1in 9" twist .223. pet load?

[theflatlander]

shoot some cheap pmc ammo the other day. rifle wasnt too bad. shot a 3shot group around one inch at 100yds. had my cousin load me some 35 grainer hornady vmaxs. wasnt very impressed to say the least. rifle shot the about the same or a little worse than the cheap pmc ammo. how heavy are of bullets are you guys getting the best accuracy with in your 1 in 9 twists? rifle is the 12flv with the 26in barrel also. thanks

[savageboy]

All of the 1:9 twist .223's I have owend over the years have shot very well with: Sierra 69's, Hornady 68's, Sierra 60gr HP, 53gr matchking flat base, Horn 52gr. HPBT and for inexpensive shooting but still very good accuracy for the $ Horn 55gr. fmj. I use BLC2 for the lighter bullets, Varget or AA2520 for the heavier and H4895 works good for all.

[Quickshot]

Mod. 12 BVSS 26in. bar. 1-9 twist likes 60gr. Berger HP match with 26.5 Varget, win. brass, win. SR prim. 1.908 oal to og. Neck sized, no crimp. Try that, it works for me. Just could never get happy with anything heavier. Will shoot 36gr. VGs, 52 gr. SBTs, 50gr. blitzkings but just wouldn't eat the heavier stuff. Quick

[crunch]

I'll jump in on this one. I've been on the forum for a couple of years but I don't post much. I have a model 12 in SS that I built up as a prairie dog gun. It loves Nosler 69gr HPBT, 24.5gr W748, CCI 400, and LC Brass. I have chrono this load at 2850fps, it will shoot an honest .5MOA at 300yrds (our range's max distance).

[Hylander]

This is standerd for my Predator with 1:9 useing the 40gr. V-Max
Shoots 55gr. V-Max, 50SPSX and 55SP well under MOA
Target shot @ 100yds. off of Harris Bipod.
Load:
40 V-Max
26.5 H-335
Fed GM205M

[img width=449 height=450]http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b193/hylander7/Firearms/Modern/Savage%20Predator/PredatorTarget140V-Max.jpg[/img]

[viper9696]

69 gr sierra matchking with 24.8grs of varget and a cci br4 shoots great out of my 223 1/9tw

[nrar15]

69 gr SMK and 23 gr V135

[max]

My Model 12 LRVP with a 1:9 twist likes 53 gr. Sierra Matchkings (flat base) with 24.8gr. of Benchmark. Usually gives me five shot groups in the low .3's at 100yards. Haven't tried anything heavier yet but am looking forward to using 69 gr. Matchkings.

[lal357]

My Model 12 LRVP with a 1:9 twist likes 53 gr. Sierra Matchkings (flat base) with 24.8gr. of Benchmark. Usually gives me five shot groups in the low .3's at 100yards. Haven't tried anything heavier yet but am looking forward to using 69 gr. Matchkings.

hows yours liking the bullet seating i have the same gun and i'm working up loads w?75gr.hornady hpbt match bullets did a ladder teat and found it like the varget in the 24.5 gr area . so with them seated .005 off the lands its shooting .6"s but i know they can shoot better i need to change the scope it has thick crooshairs and covers the 1
' circle @ 100yrds . i'm gonna trim and load some up @.003 and touching the lands and hopefully shoot again next weekend .

[max]

Hi lal357. Funny you should mention the seating depth as I just finished loading up 25 rounds with .015" increases in OAL to check this out. I usually load to the standard 2.200" OAL. Hope to go to the range later this week.

[theflatlander]

i noticed my gun really opened up shooting over 26 grains of h335. didnt matter on the bullet weight either. had some hornady 52 grain hpbt loaded and some 40 grain vmax. my rifle shot nearly identical on the 25 and 26 grain of h335 with the 52 grain hpbt. when shooting both the 52 grain hpbt and the 40 grain vmax with 27 grains of h335 i couldnt even hold a group. it was horrible and all over the paper. the best i did was a 3 shot group with two touching and the other throwing it into about an inch at 100yds. that was the 26 grains of h335 and the hornady 52 grain hpbt. i think this rifle is capable of much better if i do my part right.

I have a friend that shoots alot of 1 in 9 twists and he told me use benchmark and go with the load that is stated on the bottle with a 55 grain soft point. has had 4 different .223's with 1 in 9 twists and claims this to be a great load in all of the rifles. guess i will have to find out for myself this weekend.

Do you guys think i should try jumping up even higher than a 55grn bullet for right now? im thinking maybe trying a 60grn vmax or like a nosler 60 grain spitzer. it seemed that my gun held the group together much better and tighter between shooting the 40 grain vmax and 52 grain hpbt. i would like to play with the h335 a little more since to me it seem this and the benchmark are so close i dont see the reason on going and buying the benchmark right away but maybe im wrong.


I would like this gun to shoot great on paper also but its manly going to be a prairie dog rifle. so i would like the loads pretty hot.

