best 223 remington/5.56mm load for a 1-7 twist

[bigwhiterubicon]

ok, i'm building a AR-15 SPR of sorts.
it's a dpms upper with dpms bolt carrier and bolt, mated to a colt GI profile 20" 1 in 7" twist rate chrome lined barrel.

what would be my best projectile choice, and what are some of you guy's loads that you've had great success with for the 5.56?

thanks in advance,
bigwhiterubicon

 

[bigwhiterubicon]

Re: best 223 remington/5.56mm load for a 1-7 twist

oh i almost forgot to add this, the barrel is free floated via a yhm four rail foreend.

 

[Zanshin]

Re: best 223 remington/5.56mm load for a 1-7 twist

By "best" do you mean most accurate? Also, published load data is for .223 pressure, not 5.56.

For accuracy, 69 gr SMK or 77 gr SMK are popular among hp shooters for 200 and 300 yard shooting.

I shoot a 77gr SMK over 23.5 gr R15 but I believe most will tell you 24 gr R15 (or thereabouts) is the magic number. I use CCI 400 small rifle primers mostly because when i stocked up on primers after the election that was all that I could find. I use R-P brass mostly because I buy my 223 ammo at Dicks Sporting cheap and so it is available to me.

You aren't exactly putting a match grade barrel in that upper so I don't know that I would stress much over working up a load.

 

[gunsnjeeps]

Re: best 223 remington/5.56mm load for a 1-7 twist

77 SMK
24 gn Varget
CCI-400
WCC mil Brass.

Shoots well out to 600 yards. the above loads look good too depending on what you find to load with. TAC is a good powder too. I don't have a load I shoot yet but there are plenty on here.

 

[rymart]

Re: best 223 remington/5.56mm load for a 1-7 twist

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: bigwhiterubicon</div><div class="ubbcode-body">ok, i'm building a AR-15 SPR of sorts.
it's a dpms upper with dpms bolt carrier and bolt, mated to a colt GI profile 20" 1 in 7" twist rate chrome lined barrel.

what would be my best projectile choice, and what are some of you guy's loads that you've had great success with for the 5.56?

thanks in advance,
bigwhiterubicon </div></div>

Mag length or single fed? What are your criteria for 'best projectile'? Accuracy, cost per shot, ballistic coefficient?

My load is the Hornady, 75gr Boat Tail Hollow Point at 2805 fps.

Lake City Brass
Remington 7 1/2 Primers
23.9 gr Varget
2.260 OAL

 

[bigwhiterubicon]

Re: best 223 remington/5.56mm load for a 1-7 twist

ok my criteria is moderatly priced, i want to be able to load and shoot 1k rounds and not feel too bad about it. i also want accuracy. it will have to be mag fed, otherwise if i just wanted cheap and accurate i'd shoot pmc out of a bolt gun.

has the 75gr. bthp pleased you with it's performance?

 

[RH4540]

Re: best 223 remington/5.56mm load for a 1-7 twist

When I was running a 1-7 twist, Black Hills, 52 grain match was the most accurate, but, I don't think it would do well at 1K.

 

[samnev]

Re: best 223 remington/5.56mm load for a 1-7 twist

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: RH4540</div><div class="ubbcode-body">When I was running a 1-7 twist, Black Hills, 52 grain match was the most accurate, but, I don't think it would do well at 1K. </div></div>

My most accurate load is 26.2 grains or W 748 behind 52 grain SMK's. But It's not a 1K yard load.

 

[Kentucky Jelly]

Re: best 223 remington/5.56mm load for a 1-7 twist

Another vote for the Hornady 75gr HPBT. 24 gr of Varget or RL15. 1-7 16" barrel here.

 

[bigwhiterubicon]

Re: best 223 remington/5.56mm load for a 1-7 twist

guys sorry for any confusion, i'm not talking about shooting 1,000 yards, i'm talking about shooting 1,000 rounds in a day.

i was talking more about price than range.

my max range for the optic and barrel combo i have is probably going to be 500-600 yards.

with all the votes for the hornady 75gr. bthp, i think i'm going to give them a try.

 

[gunsnjeeps]

Re: best 223 remington/5.56mm load for a 1-7 twist

I think the 52's are good to a little past 300. 75's and 77's are good to 600 to 800 yards. I know a Sierra 77 drops sub-sonic and tumbles around 8 to 850, no experience with 75's. If you have brass, 77's and Varget are around $350 a thousand to load if your primers are around 3 cents each. Bullets are about 2/3's of the price, the rest is powder and primers.

 

[rymart]

Re: best 223 remington/5.56mm load for a 1-7 twist

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: bigwhiterubicon</div><div class="ubbcode-body">ok my criteria is moderatly priced, i want to be able to load and shoot 1k rounds and not feel too bad about it. i also want accuracy. it will have to be mag fed, otherwise if i just wanted cheap and accurate i'd shoot pmc out of a bolt gun.

has the 75gr. bthp pleased you with it's performance? </div></div>

For the most part yes. Shot sub 1/2" for the first 6000 rounds. Opening up to a little under an inch now at about 7200 rounds. I'm sure there are cheaper bullets out there, but these aren't too bad. For me accuracy was #1, long range was #2, and affordability for practice was #3. At my elevation the 75 gr MHP's are supersonic past 1000K yards and accurate. Very unpredictable terminal ballistics... Some coyotes run and need to be shot multiple times, others are DRT with ugly exit holes...

 

[BCP]

Re: best 223 remington/5.56mm load for a 1-7 twist

75 hornady BTHP is a great bullet.

IIRC my best loads for it were/are 24.3 varget and 23.5 TAC, 2.25 COAL and small rifle magnum primer. 18" 1:7 CL barrel. There seems to be an accuracy node for tac past 24 grains but I'm not brave enough to go there, 23.5 works fine.

 

[bigwhiterubicon]

Re: best 223 remington/5.56mm load for a 1-7 twist

guys,

thank you very much for the input.
my decision for the bullett/ powder/ primer combo, (based on what ya'll have said), is going to be, the 75gr. hornady bthp, varget, and a cci srm, (small rifle magnum), primer.

thanks again,
bigwhiterubicon

 

[1idCat]

Re: best 223 remington/5.56mm load for a 1-7 twist

In my rifle, the 77 SMKs shoot the best, closely followed by the 77 Noslers, and the 75 Hornady bthps.

For powders, as posted by others, Varget, RE15, Tac, or IMR4320 have worked very well. Be sure to work up to the loads listed.

If you're looking for some cheap, reasonably accurate, heavy, OTMs look at the PRVI 75s from Wideners. A little cheaper than the Hornadys, but slightly less accurate in my 1/7 WOA varmint rig (still well under 1 MOA). If you're throwing 1k of em downrange in a day, it may hurt less.

 

[bigwhiterubicon]

Re: best 223 remington/5.56mm load for a 1-7 twist

thanks 1idcat, i'll give them a try, but i'm not shooting that much everyday, just every other month. but a penny saved is one that was earned. i'll probably work up my load using the hornady's, and once i'm satisfied, i'll try the prvi bullets, and see what they do.