.223 Rem Gun

[wmfirefighter]

How many of you guys shoot a .223 Rem at longer ranges? Nothing too specific on distance. I have a Remington VTR and love how well it shoots and am going to look at good heavier grain weight bullets for reloading, but didn't know if anyone on here really uses the .223 Rem. What grain bullet are you using? I'm thinking of sticking with a hollow point so to use for varmint hunting or the occasional hog/whitetail hunt. Thanks in advance for your input!

 

[XLR308]

I think the biggest obstacle you are going to encounter with the VTR and heavy for caliber bullets will be the 1-9" twist rate unless they have changed it.

 

[Lunchbox27]

I run a standard 20” sps tac 1:9 twist, shooting 69 grain sierra match kings at 2800 fps. I usually take this no further than 600 yards ( at sea level). But have shot it to 860 with a shit ton of wind holds.

 

[wmfirefighter]

Well I am torn between the Berger 70 gn VLD Target or the Barnes 70 gn TSX for whitetail hunting. My son uses my .223 to deer hunt since he younger and I wanted to go with a bigger bullet this year and liked the 70 gn. Is there any reason why the Berger VLD Target wouldn't work well in a hunting situation?

Their slowest suggested barrel twist is a 1:9 btw, so I don't that will be an issue with my VTR or my build that has a 1:8 twist.

 

[Rstrick0352]

With the monolithic hunting bullets like a Barnes, velocity is more desireable generally than overall starting weight like you’re accustomed to with lead projectiles. They perform best terminally the faster they’re moving, to a point, and your .223 is not going to overwhelm the lighter projectiles except for maybe the very lightest ones. With your shorter barrel and relatively slow twist, I would use the 62gr Barnes as your maximum and even potentially look at the 55gt TTSX which is still a nice boatail design with decent external ballistics. Also, the 70gr is a very long projectile and I would be concerned with stability out of anything less than a 7 twist. Another bullet to look at is Nosler’s new 75gr accubond, which I think would make a great 223 hunting round with decent external ballistics.