tumbling bullet accuracy.

[longdayjake]

I would like to let everyone know what I discovered the other day as well as ask a couple of questions. I have a 1-9" twist barrel AR that I have handloaded thousands of 62 grain rounds for. At 100 yards it shoots ragged one hole groups. A buddy of mine bought a ruger mII .223 rifle. So, we take out my buddies new ruger and shoot a bunch to see where they are hitting compared to mine. As we go to check the groups it is obvious that his gun is a 1-12" twist because the holes looked like little chicken eggs. So the bullets were tumbling through the air and hitting the target at a slight angle. The surprising thing was that the groups were still pretty amazing. They weren't as good as my AR but they were within 1". I wanted to see what kind of accuracy it would get at 200 yards but we ran out of daylight before I could take a target out to 200. Has anyone experienced this before? Could my friend still hunt coyotes within 200 yards with 62 grain bullets and not worry about being unethical? I ask because he bought 700 rounds of m855 when he bought his gun. I would buy them from him but there is no way my wife would let me spend that kind of dough on bullets. I am strictly a handloader for that reason. We tried some of my handloads through his rifle to see if that was the issue, but we got the same results.

 

[CDignition]

he needs 45 or 50 grain bullets.. 55 gr will be the max it will do

 

[Deanimator]

I doubt they're tumbling, otherwise you'd never figure out where they were going. They are however probably wobbling because they're not being fully stabilized.

 

[itgoesboom]

he needs 45 or 50 grain bullets.. 55 gr will be the max it will do

Actually they can go up to 62-64gr bullets, but not the M855. It's not the weight, it's the length, and M855 is longer than normal lead core FMJ bullets.

Best bet is to stay below 60gr, but he might be able to go higher.

Your friend should have done some research prior, so it sounds like you are going to get a good deal on some ammo.

And no, your friend shouldn't use them for coyotes.

 

[JDoe]

Could my friend still hunt coyotes within 200 yards with 62 grain bullets and not worry about being unethical? I ask because he bought 700 rounds of m855 when he bought his gun.

If this reference is correct he'll be lucky to hit anything at 200 yards...

"Cartridges M855 and M856 ammunition are extremely inaccurate when fired in the M16 and M16A1. The M16 and M16A1, with their 1:12 twist, do not impart enough spin on the heavier M855/M856 projectile to stabilize it in flight causing erratic performance and resulting inaccuracy.

Therefore, while safe to fire in M16 and M16A1 they should only be used in an combat emergency and then only for close ranges 91.4 meters (100 yards) or less."