69 SMK's are pretty easy to work up a load for.

[scope eye]

You should be able to get those 77gr Sierra's to shoot, in a 9 twist they have a very short bearing surface like the 69gr do, and they are very unique as far as there profile goes.

Dean

[Trapper]

Dean, I am glad you said that about the 77's, as I have a box of 250 and have been hesitant to try them in my 1/9. They shot well in my 1/7 before I got rid of it and I have been sitting on these 77's :)
Thanks,
Trapper

[scope eye]

What load do you use for those 69gr Sierra's, the reason I ask is I use the same load for both, the 69gr and 77gr and don't see any signs of pressure, and that is the same for all of my 22 cals I load for 223, 22-250, 220 Swift
and 22x55 it's like those 8gr are not even a factor,

Dean

[Trapper]

Dean, in my bolt gun I am using 25.5 Varget, and in the AR I use 24.8 Varget and 23.0 H 335. I have not even tried to load the 77's in the 1/9, as I stopped at the 75 AMax. I should not believe all that I read as everything I saw said the 1/9 would not stabilize the 77's well, so being naive enough to believe I never tried.

[scope eye]

Don't compere a Sierra 77gr to a 75gr Amax's, what it comes down to is bearing surface, and they Amax's is twice as long just like 80gr Bergers, I tell you they will shoot just as good as the 69's, just for poops and giggles get back to me on those, if they don't shoot which I highly doubt, I will trade you your 77gr for my 69gr Sierra's.

Dean

[Luke45]

Dean, I am glad you said that about the 77's, as I have a box of 250 and have been hesitant to try them in my 1/9. They shot well in my 1/7 before I got rid of it and I have been sitting on these 77's :)
Thanks,
Trapper

my 1-9 shoots 77s no problem!

[darkker]

Since this is still fairly active...
As has been said, weight is essentially irrelevant to twist, length is what is the pertinent factor.
Bearing surface is again not as important for stability, but the 75gr Amax is noticeably longer than the 77gr SMK.

RPM, specifically centripetal force being overtaken by centrifugal force, causes destruction.
So, how thick, or strong a jacket is will limit the spin before becoming a shotgun.
I did a bunch of calling and testing on the 22-cals a few years ago, and posted on shooters, then linked here.

Lightly constructed, or built for lower velocity cartridge type bullets (TNT's, Dogtown's, varmint nightmares, SXSP) typically have an upper RPM limit of around 215-220,000. Your barrel will fudge that some, but that is the approx number.

[Frank V]

The Speer .224 50gr TNT shoots very well in the 1:9. CFE223 or WW748!

[willcombs]

I played with 52gr SMK's in mine and they worked fine. What shocked me was, Sierra 55gr FMJ-BT's were even better. It was pretty counter-intuitive, but the hard evidence was right there in my face. Every rifle is different though, maybe mine just happened to like standard FMJs. I never dipped down into the 40's though.
This was on a 20" barrel though. Length can have a substantial impact and it seems to be overlooked a lot. What length are you shooting?