I had a nice surprise when I tried some Horndy 60 gr. V-Max, I loaded for fighting the wind at our club's benchrest style matches. At 200 yds the seemed to group better then anything else I tried!
I'm shooting a Tikka 595, with a 1 in 12 twist, and didn't think they would stablize.......but WOW!
Has anybody else had such luck with the heavier bullets in the 223 Rem?

The 60 grain bullets are about the longest that will stabilize in a 1:12 -- at least in my usage.

I like the heavy bullets in the .223. In fact, for a while, I went to a 26" 1:8 to make the most of the 75 grain A-Max. For 2-300 yard shots on coyotes, it puts the .223 Rem into an entirely different league. Coyotes are quite tenacious, and in general I consider the .223 a little on the light side when the range begins to approach 200 yards. But the 75 grainers, which shot extremely well, carried significantly more energy and were distinctly more authoritative on the longer shots.

My 223 is a Sako wearing a Shilen 1:9. It likes the 60 gr V-Max better than anything else I've tried.

Of the five .223's I have some shoot 60 gr well. I find that my guns with 1 in 12 will shoot 55 gr well but really start to fall off with a 60 gr.
I think your lucky with this one

Hey Guys,

I'm still trying to get Nosler 60 gr. Partitions to shoot in either my Heym or Blaser R93, .223 Remingtons; at least with some semblance of accuracy that I'm used to with other bullets/loads in this cartridge.

Both these rifles have 1:12 twists and will shoot up to 55 grainers just fine.

Only exception has been an RWS 74 gr. cone Point made for the 5.6x57 - they shoot good solid 1" groups in both .223's.

My Ruger VT loves the 60 gr Hornady SPs and the 55 grain SPs...especially with a charge of 21.5 grains of IMR 4198...

60 grain V Maxes, it does't care for, but they work especially well with the Savage one in 9 twist...

the 60 grain HP Sierra is also a one hole shooter in the Savage...

all the above work real well in a 22.250 with a one in 8 twist...

Gerry
I think your expiriancing the same thing I have with the 1 in 12 on your .223's They are just fickle about what they will shoot. I guess that is why I have five of them.
I have found that the 1 in 9 on my heavy barrel AR will shoot 55's great and the heavy bullets great as well. The 1 in 8 on my custom mini 14 will shoot under an inch with 70 gr speers but only about 1 1/2 with 55's. My Ruger compact .223 will shoot anything up to 55 gr. with its 1 in 12

My 1-8 twist 24" ar15 will shoot anything from 35grvmax to 80gr smk.Just the other day I had 8 out of 10 shots at and under 1/2 inch at 100 yards using 55gr vmax(with imr3031 that meters horribly)..
The 77gr smk have worked well to 600 yards magazine fed with h4895,LC brass,, and winchester primers.
I also believe that the heavier longer bullets have ALOT more energy to bring to the table.
At 600 yards they just smack the steel plate, denting it slightly and turning them to powder.But at 300 yards LOOK out.They were drilling through that plate steel(can't remember how thick 4 sure,but I think it was 3/8)..
1-8 twist shooting 35gr vmax with a2015br!yes
I was surprised too(a2015br powder is awesome though).
They were under 1" at 100 yards so they didn't do to bad considering I did not take any time to load them special.

I believe in A faster twist.Unless it is a special benchrest situation.I think using a 1-8 for anything 52gr and up is a must.
Im not saying I need it,,I just want the ability to shoot the longer bullets for 600+ yards.
Longer ranges is what I like to do when possible so I need 1-8 for 75,77,80gr bullets.

At 3 cents each, I bought thousands of 60 gr Hornady TAP [tactical and police] when Hornady changed the load and surplussed the bullets.

Long bullets get straight in the bore.
Short bullets don't kick much.

If long bullets are not key holing, but don't shoot as well, recoil is not being managed.

If short bullets don't shoot well and are not spinning apart, you are not loading concentrically.

My 700 1-12 bbl shoots 62 berger and 60 hp hornady as good or beter than 52 gr match bullets. 1/2 - 5/8" @ 100 yds.

Twist is another really cool things about the Savage rifles, especially the BV12S and SS. They come with a 1:9" twist, and since the bolt heads are interchangeable, you can rechamber one to big cases 22 centerfires and shoot up to the 80gr Nosler and Sierra bullets. I did one in a 22-284, and got the Spring Crazies and built a 22-378Wbee AI version. Not that was a flamethrower!

Rich
DRSS

quote:

Originally posted by seafire/B17G:
My Ruger VT loves the 60 gr Hornady SPs and the 55 grain SPs...especially with a charge of 21.5 grains of IMR 4198..

Jim