Thread: Projectiles for a .223 with a 12 inch twist.

Greetings All,
Following some Olympic grade procrastination on my part, fortunately tempered with the help and components from friends, my portable bench rest is now ready. One of the uses intended for this was to have a crack at FTR shooting. A look in the rifle cupboard revealed a likely candidate is a Remington VSSF in .223 with a 26" heavy barrel and a 3-12 scope. The fly in the ointment is that it has a 12" twist. I have a few Hornady 60 grain VMAX projectiles to test for stability at 200 metres but thought I would ask the brains trust to see what people have found to work with this twist at range.
All contributions would be gratefully received.
Regards Grandpamac.

short 60s may work..sierra make a semi point 63grn??? any 50-55grn will work. federal 62grn factory work.

60gr Hornady SP used to work okay in my 223 (25+ years ago so pre Vmax)

What are you intending to shoot with it ?
Rabbits , Deer ...other ?

I had good success with 52g bthp in nosler and sierra with some 2206h underneath. Without too much fuss either I might add

Originally Posted by viper

What are you intending to shoot with it ?
Rabbits , Deer ...other ?

Greetings @viper,
I was hoping to shoot targets. FTR is a target shooting discipline where supports are allowed. It was set up for older shooters, for which I qualify, and is shot over 300, 600 and 1,000 yards locally and hopefully a portable bench will be OK. I suspect it may.
Regards Grandpamac.

My original Howa .223 loved 55 gr Belmont and Aussie Outback ammo as it was 1:12 twist. I see Huntshop in Whakatane is selling bulk s.p. 55 gr projectiles suitable for 1:12 reloading.

The Hornady 55gr soft points work well in my 223. CZ 527 (currently for sale) I can send up a score and 1 if you want to trial some before buying a bag of 500?

I suspect yo uwill be fine to 300 but 600 is a stretch and 1000 is beyond capabilities of .224
happy to be corrected.

You might find this of some use.

https://bergerbullets.com/twist-rate-calculator/

Originally Posted by Micky Duck

I suspect yo uwill be fine to 300 but 600 is a stretch and 1000 is beyond capabilities of .224
happy to be corrected.

F class is 223 and 308. 223 does ok at 1000. Pretty much the same drop as 308 depending on projectile, just more affected by the wind. I've been well outclassed by an 80-something year old with a 223 (though with my talent it probably doesn't say much)

I used 53 gr V Max , hitting rabbits at 450 mtrs . Better BC than the 55 gr V Max. They will go further but I don't know at what point they will hit their limit .
1/12 twist would be a limiting factor as you would be aware, saying that you might be surprised just how far you can reach out.

Originally Posted by Oldbloke

You might find this of some use.

https://bergerbullets.com/twist-rate-calculator/

Greetings @Oldbloke.
I ran the 60 grain VMax through a different calculator which gave me a stability factor of 1.3 which is marginally stable. @Cigar above found the 60 grain SP to be stable so this is a good indication. I have loaded some of the few VMax I have and will test at 200 metres over the next few days.
Regards Grandpamac.

The bit of extra speed and rpm you get with the 26" barrel might just be enough to keep the 60gr VMAX stable...only testing will tell.

Originally Posted by Joe_90

The Hornady 55gr soft points work well in my 223. CZ 527 (currently for sale) I can send up a score and 1 if you want to trial some before buying a bag of 500?

Greetings @Joe_90,
Have been using the 55 grain soft points for years and they shoot well at closer ranges but was wanting a higher BC for 300 yards.
GPM.