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85 grain 223 in a bolt fun?

Maggot

"For we wrestle not against flesh and blood"
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Minuteman
  • Jul 27, 2007
    25,879
    29,153
    Virginia
    I have a sweet Remington stainless 23, one of the nice older ones with jeweled bolt. and a great break, bery low recoil. I find the heavier the ammo the more accurate. Ive been shooting 77 grain bthp. Another member mentioned getting great groups with 80 grain but i cant find any. There is some 85 grain available at a decent price, I was thinking of picking up 5 boxes to try, but is that ammo for specially throated match guns and would damage my Remington? Knowledge appreciated
     
    Is 85 grain 223 in a bolt fun?

    It depends on what kind of day you’re having

    Ive been shooting…
    What? Since when?

    Are you reloading or referring to factory ammo? If factory ammo, which ammo?
     
    Last edited:
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    Is 85 grain 223 in a bolt fun?

    It depends on what kind of day your having


    What? Since when?

    Are you reloading or referring to factory ammo? If factory ammo, which ammo?
    I didnt ask if it was fun, I want to know if it could damage my rifle. Wrecking my rifle would ensure a bad day.

    As I mentioned above, its a Remignton 700 and has a jeweled bolt so yes its a bolt gun.

    This is the ammo Im thinking of trying.

     
    Damage? No.
    Shoot like shit? Likely

    Not many factory remingtons in 223 came with a barrel with a fast enough twist to handle that weight. You'll likely be limited to 69 or 75gr bullets max.

    Check the barrel for stamps to see the twist rate. Betting is a 1 in 12 twist.
     
    I would guess 1 in 9 since he is already shooting 77g with success. Still not likely its going to shoot 80-85g bullets.
     
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    I have a sweet Remington stainless 23, one of the nice older ones with jeweled bolt. and a great break, bery low recoil. I find the heavier the ammo the more accurate. Ive been shooting 77 grain bthp. Another member mentioned getting great groups with 80 grain but i cant find any. There is some 85 grain available at a decent price, I was thinking of picking up 5 boxes to try, but is that ammo for specially throated match guns and would damage my Remington? Knowledge appreciate

    You need to spend less time in the bear pit spreading bullshit and more time educating yourself on shooting . This question looks like it came from someone who has never shot a gun in his/her life . :rolleyes:
     
    Berger's Stability Calculator

    Gonna get to see what keyholing looks like.

    Depending on the throat and how far the bullet gets pushed back into the case, the pressures could get sporty. Most 80ish grain ammo is seated somewhere around 1.9" base to ogive. Post the kaboom pics, if it goes that way.
     
    Go big or go home. 95g SMK.;)
    315155752_10160562085498035_3297038944992053893_n.jpg
     
    Doubt keyholing 85 grainers will be much fun. Unless you just enjoy irregular holes at random places in the target.
     
    Go big or go home. 95g SMK.;)
    315155752_10160562085498035_3297038944992053893_n.jpg
    Specs please, PM if necessary 😉 I am no stranger to working up loads for large bullets in small cases. I built two 30-06's after reading MontanaMarines right up on his success with 208-210 grain projectiles. Also the 208 amax is stellar in the .308 if you do it right.

    Kind Regards,

    - Jon
     
    To the O.P. back when I first picked up shooting .223 out of a box stock factory Rem. SPS this was the ticket. The 1-9 or 1-12 barrels with super long throats don't play well with anything above 77 grains if your lucky.
    If you can find the Outback stuff with the SBK bullets it should shoot better most anything out there. Ive tried it all. Maybe some of the new offerings with the ELDM would outshoot it.
    As many have said already, If your going to go with heavy projectiles you'll need a 1-7 twist or better.

    After you start shooting heavys well you do dumb stuff like chop your barrel to 16" 🤣
    IMG_20221109_163724664~2.jpg

    Screenshot_20221112-104152.png
     
    Specs please, PM if necessary 😉 I am no stranger to working up loads for large bullets in small cases. I built two 30-06's after reading MontanaMarines right up on his success with 208-210 grain projectiles. Also the 208 amax is stellar in the .308 if you do it right.

    Kind Regards,

    - Jon
    I first tried 95g SMKs in my F-Class 1:7 Shilen throated for 90g SMKs. Worked pretty good. Groups averaged under .5". typically .3". Velocity was pretty low as I worked up slowly.

    After a while I made a dedicated Bart PRS barrel. 28" 1:6.5 throated a mile long to accommodate the 95s. If I remember right I was pushing sanity and had them up to 2800. Around 2700 was sustainable for brass life. I was also pushing 90s to 2900, but 2800ish was sustainable for brass life.

    Outstanding groups across the board.

    I won't get into loads. I tried Varget, StaBal, RL17, RL16, and XBR if I remember right. Varget and RL17 were the best. I would say at peak velocity testing they were very much over pressure. At match loads, they were good by my standards. There is, or at least was, no book standard for this when I started it. There may be now. As far as how far it's throated, I have no clue. I made dummy rounds for my smith to use and he throated appropriately. I was limited by the mag itself. If you see the picture, you'll notice the Accurate Mag has been modified with the entire front portion of the insert removed-not just the top lip.

    Awesome setup, but the trial and error of making it all work involved a lot of error.
     
    I first tried 95g SMKs in my F-Class 1:7 Shilen throated for 90g SMKs. Worked pretty good. Groups averaged under .5". typically .3". Velocity was pretty low as I worked up slowly.

    After a while I made a dedicated Bart PRS barrel. 28" 1:6.5 throated a mile long to accommodate the 95s. If I remember right I was pushing sanity and had them up to 2800. Around 2700 was sustainable for brass life. I was also pushing 90s to 2900, but 2800ish was sustainable for brass life.

    Outstanding groups across the board.

    I won't get into loads. I tried Varget, StaBal, RL17, RL16, and XBR if I remember right. Varget and RL17 were the best. I would say at peak velocity testing they were very much over pressure. At match loads, they were good by my standards. There is, or at least was, no book standard for this when I started it. There may be now. As far as how far it's throated, I have no clue. I made dummy rounds for my smith to use and he throated appropriately. I was limited by the mag itself. If you see the picture, you'll notice the Accurate Mag has been modified with the entire front portion of the insert removed-not just the top lip.

    Awesome setup, but the trial and error of making it all work involved a lot of error.
    I love the 223 and appreciate why you did this so I’m not trying to be snarky. but at any point did you stop and think…why not just get a 6mm (BRA,BR, BRX, Creedmore, etc) and save the stuffing about with pressures and careful load up?

    With the 85-95gn class of projectiles you just touching the performance of a good 6mm calibre.