Heavy Bullets in .223

[salt&battery]

I got a 1-7 because that was what was available.

maybe it is like that now but a 1x7 twist have to be the least produced AR barrels . 1x9 seems the most common. I wanted a 1x8 twist upper never found one so I had to get a 1x9 and I would have taken a 1x7

 

[wally]

Back in the 1980's Hornady made some .224 bullets with a very thin jacket. I think they were called "SX" (for Super eXplosive). An insert in the box warned not to shoot them over about 2,800 fps since they might fail in flight. I loaded some of these back in the 1980's right at 2,800 fps and they would shoot fine out of my 1:12 Ruger but when I recently dusted some off and tried shooting them out of a 1:9 M&P-15, I got trails of grey vapor with no holes in the target

I had the same experience with somebody's 50 gr "varmint" bullet (don't remember the maker, but local stores seemed to stock Speer components deeper) in the early 90's. Loaded up a couple of boxes and they were fine in my Mini-14, but in my AR they broke up at about 50 yards. Never bought anymore and pretty much stopped reloading for rifle shortly afterwards.

 

[hdwhit]

Trying to refocus a little bit here; the original question had to do with why people who used heavier bullets in their .223 loads chose to do so. It was not a question of what twist rate I should buy or which twist rate I should use with heavier bullets, but why people chose to go heavier than 55 grains.

Of course if you are shooting 69 and 75 grain because you bought a rifle with a 1:7 twist and feel this forces you into the heavier end of the spectrum (or your experience with various loads forced you to go heavier) I would also like to know that, too.

I have loaded anywhere between 35 and 60 grain bullets. The 60 grain Hornady spire soft (or hollow) point over 20.3 grains of IMR-4198 was optimized for the then-shorter 1:12 barrel of my Mini-14 nearly 40 years ago and so has been my "standard" round. But, my sons and I now also shoot a rifle with a 20 inch barrel and 1:7 and 16 inch barrels with 1:9 twist rates that could use heavier bullets so I wanted to know WHY people were using heavier bullets before I undertook the task of developing a single "optimal" load to use between all these rifles.

Thanks.

 

[armoredman]

salt&battery, it's not an AR.
hdwhit, I guess the simplest answer is because I am a reloader so this means I experiment with what is available, not just recreating the ammo for the masses. A single generic load that works OK in every rifle is exactly that - generic, and I can buy that off the shelf for a$10 a box. Sometimes it's nice to take the time to find out what makes an individual rifle sing on perfect pitch and key, if you have the time and inclination. But however you want to sing it, it's your song.

 

[hdwhit]

armoredman wrote:
...it's your song.

Yes, it is.

But it's one I don't care to play without first consulting others who have relevant experience. There are a lot of variables involved and if those with greater expertise can constrain the variables so that I don't have as many paths to investigate, it will save me considerable time.

 

[C-grunt]

The easy answer as to why people use heavier bullets..... Longer range, less wind drift, more mass at impact.

Truthfully, as big of a proponent of the heavy bullets as I am, I shoot 55 grain probably 90+ percent of the time. If Im hunting deer sized game or shooting past 500 yards I will change ammunition to something more appropriate, but most of the time its 55 grain.