Hi all, I'm thinking of putting a rifle together for medium range F/TR shooting (ie. 300,500,600 yds) and I was hoping to hear about people experiences with different bullets. My barrel is a Krieger 1-7.5" twist heavy palma. I've heard of people using the 90 Berger VLD, has anyone had much time with the 82 Berger BT? Also interested in hearing about the 80 and 90 SMK, the 90 JLK and 80 A-Max.
Good .223 F/TR Bullets
- Thread starter SouthPaw700
- Start date
wapitiwhacker
CGN Regular
- Location
- East Kootenay B.C.
There is a huge thread on the 90gr. VLD results here,..http://www.canadiangunnutz.com/forum/showthread.php/384761-90gr-Berger-VLD-and-the-223-500m-Group-1-1-16-quot-X-1-8-quot-see-post-357?highlight=90+gr+vld.
Myself, I never got the 90 gr. VLD to shoot well (using a Brux med palma 1:7). The 90 BT shot very well, but Berger discontinued them.
My guess is the 90 VLD might be a bit of a struggle with a 1:7.5.
82 BTs are now on the list, but I have yet to try them. I know someone who uses them with great success. Right now I am getting very promising results using 80 VLDs and 77 Scenars. Varget, N140, and N150 have all yielded decent results.
Myself, I never got the 90 gr. VLD to shoot well (using a Brux med palma 1:7). The 90 BT shot very well, but Berger discontinued them.
My guess is the 90 VLD might be a bit of a struggle with a 1:7.5.82 BTs are now on the list, but I have yet to try them. I know someone who uses them with great success. Right now I am getting very promising results using 80 VLDs and 77 Scenars. Varget, N140, and N150 have all yielded decent results.
Mystic Precision
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Summerland, BC
What would you like to know?
7 twist for the 90gr VLDs. At higher elevations, the 90gr VLD's could work with a slower twist. I have shot them in 8 twists but I am like 3500feet up.
7.5 twist, 82 to 80.5 to 80gr VLDs are ideal. Lots of shooters are having positive results with the Berger 80.5gr. I shot a bunch of Berger 80gr VLD's and they worked great. Also, Hrn bullets if they ever come back into production.
Sierra and Nosler can be great and their supply can be better/faster.... sometimes
Eeny meeny - just shoot them to find out.
Jerry
7 twist for the 90gr VLDs. At higher elevations, the 90gr VLD's could work with a slower twist. I have shot them in 8 twists but I am like 3500feet up.
7.5 twist, 82 to 80.5 to 80gr VLDs are ideal. Lots of shooters are having positive results with the Berger 80.5gr. I shot a bunch of Berger 80gr VLD's and they worked great. Also, Hrn bullets if they ever come back into production.
Sierra and Nosler can be great and their supply can be better/faster.... sometimes
Eeny meeny - just shoot them to find out.
Jerry
I have shot 80 gr SMK's but found the 80 gr Nolser's to be just slightly better. I have also found Nosler 155's shoot just a little better the 155 SMK's in all my .308 barrels. Nosler's are usually cheaper too.
Cool that's interesting to hear. I actually hadn't even thought of Nosler, so thanks for bringing it up!
Mystic Precision
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Summerland, BC
Shot tons of them. QC can be varied but they work superbly at really long distances. What I shot at 1 mile.
Not produced at this time so hoping it comes back.
When you are talking about F TR, high BC matters. Sierra makes very nice bullets but they are not the most streamlined. Also, some batches can have variations. I sell a lot of 69 and 77gr MK's but these are usually to those without the same needs as an F class shooter.
Why most will use Bergers. They cost way more but offer more of what we want.
When competing in F class, the cost of a few cents per bullet vs dropping points is bad economics.
Jerry
I've been very pleased with 80 Grain SMKs but must admit that I've never tried the Noslers either. I've tried Bergers, Hornadys and JLKs and found the SMKs were more accurate in my rifle last time I checked. But hey... maybe I'll give the Noslers a try some time.
I'm currently using the 82BT and found a node on my 1:8t 26" Shilen SSSM barrel around 24.0gn of Varget. It was very hard to find load data for the 82BT so I worked this load on my rifle so CAUTION your YMMV. Hodgdon data has a Max load of Varget at 21.5gn @2590fps I'm getting around 2800fps on a 26" barrel however I have to do a final Chrony on my load to confirm velocity, I found no signs of pressure on Win brass and CCI 450primers. I'm getting very little vertical and good accuracy so far.
I used 80 Amaxes extensively for two years in F-class competition there is good accuracy to be had but every so often you'll get fliers for no reason or get some really odd vertical between shots. I've lost to many points with these fliers in competition so I moved away and sold all my 80Amaxes. They are very good for the price however they just do not do it for me anymore. For long range practice ammo I say you're good to go using the 80amax but for competition use something else that is of match quality.
