.223 69gr & 75gr Loading Prob

[mildot]

Hi all

 

Ive had a new border archer barrell 1-8"twist fitted and have been having a prob trying to find a load to work from using either 75gr amax or 69gr smk.

 

ive tried n140 and imr4895 from min to max load and nothing seems to group at all well at sammi spec length or longer!

 

I have something that looks like i could hit a barn door with 25gr of imr4895 and the 69gr smk seated at 2.270. Is it worth loading these and seated the bullet further in by 10th a time and what min length would you reccomend i stop at?

 

in the past i had a .22-250 that i had to seat the bullets 30-40thou deaper than sammi spec to get to work!

 

cheers

[JC275]

I had a box of 1000 69grn .224 hollow points once, I passed them around everyone I know that had a .224 of some description and no-one could get groups better than a mad womans poo whatever they tried! Through my .220 Swift I was getting six to eight inch groups at 100m with some of the rnds going through the targets sideways! I think that it was down to the fact that the very heavey for calibre bullet required exactly the right twist rate which, obviously, none of us had. I bet that box is still sitting on someones shelf with about 850 bullets still in it! Afraid that I can't offer any useful advice as to load or seating depth. Good luck, JC

[mildot]

When i had my rpa with 1-9twist i could get 1/2" groups at 200yrds with the 69gr MK! but maybe my reamaining ones just dont suit the new barrel. Mind you RPA use border barrels.

 

any suggestions on a different heavey bullet to try?

[6mmBR]

Hi, I use 24 grains of N135 with a 69 SMK set at SAAMI length, this works ok.

You could try Berger 70gn VLD's?

What are you shooting it out of, mines an AR15 so stuck with SAAMI if I want to use the mag.

If a single shot/feed try starting 10 thou off the lands and work back. From personal experience most of my loads work best around 10 thou off, with the exception of Berger VLD's which seem to like a 10 thou jam.

Cheers

Dave

[mildot]

Its a Tikka so i would like to use the mag but the loads i have tried have also been upto the lands.

[6mmBR]

PM Mark-Taffy on here he can show you how to do a very neat alteration on Tikka mags to accept longer rounds.

My suggestion is to perhaps try the Bergers or a change of powder.

Do you have to have heavy bullets.

Mark had the same problem with his Border barrel it ended up it shot 40grain Noslers like a deamon and that was a 1 in 8, go figure.

Try the 60grain Vmax thats quite a performer.

Cheers

Dave

[mildot]

I was thinking of machining outthe back of the mag, i cant see this will cause any problems and allow for longer rounds to be used! i presume this is what Mark-Taffy has done but will pm him for advice. Thanks for heads up.

 

I would prefer heavey rounds for long range target use (600yrds) and for vermin hence i was hoping the 75gr vmax would work a treat.

[chester]

I was thinking of machining outthe back of the mag, i cant see this will cause any problems and allow for longer rounds to be used! i presume this is what Mark-Taffy has done but will pm him for advice. Thanks for heads up.

 

I would prefer heavey rounds for long range target use (600yrds) and for vermin hence i was hoping the 75gr vmax would work a treat.

 

 

I have a batch of 224 VLD's at home if you PM me an address will get a bundle of them into the post for you to try. no point in buying them if you dont know how they will do

 

Im flat out with work and a young family so dont have any spare time to play with

 

Chester

[mildot]

I have a batch of 224 VLD's at home if you PM me an address will get a bundle of them into the post for you to try. no point in buying them if you dont know how they will do

 

Im flat out with work and a young family so dont have any spare time to play with

 

Chester

 

 

That very kind offer cheers. You have PM incoming

[Elwood]

Try some 64 grain or 69 grain Bergers.

[Laurie]

You shouldn't have any problems getting .223 loads that group well with these bullets. The 69gn SMK in particular is a very tolerant bullet that works in most barrels and doesn't mind how much jump it makes into the rifling.

 

The 75gn A-Max is a little fussier, but most people get it to shoot well and it's an excellent long range performer.

 

With the 69gn-70gn bullets, I always got best results with Reloder 15 (23-25.5gn); VarGet (23-25gn); H4895 (22.5-24.5gn).

