Expectations for 20inch 1/9 Heavy Barrel 223

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kombatkyle

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Hi guys, I'm looking for some expert help on what to expect from a 20" H-bar .223 barrel with 1:9 twist. From what i gather this is kind of a jack of all trades twist but a slightly under length barrel for highest velocity. The rifle would be intended for coyote/fox so i'd imagine max velocity is important.

Would it be appropriate to purchase this rifle with the intent to use it for varmint hunting or would i be better suited to finding a faster twist/longer barrel?

Thanks,
Kyle
 
You're probably not going to be running light bullets stupid fast for coyotes, so you'd probably be fine with a 1:9? Varmint bullets would benefit from a tighter twist (1:8 or 1:7) I would think. 20" seems awful long to me, but I'm used to ARs and such, lol. I don't know that you gain a TON going from 20" to 24" or so, I guess if that extra 100FPS or w/e matters that much to you?
 
Scotty454 said:
You're probably not going to be running light bullets stupid fast for coyotes, so you'd probably be fine with a 1:9? Varmint bullets would benefit from a tighter twist (1:8 or 1:7) I would think. 20" seems awful long to me, but I'm used to ARs and such, lol. I don't know that you gain a TON going from 20" to 24" or so, I guess if that extra 100FPS or w/e matters that much to you?
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I'm new to the varmint hunting as much as i'm naive to reloading and the effects of twist rates and barrel length on any given bullet.

My understanding was that for varmints/critters with nice furs is that the faster your vmax (or similar) bullet hits them the higher chance of it completely coming apart inside the animal and preventing an exit hole... Which is means nicer/more intact furs.
 
Not a varmint hunter but the VMAX line seems to focus on lighter for caliber bullets. A 9 twist will shoot bullets into the mid 70 grain weights depending on the shape of the bullet. 45-55 gr bullets will work fantastically well in it with 68/69gr and some 73 to 75 gr match bullets shooting well too. A faster twist would be for heavy pills like most 77gr and up, 75gr AMAX and up etc. I don't think they would be optimum for varmints due to the lower velocity, their intended use is at extended range where weight and high BC are more valuable to buck the wind better and not fall like a rock.
 
kombatkyle said:
Hi guys, I'm looking for some expert help on what to expect from a 20" H-bar .223 barrel with 1:9 twist. From what i gather this is kind of a jack of all trades twist but a slightly under length barrel for highest velocity. The rifle would be intended for coyote/fox so i'd imagine max velocity is important.

Would it be appropriate to purchase this rifle with the intent to use it for varmint hunting or would i be better suited to finding a faster twist/longer barrel?

Thanks,
Kyle
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53 gr v max is what you need
 
I'd probably go standard profile barrel to be honest, something in a nice light to carry platform like a CZ527 if you can find one, or Howa mini, Rem 7 etc.
You will be carrying it more then shooting it, and not likely shooting strings enough to ever heat it up.
 
no max velocity will not be important
the idea of fur-friendly goes out the window when the shot distance is not exact for the speed/bullet weight/jacket combination launched
but exit holes can be fixed so consider other points that may be more important, like comfort

Having said that, I like my short heavy 223 as a prs rig, differnt game
 
Coyotes and other game this size dont need heavy bullets....they will def exit ...lighter fragile bullets in the 50~55gr range are best and a 1/9 twist will work perfectly for them.
As for bbl length 2oin is long enuf to get nearly max velocity out of most 223 loads....there is another lil bit of steam to be had with a longe rbbl but the 223 will not be lacking unless you are trying to reach out really far where it will be the wind that will screw you before velocity.

A 20in 1/9 223 is an ideal coyote rifle
 
kombatkyle said:
...20" H-bar .223 barrel with 1:9 twist. ... The rifle would be intended for coyote/fox so i'd imagine max velocity is important. Would it be appropriate to purchase this rifle with the intent to use it for varmint hunting or would i be better suited to finding a faster twist/longer barrel?...
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Generally good advice above, but I'll add:

It would work just fine if you need it to (or if you really want it to), but depending on how you intend to hunt it is probably not optimized: For most people, there's no benefit to a heavy barrel for hunting. And for most people, the minor benefit of a shorter barrel is far outweighed by the loss of muzzle velocity (and increased noise, if that matters to you).

A standard weight 24" barrel will be much lighter to carry, and the greater muzzle velocity gives more bullet options over a significantly greater effective range (especially if you're reloading).
 
My 9-twist .223 seems to like everything up to a 75gr HPBT, but that's about the upper limit. I would likely stick with a 55gr bullet though as there are a lot of choices for varminting in that weight class. They'll fly pretty fast but will lose steam quickly as well, they just don't have the BC and weight to maintain momentum. That said, plenty for most practical ranges, and 20" isn't optimal but not terrible either.
 
mikeyb said:
My 9-twist .223 seems to like everything up to a 75gr HPBT, but that's about the upper limit. I would likely stick with a 55gr bullet though as there are a lot of choices for varminting in that weight class. They'll fly pretty fast but will lose steam quickly as well, they just don't have the BC and weight to maintain momentum. That said, plenty for most practical ranges, and 20" isn't optimal but not terrible either.
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I punched in some data on Shooters Calculator using chrono speeds from another fellas similar barrel and it looks like a 53gr V-max out of a 20" is good to about 600yd and will still have the 1600fps that hornady states as the threshold for expansion on those. I played with some other theoretical loads/guesstimated speeds and it looks like most of those 53-70gr bullets would be effective to at least 500 with some of them pushing 600. Thats plenty far for hunting ranges i think.
 
kombatkyle said:
...looks like a 53gr V-max out of a 20" is good to about 600yd and will still have the 1600fps that hornady states as the threshold for expansion on those. ....
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There's expansion, and there's e-x-p-a-n-s-i-o-n.

Hornady may be talking about the minimum in order to get some expansion with that bullet. I'd be more interested in what is needed to get full expansion.
 
alpining said:
There's expansion, and there's e-x-p-a-n-s-i-o-n.

Hornady may be talking about the minimum in order to get some expansion with that bullet. I'd be more interested in what is needed to get full expansion.
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This some data that would likely need to be collected independently lol. Would make for an awesome Garand Thumb style ballistic gel type video with some actual visuals on how bullets look after doing their jobs at different impact velocities. There might be videos like this already, i'll have to have a look.
 
I have a 8 twist 20" 223 and it shoots the 40gr Vmax well @ 3670 fps. No worries with a 9 twist and a light varmint bullet

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My other 223 is 16" 8 twist and it still pushes 55gr Vmax @ 3100 fps with AR Comp powder

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Have dabbled a bit with a 12.5" BCL Bison and the 40gr Vmax is right at 3000 fps. Plenty of velocity for predators out to 250 yards

Hornady will soon launch the ELD VT bullet, a 22cal 62gr with a higher BC than any existing Vmax. It'll be one worth trying in a faster twist rate 223!
 
kombatkyle said:
This some data that would likely need to be collected independently lol. ...
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Could just ask Hornady directly - They can be really generous with this info. I've gotten details from them showing recovered bullets at different impact velocities. They're really good by email.
 
i tried a bunch of bullets for exact purpose - shooting at a 10' gong, I backed up 100yds at a time, using BOG tripod, Common Varget load pushing a 52 vmax, and i could easily see that bullet perform past where i could hit reliably -
3 coyotes 320-470yds, no exits shooting head on. bang flops. I think i was 8.5 moa at 470. Wind is your enemy with those bullets tho - Have used 60Vmax on gophers too, great shooting bullet, but have yet to shoot anything else. 9 twist 20".
 
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