.223 Rem. Twist Rates and Bullets

[Seeking_Coyotes]

Thinking my next gun will be a .223 Rem. Savage Bolt action.  My son shoots his AR in service rifle matches with 75 grain Hornady Competition bullets.  I'd like to keep it simple and use the same in a bolt .223.  Wondering if I need to go to a 1:7 twist for these bullets or the standard savage 1:9 twist.

[foxfx]

1in9 twist probably won't work with a 75gr .224 bullet.  It's worth a try, but the bullets will most likely destabilize in flight.

[bigben]

Why so big on gr?

[foxfx]

Sierra .224 69 gr MatchKing HPBT
This is pretty much the heaviest bullet you can put through a 1:9 twist.  If you want to shoot heavier lawn darts you'll need a faster twist. 

If you want to use a 223 for 400+ yard long range match (paper) shooting, then I'd go with a 1:7 twist and shoot long, heavy match grade hollow points. 

If you want a 223 for varmint/predator hunting, then get a 1:12 or a 1:9 twist and run some 50-55 grain frangible varmint bullets through it.

[bigben]

+1

[Seeking_Coyotes]

My thoughts on the 75 grain bullets was that the lighter bullets would be much less accurate and have less energy out there at 300 yards.  Guys who shoot the .223 in cmp matches only use light bullets out to 200 then switch to the 70+ grain bullets for 300 and 600 yards.  Does this sound logical or am I missing something?

[bigben]

Unless your killing paper you will be minute of fox out to 300 with 50 gr bullets

[bigben]

Heres what came out of my load program



Not sure if the 75 gr load is close or not but i didnt think it would be that far apart. If you can shoot em and get reliable kills with it i would go with the 75 gr bullet. But you'll have more drop then the lighter bulets. I dont go past 150 anyhow so it will prob be moot for me. But if you feel a 300 shot is the norm

[Seeking_Coyotes]

Hi Ben,

Thank you for the info.  I am not sure I understand what the graph is saying?  Can you explain it to me?  Also, does the graph show bullet drop differences at 200 and 300 yards?

The way I shoot at long distances I need all the help I can get.  :-)  I shot my first groundhog monday at 300 yards and I missed him a few times before I got him.  Got no excuses...was using a Harris Bi-Pod and my .17 Fireball.  Gonna have to get my but to the range and practice, practice, practice, at 300 yards.

In truth I don't shoot beyond 50 yards at night with the fireball.  However, if I get a bolt .223 it will probably become my groundhog gun and be used at night in areas where I only target coyotes.  I will probably shoot out to 100 at a coyote at night but 300+ at coyotes in the day and groundhogs.

Still confused on what bullet I should use.  I spoke with Hornady and they told me not to use their 75 grain bthp match on critters cause they don't test the bullet for expansion.  However, endless searching has resulted in a fairly consistent very positve report from every post I have read on guys across the country who have used the bullets on coyotes and deer.  Hornady recommended I use their 70 grain gmx for a heavy game bullet. 

I do not want to use the .223 for fox with a reduced load because I don't think a reduced load is optimal for a gun and would worry about shooting a coyote with it.  I'll continue to use the .17 Fireball for a combo gun for fox and coyote.

Open to whatever you or anyone else has for bullet suggestions or food for thought.

If you have a ballistic program and can run the info. on my .17 Rem Fireball for the below I'd appreciate it.

H322 17.80 grs
Remington 7 1/2 Small Rifle Primers
Remington Brass
25 Grain Berger Target Match Bullet
Velocity approximately 3,500 fps
24" barrel

[Seeking_Coyotes]

Did it using the Hornady Ballistic Calculator   

[Steve in PA]

Sorry, but I routinely shoot Hornady 75gr BTHP bullets out of my 1:9 Savage 12FV and a 16" Bushmaster M4 Carbine. Excellent accuracy from both rifles.