What’s your favourite 223 fox bullet .

[farmer_giles]

Nice work, the 73 eldms feel like a good top-end match for the 8-twist tikka - can the n540 drive them to 3k or top out earlier... 

[farmer_giles]

25 minutes ago, Richiew said:

Btw 3 foxes last night with the 60 grain Berger longest at 144 yards all went straight down but no big exit hole like the elds can do . 
cheers

Good work - less foxes.  No exit hole is a good sign. lower bc than the 53gr vmax though presumably due to the flat base. Is there a bt version someone makes around 60gr - sierra rings a bell... yep this one looks good with .298 bc

https://www.sierrabullets.com/product/22-caliber-62-gr-sbt/

[Richiew]

Hi there 

2820 fps is what Berger quote for their factory 73 grain. A very accurate bullet and tangent design so jump tolerant . Untested on foxy tho .

[Richiew]

Another fox with the 60 grain Berger varmint  at 114 yards , no exit and it turned the whole chest and neck area to mush . Fox went straight down . 
Good results 

[farmer_giles]

good job, we've got a small one getting in that I've yet to dispatch. It can kill a chicken but just chews the ducks. 

[Richiew]

Hope they’re not them yellow rubbery ones . Sorry couldn’t resist. Bored doing mind blowing painting of ceiling. No foxes about last Thursday so farmers happy . Cheers 

[farmer_giles]

Sadly the running around but cannot fly type! We're flat out with Christmas processing, so not much time for shooting. Checked for the fox a couple of times last night but no sign of the little bugger.

[farmer_giles]

The fox is down. I repeat, the little deciduous tree is down. 

Finally caught it in with the chickens. 

First shot (100m) in the chest. Second shot in the head. Factory Ammo Hornady 53gr Superformance. 

So in relation to the bullet choice I would say these are a bit fast and light, disintegrating rather than expanding. The chest shot managed about 2-3 inches penetration which did not kill it. The head shot hit the nose straight on and did not reach the brain but the impact killed it. 

The way these 53gr vmax behave points towards them being more suitable for rabbit/crow/magpie. Their BC is extremely good, so they travel well. 

I'm thinking about 63gr might be the next stop on this journey. 

 

 

 

[outlanda]

12 minutes ago, farmer_giles said:

The fox is down. I repeat, the little deciduous tree is down. 

Finally caught it in with the chickens. 

First shot (100m) in the chest. Second shot in the head. Factory Ammo Hornady 53gr Superformance. 

So in relation to the bullet choice I would say these are a bit fast and light, disintegrating rather than expanding. The chest shot managed about 2-3 inches penetration which did not kill it. The head shot hit the nose straight on and did not reach the brain but the impact killed it. 

The way these 53gr vmax behave points towards them being more suitable for rabbit/crow/magpie. Their BC is extremely good, so they travel well. 

I'm thinking about 63gr might be the next stop on this journey. 

 

 

 

That's at odds with my experience handloads of 53gr or 50gr vmax. A .204 40gr v max works and would be my 'favourite fox bullet' over the 50gr v max .223 second. A .22wmr head shot would exit and i guess heavier .223 head shot might be the same.  I dislike exiting bullets - 'safety' or runners.

[Richiew]

Well done Giles finally got him eh . I’m using up the 60 grain Berger s at the moment and find they still pass through usually with a 2” exit hole . Going to standardise on the 73 eldms in the future along with 73 g bergers . Got some to chrono when our farmer mate gives us the nod that he’s got an empty field . Will post the speed s . Cheers 

[Fifty_seven]

my favorite was 55gr sako soft point factory ammo

[Richiew]

Great factory ammo but all over the place when chronoed about 65 or more fps spread , was looking for under 10 in hand loads . 

[Richiew]

Todays chrono results are all in the 2800+ mark for n540 with 24.5 to 25 grain of powder with the 73 grain bullets . All very accurate but massive extreme spread 55 fps . So not too happy . Battery was low on the magneto speed so possibly all duff reading s . So will reload and retest soon. 73 grain Berger s pass through 5 mm plate at 100 yards but all ok on the hardox targets . 
New FORM rifle stock is very comfy . 

[farmer_giles]

18 hours ago, Richiew said:

Todays chrono results are all in the 2800+ mark for n540 with 24.5 to 25 grain of powder with the 73 grain bullets . All very accurate but massive extreme spread 55 fps . So not too happy . Battery was low on the magneto speed so possibly all duff reading s . So will reload and retest soon. 73 grain Berger s pass through 5 mm plate at 100 yards but all ok on the hardox targets . 
New FORM rifle stock is very comfy . 

Interesting update Richie, annoying fps spread. N530? Must check out the FORMs.... Giles

[Richiew]

Hi Giles 

A very frustrating day es of 55 fps for the 25 g of n540 and 44 fps for 24.5 grains of n540 . Recently changed my bushing to a tighter nip . 245  on the bullet so will go back to the original bushing of .247 . Change battery as read somewhere that magneto doesn’t tolerate low voltage. I’ll also do a big clean on the barrel to get rid of any variables. 

[Scrumbag]

I'm going to try the 60gr TMK.

[Richiew]

Good job I’ve got plenty of 73g bullets as can’t find many places with stock . Some flat base 60 s about tho. I was using N135 with good results but obviously a bit slower as best load was about the 23 grain mark . It’s all good fun !!??

[Richiew]

19 hours ago, Scrumbag said:

I'm going to try the 60gr TMK.

Where have you found them ?? 

[Scrumbag]

1 hour ago, Richiew said:

Where have you found them ?? 

This was actually a place that was closing down so I cleaned him out of 400x 60gr TMK and 750x 62gr Hornady FMJBT 

[Richiew]

Used up the last of the 60 and 55 Berger s and loaded a few 70 grain vlds which like the 24.5 gr of n135 with a ten thou jump . Need a good day out and a few more fox to try the loads on . 
 

well done on finding them bullets mate , that’ll keep you going for ages . 

[Scrumbag]

On 3/15/2022 at 5:08 PM, Richiew said:

Used up the last of the 60 and 55 Berger s and loaded a few 70 grain vlds which like the 24.5 gr of n135 with a ten thou jump . Need a good day out and a few more fox to try the loads on . 
 

well done on finding them bullets mate , that’ll keep you going for ages . 

Thanks. I wouldn't mind trying some of those Bergers but my 1:9 twist barrel limits it a bit. That 70 gr bullet looks the mutts nutts

Scrummy

[chaz]

Tikka T3 1 in 8 twist.

Hornady 55 grain V-Max, Lapua brass, Federal gold match primer, Vhit N135 powder, 25.1 grains. Don't recall base to Ogive, but a few thou jump to the lands. 3200 fps. Sub moa most of the time. 

[Richiew]

Product Line	VLD Target
G1 BC	0.374
G7 BC	0.191
G7 Form Factor	1.042
Minimum Twist (or faster)	1:9"
Ogive Style	Secant (VLD)
Base Style	Boat Tail
Jacket	J4 Target Jacket
Sectional Density	0.199
Bullet Dia.	0.224
OAL	0.961
Base to Ogive	0.505
Nose Length	0.487
Bearing Surface	0.282
Boat Tail Length	0.192

[Richiew]

Above info from Berger web page 70 vlds minimum twist is 1:9” so you should be ok . Very accurate when loaded near to the lands . But might not fit standard magazines. 

[Richiew]

55 grain flat base berger target version don’t expand on foxy when shot from the side just pencil through. Shot through the bib from front on they do a great job . Info from last nights session.