223 bullets

24" bull barrel AR-15 w/1:10 twist
24 gr. Benchmark
52 gr. Sierra BTHP Match Kings
.28" 5 shot group @ 100 yards = 'nuff said

P.S. 52 gr. Hornady A-Max worked almost as well with the same load
 
The vast majority of .223 cal rifles nowadays are built with 1:9 twist barrels. 1:7 is considered best for shooting 80-90 gr bullets for match target purposes. The normal twist was originally 1:12 since that was considered best for 50-55 gr bullets in the 60's as translated from performance of other .22 cal centerfire rounds, like the .222 Rem.

The 1:9 was chosen because it stabilizes 55-70 gr bullets well, and is now considered standard for the cartridge. A quick look at the specs for many .223 cal rifles will verify this point.

The most common loads for .223/5.56 now are using either a 55 gr or 62 gr bullet.

Unless you are shooting a gun other than a semi auto for this round I see no reason to shoot anything other than 55gr bullets. My reasoning for this is simple. They are more common and easy to find in bulk than any other size. I just bought 6000 of them from Mid South for $471.68 shipped! that's .07 each for Hornady 55 gr FMJ's and they had the same deal for SP's! Seems they kind of over ran those bullets and over estimated demand.

Previously I have shot recycled or Pulled bullets in my .223's. Once again 55gr FMJ's and the last batch I bought were .09 each! HA the new Hornady's were a better deal and it just shows they were trying to get rid of them as fast as possible. Gotta love blow out sales.

Sidenote: I got my Havalon knife from Midway for $19.95 on a blow out. normally $40+.

I load all my .223's the same way. 25 gr of BLC2/ W748 with a 55 gr bullet with a Lee Factory Crimp on my D550B. This is my standard load for the .223 and is well below max for the powder and the bullet combo. All of my guns feed and shoot it well enough to hit a 12x18 steel target at 300 yards using a Red Dot sight. I consider 300 yards to be the maximum effective range for this cartridge from these guns.

Many other powders work well including H335 and many of the new wonder powders.

The guns are Kel-Tec SU16CA, Bushmaster Carbon 15 AR and a Mini14. None of these guns are tack drivers nor should they be considered as such. They are defense guns and whereas the KT and AR will shoot about 1.5" at 100 yards with a scope mounted, the Mini 14 is closer to 2.5". 2.5" is still 7.5 at 300 yards which is more than adequate for the intended purpose. In my case a man sized steel target. All these guns have TRS 25 Red Dot sights on them for quick target acquisition so accuracy is slightly less, but still adequate. The guns are all sighted dead on at 50/200 yards and are 1" high at 100 and 12" low at 300 yards.

I am very big on finding a good shooting load for every caliber I load and sticking to it. This way I spend more time shooting and less time searching for the magic load that will make all my dreams come true. The whole Idea is to shoot at stuff not waste ammo trying to wring out the last Iota of accuracy from a round that is not meant for that purpose.

The .223/5.56 round was not designed as a Bench Rest round. It was designed to kill people. It works very well for that purpose and has been optimized over the last 50 years to the point where the research portion of the game is pretty much over. It works real well when loaded the way the factories do it.

This is all MHO, but it is based on many years of shooting this round thru many different guns. What I have conveyed in this post works and works well, so if you don't know where to start,,, try it.

Randy
 
Everything I have read says an 80gr bullet will not stabilize. I know 70gr will buttonhole in a big way. Maybe in a 1:9 twist but nobody recommends anything over 60 in 1:12. I tried some 60 and 62 gr and the 62s buttonholed nicely. 60gr seems to be tops for my barrel. Actually some of the articles I have read say its just best to stay with 55gr. What I am looking for is a particular bullet regardless of weight that tends to be accurate. My 30-06 and 308 both love the Speer boattails with a SP.
 
bogie said:
Everything I have read says an 80gr bullet will not stabilize. I know 70gr will buttonhole in a big way. Maybe in a 1:9 twist but nobody recommends anything over 60 in 1:12. I tried some 60 and 62 gr and the 62s buttonholed nicely. 60gr seems to be tops for my barrel. Actually some of the articles I have read say its just best to stay with 55gr. What I am looking for is a particular bullet regardless of weight that tends to be accurate. My 30-06 and 308 both love the Speer boattails with a SP.
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I've tried 80 gr bullets in a Remington 700 tactical .223 1:9 twist, never came close to the paper at 100 yrds even. My best load is 73gr berger match out of mine but 55 to 68 have been excellent also.
 
The 55 gr bullets will work well. If you are looking for maximum accuracy and minimal wind drift, then the Sierra 60gr HP is outstanding. This is what I use in my slow twist rifles.

I don't know where that 80 gr suggestion came from. Would not work at all.
 
Ganderite said:
The 55 gr bullets will work well. If you are looking for maximum accuracy and minimal wind drift, then the Sierra 60gr HP is outstanding. This is what I use in my slow twist rifles.

I don't know where that 80 gr suggestion came from. Would not work at all.
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The 53gr vmax has the highest bc of any bullet 60gr or less. Its listed at .290 Shoot em in my cz really good. Shot a lot in my savage as well.

The 80gr suggestion was 99% most likely a joke. They will shoot just not very well.
 
I was also just in search of a specific load for my 223. I picked one up for on the trapline as it seems fairly versatile... Can a 1-12 stabilize a good tough bullet that won't break up too much, like the 60 grain partition for wolves?

Thanks!
 
Let me tell you why you should shoot bullets other than 55gr lol. Because they are more accurate and buck the wind far better. Try shooting at 4-500m in a 15 mph crosswind. I'd never shoot 55s in a competition. 62s as a minimum.
 
My cz527 loves 50gr v-max and varget. On a side not you would want a 1-8 or 1-7 to stabilize 80gr vlds. My 22br with a 1-8 love them.
 
FFS people! The OP said he didn't want to read, now he has to sift through 35 posts with 35 different opinions. (and probably a boat load more to come) Canadian_Zuk (post #11) was the only one smart enough to make sense of my recommendation.
 
A pattern is emerging and now to see if I can find any of these bullets available. I have shot some of these before but was not making the most of the equipment I was using. Still on a learning curve. That said having successfully worked out sub MOA loads for my Browning Xbolt 308 and 30-06 I am much closer to doing it right this time. At least the bullets are not expensive. I have some H335, some Varget, and maybe some Benchrest left. Will try them when the weather gets a bit warmer. I want to varmint this round and punch paper too so Im thinking that the match rounds would not be practical. Its not ALL about accuracy but accuracy would be nice. There are a lot of good suggestions here and I will act on them as soon as we clean up from Santa. Thanks for all the ideas guys. Keep it coming. Yeah, I know I will have to report back. Back to the loading bench. Thanks a bunch. Merry Christmas everyone!!
 
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