Speer TNT 55 gr in a .223

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husqvarna

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Good evening all. I'm hoping to get a few .223 reloaders to chime in on this one. I've been loading Sierra 55 gr. BTHP Game King # 1390 bullets for my Savage Mod 10FP. With 25.5 gr of Varget and the bullet seated to 2.225, it will shoot less that .5 inch with no problem. At 200 meters, I've shot one inch groups. One day, I was in need of more bullets, but the 1390's were no where to be found, so I bought some Speer 55 gr. TNT's instead. I have always had great luck with Speer bullets and expected no different this time 'round. Well, with the same load of 25.5 gr. of Varget, I couldn't keep them inside of 3" at 100 m. Every round went in a different place and couldn't get any sort of a group. I know that changing a component (especially a bullet) will have an effect on point of impact and grouping, but I have never experienced such a drastic change before, especially in a .223 which is generally pretty easy to load for. Before I write off the TNT's, I would like to experiment with seating depths to see if I can tighten up the group, but I would also appreciate any other suggestions that you might have. What are some opinions of the TNT bullet? Thanks very much for your time and I look forward to hearing from anyone who might be of some help.

Chris
 
watch your velocity, they have a thin jacket and will turn to dust at the muzzle or on the way to the target when you hit 3000 fps, so load for 27-2800 and things should come back together, they work well in a 222 rem due to the slower speeds and slower twist
 
not in my experiance. ive loaded thousands of the 50 grainers up to 3300 fps in 222 and 223 with never a one coming apart. in fact for gits and shiggles i loaded them hot in a 220 swift once and out of 50 rounds none came apart, in fact was one the most accurate swift loads i tested.
 
That was one of the first bullets I used in my .223 savage 25
Checked out my load data and I used an even 24 grains varget and a total length of 2.20" for a 5 shot 1 MOA group.
When I increased or decreased the powder charge from there the groups opened up.
Very effective and explosive bullet but I moved on to Vmax's and Varmegeddons and got better accuracy. So far the 50 grain SPSX hornady is the most explosive but the least accurate.
 
Thanks very much for the input. I never considered the bullets might be coming apart, since the velocity is only slightly over 3000. I will back off a bit and try again. Any others with experience in a matter like this? Thanks
 
I have loaded those TNT bullets with 27 grains of W748 and have killed stuff all day long with no problems. Accuracy was good, although not as impressive as your Sierra load.
 
Speers aren't exactly high end bullets, but you need to work the load up again. The slightly different shape makes a difference.
 
Interesting results. I haven't used the 55 gr TNT before in my 223, but I have used plenty of their soft points in the same grain. Typically 5 shot groups between 0.5-1.0 inches at 100 meters out of my x-bolt sporter, but I know they are not the same bullet so results will differ. All I can add is (correct me if I'm wrong) that I believe the jacket on the 55 TNT is thicker than that of the 50 grainers to cope with higher velocities (for 22-250, 220 swift, etc) but I am not sure if that has anything to do with your accuracy issues. Might have to start from scratch and re-develop the load again, and try to isolate some variables?
 
Thanks very much for all your input. I will go back to the drawing board, start from the beginning and work up a new load with the TNT's. I guess it was wrong of me to assume that I could change to a different bullet and get the same results as before without starting over. If I only had one box of the TNT'S, I would simply put them on the back shelf and go back to the Game Kings, however I bought Five boxes (500), so because of my investment, I need to develop a useable load.
Thanks again for the input.

Chris
 
check your OAL and the bullet jump. I had best results with the standard 10 thou jump. If you just loaded them to the same OAL as your previous bullet I think I put my finger on the accuracy problem.
 
I use them in my swift all the time without trouble and in my 243 and dads 6mm. They are all loaded hot and never had any trouble. They work really well on coyotes they go in and rarely come out and you end up with a coyote bag of soup.
 
What barrel length do you have? I've been getting into using quickload and loading for the optimal barrel time (search long family barrel time for more info).... I found that on a 26" barrel, the 55 grain bullets are the crappiest option. They either have to be run much slower than ideal in order to hit an OBT node, or too fast for the cartridge.yes you can get them to work without OBT, but I'm finding more and more that it is am almost surefire way to a good load less time.

I've moved to 50 grain pills for light weight bullets, and 64 to 75 grain for heavy ones (though 75 runs either pretty hot or a bit slower than I'd like). Have found that it works well though. Just tested my H4895/Berger 70 grain combo, but used IVI cases this time instead of Remington Peters, so slightly smaller capacity. Found the load I thought would be ideal with quickload, went to the range, and sure enough, the load quickload predicted was tops. I managed to get it running at about 3060 fps out of a 26" barrel, quickload calculates that to about 60k psi by the CIP method, so within 5.56 spec, but zero pressure signs other than ever so slightly flatter primers. Accurate as hell though.
 
They won't be coming apart at 3000 fps. I load the 50gr to 3300+ fps. A different bullet will need a new load work up. I was trying form 40gr vmax the other day and going up in charge weights the poi moved 4" over and 2" lower. Only went up by 2 or 2.5 gr for that to happen as well.
 
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