Thread: Wanted accurracy load for Tikka varmint 223 1-8 twist

I am getting conflicting answers to what the 1 in 8 twist barrel prefers as was thinking of 75 amax which is not supposed to be to flash from what i hear.
I am thinking 60-70 grains
This is for a mates rifle and just trying to shortcut wasting time on things other people know don't work
Cheers Andy

We run 53gr Sierra,55gr Barnes, 63 gr Sierra.We have 3 T3 8 twist. Using BM2. Got 3 your way on Saturday. The WSSM runs 62gr Barnes with 2209.Just finished loading 200 53gr Barnes tonite. The 53gr Sierra killed a huge stag on 19 December [over 300lbs]. Dont let anyone tell you it is not a lethal pill.

All our ammo is primer pocket uni 'd, flash hole reamed,necks done and cleaned via SSM.Trim to length off a case gauge.

Just realised ours are standard T3 not varmint.

Just my own home brew, but 26.5 - 26.8 grns BLC/2 & 69 grn Targex works for me. You will get circa 2950 fps. (26.5 chronoed at 2900, 20" barrel).
Very accurate. Work on reds.

Originally Posted by Tahr

Just my own home brew, but 26.5 - 26.8 grns BLC/2 & 69 grn Targex works for me. You will get circa 2950 fps. (26.5 chronoed at 2900, 20" barrel).
Very accurate. Work on reds.

Slightly compressed?

Originally Posted by madjon_

Slightly compressed?

Nah, there's room for more. BLC/2 is a very fine powder. I tried it because its what I used in my 222's back in the day, and it worked in the 223 really well. For some reason I couldn't get BM2 to work with the 69grn.

But if you made a typo, and meant to ask "slightly depressed?", the answer is yes. I'm at home working and would rather be hunting

1:8" twist is pretty tight for a 223. I would recommend you go with heavier pills if they suit your purpose. I have had great accuracy results with the 69gr SMKs but i don't hunt with them. For a hunting projectile the Sierra 63gr SP projectiles are awesome. Both Malcolm and I are running those projectiles and have shot a fair few reds with them over the years.

Originally Posted by Gillie

1:8" twist is pretty tight for a 223. I would recommend you go with heavier pills if they suit your purpose. I have had great accuracy results with the 69gr SMKs but i don't hunt with them. For a hunting projectile the Sierra 63gr SP projectiles are awesome. Both Malcolm and I are running those projectiles and have shot a fair few reds with them over the years.

What twist barrel are you running the 63 grainers in Gillie because thats what i am thinking of using as they work well in my 22-250 in the 1/12 twist

Malcolm is running them is his Sako 85 barvarian (Factory 1:12" twist barrel). I am running them in my Sako vixen with a 1:9" twist MAB barrel. We are using BM2 and have the 63gr SPs going about 3150fps.

The 75 A-max go mint in my 22-Terminators at 3200 fps, rechambered 1-8 T3 223, generally sub 0.5 moa

So do the 53 V-max at 3700fps.

Both shot better in 1-8 than 1-12 when I did initial testing in 223.

I didn't expect the 75s to go in the 1-12 but was supprised when the 53s went better.

I find either 2206h or 2208 go well with the heavy projectiles, the case gets pretty full.

24.3 gr bm2 or 26gr 2206h behind 69gr targex give 2960 and 3050 fps and awesome groups both with 40 thou jump. Start below and work up

My 1 in 8" Sako shoots everything well from 55gn to 75gn and 2206H.
The 75gn A-Max OAL do limit you to single feeding though, forget about fitting it in the magazine.

I've settled on 65-69gn Sierras GK and MK respectively.

What's the max OAL for the Sako .223 mag?

Originally Posted by gimp

What's the max OAL for the Sako .223 mag?

58mm mag length

Barvarian

Originally Posted by dogmatix

My 1 in 8" Sako shoots everything well from 55gn to 75gn and 2206H.
The 75gn A-Max OAL do limit you to single feeding though, forget about fitting it in the magazine.

I've settled on 65-69gn Sierras GK and MK respectively.

PS. The 80gn SMK shot well too, but are a pain to get hold of in decent numbers.

Targex 80 go well,single feed.