My first guess would be that some of your "nightmare" bullets are indeed that. I think you have a few that are not spinning down the barrel but rather bob sledding down the barrel.
How is this possible?
Savage M12
1/9 twist
.223
55gr Varmit Nightmare X-Treme HP
24.5gr IMR 3031
Out of 65 rounds today, I had 5 tumblers.
Four of them were tight in their groups.
I left this one alone to show how accurate it was.
All 60 shots and four tumblers were in tight groups.
What is up with this??
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My first guess would be that some of your "nightmare" bullets are indeed that. I think you have a few that are not spinning down the barrel but rather bob sledding down the barrel.
OK, lets start with basics. Are you sure they are .224 diameter? Measure them with calipers, do not trust the marks on the box.
Sean
Hi. I've heard that some bullets were either incorrectly filled with lead or not at all.
Try weighing 100 of them....
ron
Maybe like a bad tire, the bullet is out of balance due to under-par manufacturing and QC procedures. If so your measurements including weights may not be able to detect.
Sorry I can't help you with your dilemma, But that is just the freakiest thing, it just goes to show them savages would shoot rocks on target.
Dean
RUMs are like woman in Stiletto heals, you know they are going to put you in the poor house, but that has never stopped anyone from pursuing them.
The barrel is carbon fouled.
Looks alot like what happened when I tried Midway 6mm 55gr Dogtown bullets in my 243 Striker, Savage varmint barrel cut down. The bullets would tumble sometimes, hit sometimes and vaporize into what looked a gray tracer not even making it to the 100 yard target most of the time.
The answer is RPM. 24.5gr is a Hodgdon max load, in the ballpark of 3200+ fps.
That gives you 256,000 rpm, which is essentially it's max. Each barrel is more or less smooth...http://www.shootersforum.com/ballist...pm-limits.html
I'm a firm believer in the theory that if it bleeds, I can kill it.
Wrong powder......try something more common for .223, like varget,4895,748,322,335, BL-C2 or Benchmark. Scrub your barrel first.
"As long as there's lead in the air....there's still hope.."
I don't see how the powder can be at fault. I've tossed a few thousand rounds of 223 using IMR3031 powder and never had a tumble out of it. I've since changed to IMR4320 since it meters like a dream and gives me a little better results, but there's certainly nothing wrong with IMR3031 powder in the 223 remington cartridge. 24.6 grains with Remington cases, CCI BR-4 primers and 55gr bulk FMJ's were giving me 3300fps from my H&R single shot and typical groups averaged around 3/4 MOA which was good for that particular gun.
***disclaimer: The load listed above is max charge according to IMR and should be worked up to with caution. It worked safely in my rifle, but this is no guarentee that it is safe in your rifle****
George
Think I've narrowed it down to the bullets themselves.
They're Hornady's repackaged and sold in bulk by Midsouth Shooters Supply.
I suspect they're Hornady seconds, and a few aren't in spec.
Heard from two other sources they had the same random tumbler from the same bulk ammo.
Not to worry, the gun shoots fine.
Put another 100 downrange at 200yds without a single tumbler.
Thanks for all the info. Good stuff.
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