Savage 110 .223.

[NF1E]

Out playing with a Savage 223 in ORYX chassis this morning on one of the flyswatter targets at 100 yds. A little windy but what the hey. Only scored an 8 after doing a 10 with her big brother in .308 last week. Rifle is in a MDT ORYX chassis and scoped with a Night Force competition 15-55x52 on Leupold QRW rings. Ammo is handloads Starline brass with Berger 73 gn over 23 gn of Varget. Whatta Hobby!

[CFJunkie]

I have a 12 FV .223 also mounted in an Oryx chassis with a Night Force Benchrest 8-32x56mm using a Sinclair F-Class Bipod and a Protektor rear bag and I find that combination performs really well.
The 73 gr bullets (ELD-Ms and Berger LTBs) so far are the most accurate bullet weights but the 77 gr bullets (SMKs, TMKs, Nosler CCs and Berger OTMs) and are a close second, followed by the 69 gr bullets (SMKs, Nosler CCs, $ TMKs).

I have pretty good results with the 73 gr ELD-Ms and 73 gr Berger LTBs with Varget. Both average 0.250 for 5-round groups at 100 yards.
I recently did some experimenting with seating-out the 73 ELD-Ms to 2.485 which didn't work especially well and increased the overall average with Varget from 0.238 to 0.250.
I should have known not to expect miracles when the stuff I was loading already worked great.

I have also had good results with the 73 ELD-Ms with N540 which averaged at 0.249 for 5-round groups at 100 yards.

Surprisingly, the 75 gr ELD-Ms averaged 0.375 with N140 and 75 gr Berger LDMs average 0.353 with Varget. That was a surprise and I have no explanation why the same type bullets just 2 grs heavier perform so poorly by comparison. There doesn't appear to be any different in shape, but my rifle just doesn't seem to like them.

[NF1E]

Was pointed out to me that including sighters, there were 30 shots in less than an inch. No idea what the average would be but not too shabby for a 30+ year old rifle. I think that is my wobble zone. Whatta Hobby!

[CFJunkie]

My 12 FV .223 isn't as old as yours, but mine has 5,550+ rounds through the barrel, and is still shooting great, actually does better now than it did when new as long as I don't experiment too much - like when I tried pushing the seating depth way out with the 73 gr ELD-Ms.

But I have been working on getting my set-up more consistent and have seen some improvement in group sizes as I have become more vigilant about having my set-up consistent.
It is always amazes me to see how much 'shooter induced variation' messes up our shots.
The effect is even greater with rifles that have more recoil than my .223.

I'm sure a good shooter could do better, but I just surprised that, at 80+, I am still able to shoot as good or better than I did years ago.
Like you always say, "Whatta Hobby".

[KMW1954]

But I have been working on getting my set-up more consistent and have seen some improvement in group sizes as I have become more vigilant about having my set-up consistent.
It is always amazes me to see how much 'shooter induced variation' messes up our shots.

I'm sure a good shooter could do better, but I just surprised that, at 80+, I am still able to shoot as good or better than I did years ago.
Like you always say, "Whatta Hobby".

I find that to be a very true statement! When questioned about how much I shoot for load development I always point out that time is also dedicated to trigger time and posture.

I just reached the 70 mark this past March and only hope I reach the 80 plateau. Keep Shooting!

[J.Baker]

If you really want to pin down the discrepancies in your shooting technique, start videoing yourself and call out each of your shots to the camera after the fact so you can look for differences on those shots that went astray. Just not being consistent in how you mount the rifle can have a significant effect in how the rifle recoils which will be plainly obvious in the video. You can also watch for things like jerking the trigger, poor cheek weld, etc.

[NF1E]

Excellent advise. I have enjoyed the advantage of a spotter for most of my shooting time. Always plot the called shots, it really does help. Whatta Hobby!

[charlie b]

I did the camera bit for a while and it was very informative. That was when I realized I was lifting my head after the pull. Made a world of difference.

[rebs]

How far poff the lands are you seating the 73's?

[CFJunkie]

I wasn't sure you were addressing me or NFIE, but I figured I had the data and might be able to answer.

Remember my barrel has over 5,500 rounds through it and there is some throat erosion, so my lands are a lot deeper now than when the barrel was new in 2018.
My jump data may be incredibly long, but I only care about what shoots the most accurately.
I only have tried the 73 grain ELD-Ms within the last year so the jumps may surprise you.
I've tried four ranges of jump to see how the bullets shoot.
Jump range----- 5-round grp Average
0.057 to 0.061--0.304
0.174 to 0.181--0.230
0.210 to 0.216--0.262
0.250 to 0.252--0.242
I had calculated that any jump shorter than 0.05 left too little bullet body in the neck for me to expect that I could get consistent neck tension. Remember this is a very well-used barrel. From the looks of this data, I probably need to make that minimum about 0.040 longer for this particular bullet.
The results show why you need to experiment to find what shoots best in your particular barrel.
It also shows that barrel wear doesn't necessarily result in poor performance unless you don't take barrel wear into consideration.
I have been moving my bullets out as the barrel has worn over the years and have maintained the accuracy as long as I don't let the neck tension get compromised.
The data shows that there can be more than one "perfect jump" for a barrel - I have found that there can be jump "sweet spots" that recur sometimes as much as 0.090 or more apart.
It also shows why using someone else's "Best Load" information often can be misleading when you try to apply it to your particular barrel.