[max]

I've found that my 1:9 twist likes lighter loads than my friends 1:12 twist. When using H335 I started getting pressure signs at 25.7 gr. The best load for this powder in my rifle was 24.7gr. of H335 using 55gr. Nosler Ballistic Tips which gave me a velocity of 3160 fps. Have you tried using Dan Newberry's system for finding the Optimal Charge Weight for your gun? It worked for me. If you're interested you can Google it for further info.

[wbm]

70g Berger VLD (Set on lands)
26g Varget
Wolf Primer
Remington Brass

Consistent sub .5 MOA

[gpoldblue]

theflatlander...I have a M12,LRPV,.223 w/ 1/9tw factory barrel,Savage F-class stock,w/ a Weaver T36.
After 2 years of trying this and that,I've settled on 69gn Sierra,23.5gn/VV N135,Lapua match brass,F205's.
Bullet seated .010" off the lands. I have shot many 5 shot groups of under .5" @ 200 yrds. Shot from concrete bench,Farley co-ax,and using wind flags. These groups are of course in GOOD conditions when I'm shooting well,but it does show that the rifle/load combination is good. Good luck...good shooting...gpoldblue

[helotaxi]

12FV here and it likes Hornady 75gn HPBT over 21.4 gn of 2520. That charge +/- 0.3 gn was consistently .4 MOA @ 100yd. Everything else I've fed it to this point has patterned like a shotgun including both weights of Varmint Grenade, 53gn SMKs and a couple other things.

[Wtex]

Have 20" Stevens 200 and have been comparing different factory ammo with hand loads. Best hand load has been Sierra
52gr MK with AA2015 powder, 5 shot group at 100 yds just under 1 inch. Have a had a couple 1/2 groups with Sierra 60gr HP
for 4 shots, but 5th shot always makes the group over an inch.

[Hylander]

i noticed my gun really opened up shooting over 26 grains of h335. didnt matter on the bullet weight either.

What Primer ?
With H-335 you need a Match Primer like Federal GM205M or CCI BR-4
Or a Mag Primer.
I have tried standard primers with H-335 and there is a big differance.

[theflatlander]

have been usein the winchester wsr primers since thats all i can find in my town. loaded up some wsr's and some benchmark with 55 grain hornady soft points. havent been able to shoot the new test loads yet. what primers would you suggest to try with the benchmark?

[kschilling]

Here are the results of my labor.....
Load:
75 Hornady BTHP (Moly coated)
25.5 grains of RL 15
Primer - RP 7.5 Benchrest
Case: RP
Full-length resize all shells
Bullet set .10 off lands
Vel: 2950
Distance: 100 yards
This load shot a 1.3 inch (3 shots) at 550 yards.
This rifle is only shot from a bipod. No other modifications were done to this rifle. Sorry for the poor photo, taken with my phone. The only flyer was the second shot.

.168 isn't too bad.....

[img width=337 height=450]http://i1028.photobucket.com/albums/y350/swspens/026.jpg[/img]

[theflatlander]

i really dont want to have to go over a 60 grain bullet with this rifle but if i have to i will. if my 55 grain softpoint loads dont work out i think the next thing im going to try is some 60 grain vmax and or a 60 grain sierra varminter hollow point. think im going to try to switch up the primers also. maybe some cci magnum small rifle primers or some federals.

[Dennis]

.168 isn't too bad.....

agree

[theflatlander]

hello again guys. I ened up loading both the sierra 60 grain varminter and 60 grain hornady vmax. as far as i could tell i had a little better grouping with the vmax compared to the hollow point sierra. they were both very close im comparision but i loaded up some more of the hornadys. I also found out my gun really opens up over 24 grains of powder. it likes 23 grains of benchmark the best.

i think im getting a descent group now for me behind the trigger. im going to load around 20 of each and shoot 5 shot groups of both to really compare them against each other.

the way the group tightened up with a heavier bullet im kind of curious what i would do with something even heavier. Like i have said i dont really want to go over 60 grain bullet but im curious now.

will try to get a target picture up of the hornady bullets

[theflatlander]

[img width=600 height=450]http://i815.photobucket.com/albums/zz73/slickest/0620001159.jpg[/img]

this was 5 shots of the 60 grain sierras varminters hp. of course me jerkin the trigger on that one

[img width=600 height=450]http://i815.photobucket.com/albums/zz73/slickest/0705001155.jpg[/img]

5 shots of the vmax.


both the sierra and hornady were loaded with wsr primers winchester brass 2.250 OAL 23 grains benchmark

granted theese two targets are some where in the 150 200th round i have ever shot off a bench. its definetly alot different then hunting thats for sure. i need alot more practice.

[Danley]

I`m having pretty good luck with the 75 A-Max (.010" off the lands)/25.5gn of RL-15/BR-4`s ... will shot in the .3`s with ease. I`ve been wanting to try the 75 BTHP.

[Wtex]

flatlander, your target with the Sierra 60gr HP looks very familar, I have several that look like that. Perhaps it wasn't
you after all.