My Remington 700 tactical does not seem to like 55 grain .223 very much, so I was looking at some heavier stuff. Anyone here getting good results with 75 grain Hornady steel match? Price seems right for a good quality round. Any other suggestions?
What to feed my 700 Tactical
- Thread starter cote_b
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For the best results you are going to want to start handloading and working up a bullet/powder combination tailored to your rifle..........some factory ammo shoots good, but handloads take performance to the next level......
Nobody can tell you what ammo your rifle will like. That's like asking what to feed my kids for supper, its not all cut and dry. If factory is your only option then you'll just have to buy a bunch of different stuff and try it. Just like handloads need to be tailored, factory loads are static. You get whatever they give you and if it works, great, if not too bad. I tried some Hornady Match .223 75 gr BTHP in my XCR and got the worst groups the rifle ever printed off a rest, pierced primers and it was cycling the rifle with the gas set on the suppressor setting. They probably shoot ok to good out of a bolt but my XCR hated them. Now as for a press, you can get rather creative with mounting even if you don't have much room. There also the classic lee loader which can cobble together some pretty good ammo when paired with a good scale. Lee makes a little press stand that doesn't take up much room either. At any rate, try some different factory ammo to find what your rifle likes or reload.
I'm new to the precision rifle scene. Wouldn't all 700 tacticals' shoot the same ammo the same way? I'm just looking for input from other 700 tactical owners on what their rifles like. Input from any precision rifle gurus is appreciated too ofcourse.
You can buy two identical rifles that may shoot very differently. The 700 is mass produced, many rifles are made on the tooling which wears and needs to be replaced periodically. This changes dimensions in the bore from more extreme ends of the tooling's life as well as the overall quality of important things like the bore, its rifling and the chamber. Because of this you end up with a run of rifles with a degree of tolerance differences. You can get a great shooting rifle, an average shooting rifle and a poor shooting rifle all in the same production run. If you had access to a couple rifles identical to yours they would all shoot a little differently with the same ammo. Handloading is what let's you tune your ammo to the rifle to get it shooting at its peak performance. Selecting various factory loads might find you a recipe that your particular rifle shoots well.
ultimate_monkey
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X2 on what supernova said . And I'll add that the same rifles may be close to likening the same thing but will almost never be identical . You could get one that shoots 1" groups with the largest spread horizontal then the next could shoot 1" groups virtical . Variations on machining , barrel harmonics , how tight the barrel is threaded on on and on will all change how the rifle shoots . So unfortunatly store bought or hand loaded its trial and error to get the best result
Thanks a lot guys! Maybe it is time I started reloading .223. Shooting decent factory ammo seems like it would get really expensive, really fast.
Another question for you guys. I bought a couple of boxes of PMC X-Tac 5.56 the other day for a good price. 62 grain FMJ. The box does say not to shoot in rifles with a .223 chamber, which I believe my 700 has. Kind of a dumb question, but should I avoid the temptation and not shoot it in my 700? Or have others here used 5.56 and not had any problems?
Another question for you guys. I bought a couple of boxes of PMC X-Tac 5.56 the other day for a good price. 62 grain FMJ. The box does say not to shoot in rifles with a .223 chamber, which I believe my 700 has. Kind of a dumb question, but should I avoid the temptation and not shoot it in my 700? Or have others here used 5.56 and not had any problems?
There's a great sticky in one of these forums about .223 vs 5.56 you should check out. I will also echo what has been said: reloading is the way to go! I have developed loads for 55gr blitzkings, 55gr nosler BT, and 70gr vld. All are performing very well in my SPS tactical.
