Thread: pushing bullets faster than they were designed to go

I have a heap of hand loads for my bolt 223 that I want to run thru my Ar.
the problem is that the pill that I loaded (50gr speer TNT) says that they shouldn't be pushed faster than 2800 or 2900 and not to be used in twists faster than 1-10.

the problem bieng is that the load is 1 or 2 gr over book max with 2208 and the ar15 is a 1-9 twist barrel.
so basically I want to do exactly what the manufacturer says not to which is stupid from the offset, and why I haven't done it yet

but what I want to know is where is the bullet likely to fail? in the barrel? mid flight?(mitch maxberry told me about 7mm that would vaporise mid flight) or would the delivery speed just compromise the end performance of the bullet

I am aware that this is not a good idea. so telling me that I shouldnt is not why I posted this

Jackets stripping off the projectile...

I have seen them vaporise at range shooting mid way to the target. Usually 223 hunting projectiles being pushed along in a target rifle. Hence companies (like Berger and the others) make projectiles with different jacket features hunting versus taget work. It is primarily the faster twist (attempting to overspin) along with higher velocity that does it. There are also theories that with real fast twists and unsuited projectiles the projectile starts to skip the rifling. Maybe the vaporising mid way to the target is the result of that because the projectile would need to be damaged somewhat before it left the barrel for the effect to occur. There is an article in a recent gun mag (cannot remember which one) that covers this exact issue. I had it happen once using Sierra Blitz in my 22-250 which although a slower twist than a 223 would still get them spinning real fast because of the higher velocity.

2800-2900 sounds awfully slow for a 50g pill. What are they made out of, corn?

They are fine in my 9 twist .223 at max max speeds

I think they are just trying to keep the 22.250 and higher cals away from them. Work really good and nice and cheap.

(i probably wouldnt use them though a suppressor just in case)

Originally Posted by zimmer

I have seen them vaporise

I should said I that I have seen projectiles vaporise, but not those particular ones.

If you push them at 22-250 speeds in a 1:7 they will prob pop, but no issues in a 1:9, and gas guns are usually slower and shorter (slower again)

The 7mm Mitch is talking about were Daryls 162 Amax - he was spinning them REALLY fast and pushing them REALLY hard - not normal stuff

I know of some 140 6.5's that didn't make the target in one piece as well but its not a case of being slightly fast they were in a barrel burning magnum doing 3400 from memory...

I would have thought the 223 rounds you have should be fine