I have a savage 112 s 223 with a 26 inch fluted stainless barrell. I am reloading for accuracy with varmits and coyotes as well as just plinking. My question is should i be pursuing heavy bullets or lighter bullets. I have read that heavy bullets are longer and tend to buck wind better. i am unsure but thought I would ask before buy alot of different bullets to try. This is only my second firearm to reload for so i am just putting out feelers to try to head in the right direction. Thanks

You need to know your twist rate. Most factory rifles are running 1:14 or 1:12 twist on a .223; that means a max bullet weight of about 55 grains.

To throw a heavier bullet you need a faster twist. 1:9 will reliably stabilze 69 gr and 1:7 will handle the 75-80 grainers.

The heavy bullets are meant for target work at 500+ yards. For what you are looking for 40 to 55 grain bullets will be perfectly fine.

I get great results out of the Hornady 52 HPBT match, the Nosler 55BT, and the Sierra 52gr HPBT match.

Since my rifle is a savage it should have a 1-9 twist rate from all i have found.

quote:

Originally posted by gunz:
Since my rifle is a savage it should have a 1-9 twist rate from all i have found.

I find the Hornady 60 gr SP over 26 gr Varget runs right at 3000 fps out of my Savage Comp with 26" barrel and 1-9" twist. The Hornady 60 gr Vmax over 27 gr of AA2460 is even better as it runs 3190 fps and shoots 5 shots in the .6"s. It is also deadly on Varmints.

The 55 gr thin jacketed varmint bullets did not hold together at the higher velocity and RPM of the 26" barrel and 1-9 twist.

Larry Gibson

quote:

My question is should i be pursuing heavy bullets or lighter bullets

I've owned several rifles in .223 and IMO the 223 is beautiful with 40-50 grain bullets.

I've used the 50 grain speer TNT and love it. It'll splatter coyotes at 250 yards like mad.

My Savage 12FV shoots everything pretty well. So far I've tried 50-69g bullets. Best was 52g Hornady BTHP Match and 69g Sierra MatchKings. I've never had a bullet come apart, but the lightest, thinnest bullet I tried was 50g TNT. I never heard of a bullet flying apart in mid air from the 223 at the savage shooters forum.

The 1 in 9 twist seems quite versital.

If your Savage has a 1 in 9 I could not imagine a better Coyote load than a 75 gr. AMAX and 24.5-25+ grains of Varget, Re-15, or vv n-140. You could also try 25-26+ gr of N-540 for a load that really rocks. With prudent load development you can achieve 3050 fps with this bullet in a bolt gun. For 200 yard varmint loads go with a 60 gr Sierra HP or a 55-60 VMAX and H-335 Enjoy.

My Remington 700VS likes 52gr hornaday match BTHP and 25.4gr IMR4895. It should work on varmints and coyotes.
Larry

There aren't many small varmints in my area, and coyotes are extremely abundant. That's the reason I feed my fast-twist .223 a steady diet of the Hornady 75 grain A-MAx. It is superbly accurate and is much more authoritative on 'yotes than the lighter projectiles. My favored load gets just over 2900 fps at the muzzle and is very mild. But at 300 yards, it still packs app. 875 ft./lbs. of energy. My favored 50 grain loading retains less than 500 ft./lbs. at 300 yards, so the difference in long range punch is significant.