.90 grain Bergers or 95 Match Kings at 900?
- Thread starter iron cat
- Start date
I have not really experienced that as far as I know atcany distance. I have in the past had an occasional al bullet not register on a shotmarker at 900 and 1,000 however, but others had the same issue and we just put it down to a big wind change.
We did have one fella with a bullet issue at a match last year but he was shooting a 6.5 or 7 in open, and it was a barrel issue not a bullet issue .
Cat
Thanks Peter, I sent him an email.
Cat
Yes, it was to me too. Not what I expected at all. - dan
twosmokinspades
CGN Regular
I just saw this, I'll add my .02 cents. Been shooting 223 for a few years, I shoot a fair bit of PRS matches, I used to shoot ftr.
I tried for the life of me to love the 75 eldm but found them hot and cold, I'd find a load today come home load a bunch more. Head to the range next day was what the heck 2 inch groups. I know some guys get fantastic results with them, not sure why, there is some speculation around bore diameter being the reason. .218 Vs .219
I have shot 77 rdf, 82 80.5 and 85.5 Berger all shoot fantastic. The 77 rdf 82 and 80.5 don't make 1000y staying out of the transonic zone with my loads. But the 85.5 does.
I remember a few years back Bob Pitcairn did an article on the 90 gr bullets, worth a read. A Mouse on steroids, I think that was the name. I believe he also did some of the original bata testing of the 85.5 Bergers and claimed 1/6.5 was the key to getting them to shoot.
I tried for the life of me to love the 75 eldm but found them hot and cold, I'd find a load today come home load a bunch more. Head to the range next day was what the heck 2 inch groups. I know some guys get fantastic results with them, not sure why, there is some speculation around bore diameter being the reason. .218 Vs .219
I have shot 77 rdf, 82 80.5 and 85.5 Berger all shoot fantastic. The 77 rdf 82 and 80.5 don't make 1000y staying out of the transonic zone with my loads. But the 85.5 does.
I remember a few years back Bob Pitcairn did an article on the 90 gr bullets, worth a read. A Mouse on steroids, I think that was the name. I believe he also did some of the original bata testing of the 85.5 Bergers and claimed 1/6.5 was the key to getting them to shoot.
Last edited:
We have had success with both Berger 85.5 and 90VLDs. Shot out of 4 rifles, 6.8 twist 5R barrels standard .219/.224 bore groove dimensions will avoid bullet blowups (over 5,000 90VLDs and 6,000 85.5 without a bullet blowup). VV 135 is our powder of choice. It can hold 1 MOA at 900M in the capable hands of my better half. Depending on which rifle used, MV 2710-2730 with less than 10 SD using 90VLDs. MV 2830-2850 with less than 10 SD usint 85.5. Lapua brass, BR4.
Cheers
Cheers
Thanks for that info gstewart.
After speaking with Berger Bullets about it think I may just buy a few hundred 85.5's and try them out.
Although I was worried a bit about my case life and the 90 and 95 grain bullets, I just measured 20 random cases and all except one were all within speck on the shoulder and case head dimensions , so contrary to what many are telling me, 24 grains of Varget and a 95 grain Match King is not going to drastically reduce the case life if one is using quality dies and a well chambered barrel.
Cat
Last edited:
I noticed a lot of the repliers here have quite fast twist so my question is where do you see the best potential for my setup (1:8 twist tikka ) as far as heavier bullets go? At the moment I have just started loading 69gr smk hpbt and lc brass w/cci 400 and cfe 223 the goal is 600-900m
Not looking for recipes but bullet recommendations, and if I need to jump to br4 primers at that distance (just bought 8lbs cfe .223 and 2000 cci 400 so hoping to use them unless the br4 makes enough difference)
Not looking for recipes but bullet recommendations, and if I need to jump to br4 primers at that distance (just bought 8lbs cfe .223 and 2000 cci 400 so hoping to use them unless the br4 makes enough difference)
I was shooting 69 Match Kings and 75 grain VLD's in my 1:8 twist Krieger with very good accuracy.
Cat
Mine was a 30" barrel , but I have seen other barrels that did not shoot the 75's well- all depends in the individual barrel dimensions .
I also have a 1:9 twist barrel that shoots 75's pretty danged well, and one that will not
Cat
Thanks for confirming something I have noticed for the years I shot the 223 in FTR. "Deep" lands can lead to more problems. I had the best results with button rifled barrels and maybe they used a shallower button too (????)
I have also seen these long heavy bullets to be quite sensitive to twist rates. Although not the same speeds, I run a 22 Creedmoor (high 2800s to 2900fps) and the Sierra 95gr MKs, and found the best twist to be a 7.... all the way to 1500yds.
Jerry
Gale and Nicole put us on to the ISSF reamer for heavy .223 bullet use, and Nicole's performance testifies to that choice.
Bob Pitcairn had a variety of reamers and did substantial work on this.
SAAMI spec won't cut it for optimal heavy bullet use and I believe JGS has Bob's prints.
Regards,
Peter
Bob Pitcairn had a variety of reamers and did substantial work on this.
SAAMI spec won't cut it for optimal heavy bullet use and I believe JGS has Bob's prints.
Regards,
Peter
I'm not sure of the specs of Bill Wylde's last reamer, but I do know that he built accurate rifles! LOL
Technology however, has grown by leaps and bounds in the last 10 years , so there has probably been better development in reamer tech for the long bullets in .223
Cat
