*** Help Please !!! ***

[robbobsam]

Been playing today with the JMB Bullet stabilisation calculator to try to establish which bullets will give me the best results in my new rifle. Obviously the best thing to do would be to buy all different types of bullets and try them all. This however would probably cost me £100's, take days and days and would probably wear my barrel out. So instead I am trying to make the process a little shorter by doing a bit of pre load testing studying.

I have used this

<span style="color: #FF0000"> <span style="font-weight: bold">JMB Stabilisation Calculator </span>
</span>

to try and ascertain which bullets would stabilize in the 26" 1 in 9 twist PacNor. I intend to use this rifle for 100-600m paper punching and long range varminting. The calculator has been pointing me in the direction of the following bullets.

1. 77 grain SMK.
2. 69 grain SMK.
3. 55 grain SBK
4. 75 grain Hornady BTHP
5. 73 grain Berger BT Match
6. 70 grain Berger VLD.

I did try the heavier Berger bullets and the 75 grain AMax, but unfortunately the JMB Bullet stabilisation calculator indicated that they would not stabilize due to them being quite a bit longer than the ones listed above.

What are your experiences with these bullets in a .223rem with a 1 in 9 twist ?

 

[Mr Flannel]

Re: *** Help Please !!! ***

Try the 70ish bergers, they're a quality bullet that open up pretty well on varmints. If you're worried about barrel life, which on a .223 you don't really need to be for a few thousand rounds (unless you overclean it), try the OCW method of load development to save you time..

http://optimalchargeweight.embarqspace.com/#

 

[gstaylorg]

Re: *** Help Please !!! ***

That combination should work very well with 69 gr SMKs. You may be able to get away with 75 or 77 gr projectiles, but you'll really need to actually shoot them through your weapon to know for sure. I had a 21" 10-twist barrel that handled the 77 gr loads just fine, which on paper seemed pretty unlikely. So if you want to go with heavier (longer) projectiles, you're still going to have to test them out to be sure.