 

The 75 A-Max works well with Re15 and VarGet, knock the loads down a little, say half a grain.

 

These loads are for 'roomy' brass - recent manufacture Lapua 'Match' .223 (not the earlier variety which is good but very heavy and has reduced capacity), or Winchester cases, usually with the Remington 71/2BR primer.

 

With an 8-inch twist barrel, why use 69s and 75s? This twist is designed for 80s. The 80gn SMK shoots well in it, again with Re15 and Varget.

 

If you can't get these combinations to work, I'd have the rifle checked over, starting with the barrel twist rate!

 

Laurie

[AndyCM]

I have 69 g Noslers doing bullet on bullet though a 1:9 with 23.0 of RL15

COL per book, I have not needed to alter seating just powder weight.

If you want to try some I can send (target bullet)

cheers

AndyCM

[Laurie]

Thinking on further, you don't mention how the barrel has been throated. Most 8-inch twist barrels are chambered with the Wylde reamer or something based on it - it's got a fairly long throat to allow 80-grainers to be seated well out. COALs around 2.43-2.45" with 80gn Sierras and Noslers are usually the result with the bullet just off the rifling - you don't want to seat these long bullets at anything like the SAAMI COAL as that puts them very deeply into the case and restricts the size of the powder charge unduly.

 

Assuming you have such a chamber, you might get better results by seating bullets further out, not deeper as you're thinking of trying. The 69gn SMK (likewise same weight Nosler and Lapua, plus the 68gn Hornady HPBT) should all work well though at 2.25-2.26" COAL even if that involves a near 200 thou' jump into the rifling as they've all been designed for magazine use in American Hi-Power Service Rifle competition in tuned AR15s.

 

Another suggestion is to get some 77gn Sierra MKs, or the new Lapua equivalent. These are the most forgiving bullets I've ever loaded in my 8-inch twist Lilja barrel SSR-15. You can use any COAL from 2.26" to jammed in the rifling and they still shoot well. H4895 works very well with these bullets, but they're not fussy about powder - N140, Re15, VarGet, AA-2460 and 2520 all gave me good results too.

 

Laurie

[baldie]

24.5 grains of varget, and a 77 grain smk.

If you want to try the 77 grain smk, and also the scenar, pm me...i have both.

[Guest varmartin]

70 grain Berger LTB`s from when I had a Sako 75 1-8....they shot very well indeed....

 

Seated 0n the lands was giving me consistent 0.7 inch groups @ 300 yards .....

 

I will dig out the load data latter ...

 

....24.5 grains V140...in Lap Match brass

 

I have a box of 75 Berger VLD`s left over ..they shot well ....

 

75 Amax loaded the same..0.005 in the lands was very very good ...

[onehole]

Not sure what your barrel length is but if it is shortish ie 22/23 inch then you will probably be better off with a faster powder on the heavies and from memory 73 ltb bergers in Varmartin,s oldrifle {sako 75}with 23/135 just off lands will give you onehole 3/5 shot onehole groups every time.

My sons RPA will do the same using 73 ltb,s and 24/140 but this is a longer barrel and benefits from a longer burn powder.onehole.

[mildot]

Cheers for the replies and advice.

 

I have modded my tikka mag so i can now have the 75gr amax sat at a col of 2.450 which is on the lands! i will try this and seat in by 10 thou a time and see if this helps!

 

Someone is very kindly sending me some vld to try aswell.

 

The barrel is 24" long and as far as i know is reamed with a standard .223 sammi spec reamer!

[sir-slots-alot]

Mildot,

In my Tikka 23 - with a 24 inch , 1 in 8 tube - I use 24.8 grns of Vit N140 - with a 75 Amax.

Cannot recall the OAL from memory as I am scivving at work at the mo .. but it is sat 10 thou from lands.

 

feeding each one by hand is a bit of a pain , as they are far to long to fit into the Tikka mag.

 

This load is pretty accurate - cloverleaf groups at 100 yrds are normal and occaisionally a one holer.

 

Last Saturday I was using this load to hit a 10 inch swinging gong at 900 yrds.

 

I would also recommend you try Hornady 68 grn HPBT's - these have been excellent in my rifle .. I will have to buy some more this weekend at Weston Park.

 

 

 

Alan