223 FMJ heaviest bullet for 1:7 twist barrel?
- Thread starter Otokiak
- Start date
A 1:7 twist should favour bullets on the heavier end of the spectrum (ie 75gr etc)
Off the top of my head:
Hornady has 75gr (BTHP / ELD-M), 80gr & 88gr
Sierra has 77gr (few different versions - cant remember them all) & 95gr
Berger will have options (85.5 gr?) and there may be others.
I usually stay around the 75gr mark (Hornady BTHP work well in my application) but I have 80gr & 88gr. I feel that 95gr are too heavy for vanilla 223 (possibly 88gr too) but I have never played with them to confirm that.
Off the top of my head:
Hornady has 75gr (BTHP / ELD-M), 80gr & 88gr
Sierra has 77gr (few different versions - cant remember them all) & 95gr
Berger will have options (85.5 gr?) and there may be others.
I usually stay around the 75gr mark (Hornady BTHP work well in my application) but I have 80gr & 88gr. I feel that 95gr are too heavy for vanilla 223 (possibly 88gr too) but I have never played with them to confirm that.
- Location
- sudbury, ontario
When I had my sl-8 h@k the 75 g hornady bullets were like a laser beam 62gr was ok/good enough...but when I went to heavier like 68 bthp and 75g hornady bullets the groups tightened right up
Boy o. Oh I regret selling my h&k
Boy o. Oh I regret selling my h&k
You can shoot the heaviest bullets you can find with the 1-7 twist rate and get the best accuracy with bullets starting at 55 grains.
Budget has Sierra MK 77 grain/500 count bullets in stock presently and they shoot like lazers out of my Tikka with a 1-8 twist
Bullseye North has 88 and 90 grain Hornady ELD tipped bullets in stock, expensive but dreamily accurate.
Budget has Sierra MK 77 grain/500 count bullets in stock presently and they shoot like lazers out of my Tikka with a 1-8 twist
Bullseye North has 88 and 90 grain Hornady ELD tipped bullets in stock, expensive but dreamily accurate.
The gun you are going to shoot them out of should be a consideration as I think once you get over about 77 gr. they won't fit in an AR size mag unless you single load them. Not a consideration for a bolt action but could be for a semi-auto mag fed.
Having a bolt action rifle made with a 24” spiral fluted barrel 1:7 twist. Remington 700 action, trigger tech trigger, 20 moa rail , large bolt knob in a Hs precision stock. I have lots of 55gr fmj to reload but wasn’t sure what is the heaviest fmj made ... hence the post. I also have lots of Lapua 77gr OTM scenar, lapua brass to reload as well. I plan to target shoot & hopefully help my farmer friend with a coyote issue. Thanks for the replies & ideas on bullets for 223 to reload.
Otokiak
Leduc, AB
Canada
Otokiak
Leduc, AB
Canada
Not to long ago, there were 224 diameter XLD bullets available right up to 107 grains for rifles such as the one you had built, with that twist rate. Some folks went with 1-6 and tighter twist rates.
There were a lot of write ups in the Varmint magazines a while ago concerning the heavy 224 bullets being experimented with by the US military as well as long range shooters.
One of the very obvious disadvantages of useing such long, heavy for caliber bullets meant pressures had to be between 65k and 80k psi to get the performance they required from them.
This requires a completely different concept of cartridge case design, which consists of three separate components pressed together to create a cartridge case with the strength to handle the pressures and a barrel with a 1-6 twist rate. Some barrels were tested with a 1-4 twist rate.
These cartridge cases are a one time only use from what the tests show and the burn out rates on the throats/leades is atrotious so only a government could actually afford the turn around rate.
I tried some 92 grain Bergers but wasn't impressed with them.
The heaviest bullets I now shoot are 77 - 80 grain Sierra SMK HPBT and Hornady 80 grain AMax. These bullets actually don't do much damage at all to Coyote pelts when the ranges are over 100 yds. These bullets weren't designed to expand on impact and unless your shots are close they hold together quite well and don't tumble.
I found that with my 1-8 twist Tikka T3X the 55 grain bullets that shot best had boat tails and were a bit longer. So, I settled for the heavier 60+ grain bullets for all of my shooting with this rifle. It really loves the 62 to 80 grain offerings I feed it.
coleman1495
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Whitecourt
The heaviest fmj I’m aware of is the 62gn Hornady. Not sure why your after fmj bullets. They don’t tend to be very accurate so I don’t know why you’d want them for a precision rig.
Lots of other heavy 223 bullets available. My favourite is the 80gn Bergers but theres piles of great options.
Lots of other heavy 223 bullets available. My favourite is the 80gn Bergers but theres piles of great options.
Based on my experience I kinda feel like some of those might be getting a little heavy for plain Jane vanilla 223 (maybe more barrel length would help?).
Those heavier bullets could be pretty spectacular out of a 22 caliber cartridge with more HP (like 22-250 / 22 Creedmoor / 22BRA). I have an itch to build a 22BR or 22BRA.......
Any issues with the bullets coming apart when using those super fast twist rates (1:4)?
OP - FYI, FMJ is Full Metal Jacket, which is predominantly a military bullet manufactured for quantity, not necessarily quality. There are many & much better options to FMJ, as mentioned above, for target shooting and hunting. Lots of abbreviations too ... the bullet manufacturer websites should help you out there.
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I don't know about the bullets coming apart. They appear to be monometal types for one thing and the military bullets?????
I don't remember where I read the article other than in one of the Varmint magazines, but I did do some more looking online and now can't find the site I saw it on.
There have been all sorts of experiments on twist rates and the old standard 1-10 twist established for the 220 grain, round nose, flat base bullets at velocities around or just over 2000fps being adequate for good stabilization.
It works quite well, until bullets over 200 grains are built with extremely streamlined ogives and given long boat tails, with minimal bearing surfaces.
That's one of the reasons some shooters are having their 30 caliber barrels cut with 1-8 twist rates.
Back in the mid seventies, when the Brazilian 1908 and 1935 Mausers started to appear on the Canadian shooting scene, they had a 1-8.5 twist rate, rather than the usual 1-7 twist rate found on most 7mm milsurps, which used the 175grn round nose, flat base bullets.
Barnes brought out a lovely, long for caliber 190 grain pointed, flat base bullet and I picked up a couple of boxes, expecting great things out of my 1935, chambered for the 7x57 Mauser cartridge.
I was immediately disappointed with my first loads. My group looked like a shotgun blast.
I kept working up the load to increase velocity and pressures but that rifle just wouldn't shoot those bullets well or even mediocre.
I gave the remaining bullets to a friend with a Chilean M95 Mauser with a 1-7 twist rate and his rifle shot them into very tight little groups consistently. He loaded some up for a Remington 700, chambered for the 7mm Rem Mag and they shot well out of that rifle as well, with a 1-9.25 twist rate.
Heavy, match grade bullets will zip right through a coyote without hardly any damage. Sure the yote will likely die later on but nowhere near you.
For yotes, you want lightweight varmint bullets. VMax or Ballistic Tips or the like.
coleman1495
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Whitecourt
Yeah thats definitely not true. Match bullets have thin soft jackets that allow rapid expansion.
The 75gn ELDM, 70gn Berger and 80gn Berger all explode on impact.
