.223 newbie questions

[TVRGREG]

Looking at the burn rates for vectan tu 3000, sp7 and tu 5000 against N133 to N140 you should be ok.
I would use tu 3000 and sp7 on the 55-60grn and tu 5000 on 69grn heads.

[sarge4318]

The bullet has to match the rifling twist. The faster the twist the longer the bullet has to be. I can't remember off hand what bullet is for the 1:8 twist. I'm sure someone will tell you if the 55gr is not right.

Actually the twist has to match the bullet. The longer the bullet the faster the twist needs to be - a short bullet should work in a fast twist barrel.

A longer/heavier bullet (depending upon which formula you use) will require a faster twist. With .223 there are lots of scare stories about over stabilising the bullets, but how stable do you want them?
Spinning too fast could potentially disintegrate the bullet but I have never heard of any first hand stories of it happening with bullets fired at normal .223 speeds. I regularly shoot 52gn bullets from a 1:7" twist travelling at breakneck speeds and the foxes don't know any different.

The upshot is faster twist is better, unless you're wildcatting and pushing the envelope regarding pressures and velocities.
With the 1:8" twist rate you should be able to shoot the heavy 75/77gn bullets and possibly even the 80gns but you'll have to try it and see what your barrel limits are.

[loiner1965]

Thankyou. I have 120 factory 55grn loads and 200 heads, I am a child trapped in a big, fat man's body. They won't last long! I have a friend with a .222, I'll see if I can try some of his if they're heavier.

if you pm powder / bullet weight and make etc / col / barrel length and i will quickload it for you

[aris]

Don't mess about. Use published and tested load data.

https://www.xxl-reloading.com/2016-V...eloading-Guide

Click on the data sheet tab to get full load data for all calibres, but here is .223 rem

[tinbum]

Don't mess about. Use published and tested load data.

https://www.xxl-reloading.com/2016-V...eloading-Guide

Click on the data sheet tab to get full load data for all calibres, but here is .223 rem

Thanks, I'm not going freestyling, I'm just curious.

[tinbum]

Actually the twist has to match the bullet. The longer the bullet the faster the twist needs to be - a short bullet should work in a fast twist barrel.

A longer/heavier bullet (depending upon which formula you use) will require a faster twist. With .223 there are lots of scare stories about over stabilising the bullets, but how stable do you want them?
Spinning too fast could potentially disintegrate the bullet but I have never heard of any first hand stories of it happening with bullets fired at normal .223 speeds. I regularly shoot 52gn bullets from a 1:7" twist travelling at breakneck speeds and the foxes don't know any different.

The upshot is faster twist is better, unless you're wildcatting and pushing the envelope regarding pressures and velocities.
With the 1:8" twist rate you should be able to shoot the heavy 75/77gn bullets and possibly even the 80gns but you'll have to try it and see what your barrel limits are.

That's interesting, so a 55grn bullet will still be accurate in a faster barrel, but a heavy bullet needs a fast barrel to be accurate. That is good news as the 55grn are far cheaper

[tinbum]

if you pm powder / bullet weight and make etc / col / barrel length and i will quickload it for you

Thankyou

[JB101]

That's interesting, so a 55grn bullet will still be accurate in a faster barrel, but a heavy bullet needs a fast barrel to be accurate. That is good news as the 55grn are far cheaper

Go by results rather than price , I’ve found out (in my rifle) that the heavier bullets 69 , 77 produce better results at 3-600 yds than the 55’s .
Some people are happy just to hit the target at 600 where as I want to get them all in the bull / V bull .

[tinbum]

Go by results rather than price , I’ve found out (in my rifle) that the heavier bullets 69 , 77 produce better results at 3-600 yds than the 55’s .
Some people are happy just to hit the target at 600 where as I want to get them all in the bull / V bull .

I will have some special rounds for when I'm taking things more seriously, but cheap ammo for fast-fire fun will definitely be required. With the factory rounds a full mag dump will cost €45!

[JB101]

I will have some special rounds for when I'm taking things more seriously, but cheap ammo for fast-fire fun will definitely be required. With the factory rounds a full mag dump will cost €45!

There is that 👍👍😁

[tinbum]

I have ordered 500g of TU3000, a few hundred amorces and 100 62 grain bullets. Testing will commence soon!

Speaking of which...... Is testing at 200m ok? I'm worried that as I'm the weakest link in the chain, this might skew the results? The other option is 50m, but that seems far to close to actually tell me anything.

Also, the span of powder loads is quite wide. Should I test 5 loads from bottom to top, find the best and then try five loads closer together based on that?

And I've just remembered I meant to order ammo boxes........

[enfield2band]

Actually the twist has to match the bullet. The longer the bullet the faster the twist needs to be - a short bullet should work in a fast twist barrel.

A longer/heavier bullet (depending upon which formula you use) will require a faster twist. With .223 there are lots of scare stories about over stabilising the bullets, but how stable do you want them?
Spinning too fast could potentially disintegrate the bullet but I have never heard of any first hand stories of it happening with bullets fired at normal .223 speeds. I regularly shoot 52gn bullets from a 1:7" twist travelling at breakneck speeds and the foxes don't know any different.

The upshot is faster twist is better, unless you're wildcatting and pushing the envelope regarding pressures and velocities.
With the 1:8" twist rate you should be able to shoot the heavy 75/77gn bullets and possibly even the 80gns but you'll have to try it and see what your barrel limits are.

I think that is a generalisation. You don't buy the bullets and match the rifle. You use the bullets that are most suited to the gun. It likes saying get a shotgun with a 3 inch chamber and you can shoot anything through it from 2" to 3".
On that basis why not just buy a 1:6 twist and you can shoot anything through it.

My .223" was 1:8 I could get clover leaf groups at 100 yards, (prone unrested with a scope) with 68 gr Sierra Match Kings and 68gr Hornady.
I tried the military bullet and it was on target but would have need developing to be accurate, maybe! I have tried 55gr bullets and they were not suited at all to my rifle. Since the one I was using were good enough I stayed with them rather than go to the expense and time trying to develop a load. The 55gr might work in the faster twist but it might not. It didn't for me.

If you are going to shoot mostly 55gr bullets why buy a rifle with a fast twist?

[JB101]

I have ordered 500g of TU3000, a few hundred amorces and 100 62 grain bullets. Testing will commence soon!

Speaking of which...... Is testing at 200m ok? I'm worried that as I'm the weakest link in the chain, this might skew the results? The other option is 50m, but that seems far to close to actually tell me anything.

Also, the span of powder loads is quite wide. Should I test 5 loads from bottom to top, find the best and then try five loads closer together based on that?

And I've just remembered I meant to order ammo boxes........

Testing at 200m should be ok , use a rear rest and front rest / bipod, shoot for groups (don’t bother adjust scope until groups form - presuming you are hitting the target use a small aiming mark as well
For a 1:8 twist try some smk 69grain and possible PPU 69’s & 75’s
As you’ve said initially load say 5 -10 rounds of each weight (powder) from bottom to top and then fine tune from what appears to be the best groups .
You should be getting groups (ideally)of 1moa or less so less than 2 inches at 200m ��

[Nick-StA]

The US military changed to a 1:7 twist while still using vast quantities of 55gr, so I don't think you'll have any issues!

[tinbum]

I'm getting ready to load my first round. I have set everything out, the four hole turret is ready on the press, I look up the load data and....... Vectan's website is down!

No problem, I'll look up the equivalent to tu3000. There it is! Or rather there they are. Each equivalent gives a different start and finish weight, AND a different minimum OAL.

Far too complicated for me today. I'll wait to see if they fix the website