Nosler Defense 223 Remington 64 Grain BSB








Well known for their hunting and target bullets and ammunition loaded for those purposes, Nosler is now branching-out into the defensive ammunition market, including loads for handguns and rifles.  The focus of this article is the Nosler Defense rifle ammunition in 223 Remington (which of course can be fired in 5.56mm rifles also.)









This ammunition features the Nosler 64 grain Bonded Solid Base projectile.  This bullet has a copper base that comprises almost one-third of the length of the projectile.  Obviously, the lead core is bonded to the copper jacket.  The bullet has a cannelure and a “Protected Point” design for reliable feeding in AR-15s.  The bullet has a nominal length of 0.790” and the loaded cartridge has a nominal OAL of 2.170”.














Nosler advertises that the 64 grain BSB has a minimum velocity expansion threshold of 1600 FPS.  This 64 grain BSB bullet is the same projectile that is loaded in the FBI’s 5.56mm RA556B ammunition.  The 64 grain BSB is also available as a reloading component.










The 64 grain BSB is loaded in Nosler’s own 223 Remington brass.  The case mouths are chamfered and deburred and the flash holes are also deburred.  For you reloaders, Nosler’s 223 Remington brass is also available as a component.

The case mouth of the loaded round has a taper crimp, however there is no sealant at the case mouth.  The primer pockets are neither crimped nor sealed.  The round is charged with ball powder.














A ballistic table on the back of the Nosler Defense ammunition box advertises that this load has a muzzle velocity of 2750 FPS, but unfortunately there is no mention of the barrel length used for this figure.  The industry standard for assessing the velocity of 223 Remington ammunition is a 24” barrel.










I chronographed the Nosler Defense 223 Remington 64 grain BSB ammunition from a semi-automatic AR-15 with a chrome-lined, NATO chambered 20” Colt M16A2 barrel with a 1:7” twist.










Chronographing was conducted using an Oehler 35-P chronograph with “proof screen” technology. The Oehler 35P chronograph is actually two chronographs in one package that takes two separate chronograph readings for each shot and then has its onboard computer analyze the data to determine if there is any statistically significant difference between the two readings. If there is a statistically significant difference in the readings, the chronograph “flags” the shot to let you know that the data is invalid. There was no invalid data flagged during this testing.

The velocity stated below is the muzzle velocity as calculated from the instrumental velocity using Oehler’s Ballistic Explorer software program. The string of fire consisted of 10 rounds over the chronograph.














Each round was single-loaded and cycled into the chamber from a magazine fitted with a single-load follower. The bolt locked-back after each shot allowing the chamber to cool in between each shot. This technique was used to mitigate the possible influence of “chamber-soak” on velocity data. Each new shot was fired in a consistent manner after hitting the bolt release. Atmospheric conditions were monitored and recorded using a Kestrel 4000 Pocket Weather Tracker.









Atmospheric conditions

Temperature: 79 degrees F
Humidity: 30%
Barometric pressure: 30.11 inches of Hg
Elevation: 950 feet above sea level


The muzzle velocity for the 10-shot string of the Nosler Defense 64 grain BSB ammunition fired from the 20” Colt barrel was 2675 FPS with a standard deviation of 19 FPS and a coefficient of variation of 0.71%.

For those of you who might not be familiar with the coefficient of variation (CV), it is the standard deviation, divided by the mean (average) muzzle velocity and then multiplied by 100 and expressed as a percentage. It allows for the comparison of the uniformity of velocity between loads in different velocity spectrums; e.g. 77 grain loads running around 2,650 fps compared to 55 grain loads running around 3,250 fps.

For comparison, the mil-spec for M193 allows for a coefficient of variation of approximately 1.2%, while one of my best 77 grain OTM hand-loads, with a muzzle velocity of 2639 PFS and a standard deviation of 4 FPS, has a coefficient of variation of 0.15%.











I conducted an accuracy (technically, precision) evaluation of the Nosler Defense 223 Remington 64 grain BSB ammunition following my usual protocol. This accuracy evaluation used statistically significant shot-group sizes and every single shot in a fired group was included in the measurements. There was absolutely no use of any group-reduction techniques (e.g. fliers, target movement, Butterfly Shots).

The shooting set-up will be described in detail below. As many of the significant variables as was practicable were controlled for. Also, a control group was fired from the test-rifle used in the evaluation using match-grade, hand-loaded ammunition; in order to demonstrate the capability of the barrel. Pictures of shot-groups are posted for documentation.

All shooting was conducted from a concrete bench-rest from a distance of 100 yards (confirmed with a laser rangefinder.) The barrel used in the evaluation was free-floated. The free-float handguards of the rifle rested in a Sinclair Windage Benchrest, while the stock of the rifle rested in a Protektor bunny-ear rear bag. Sighting was accomplished via a Leupold VARI-X III set at 25X magnification and adjusted to be parallax-free at 100 yards. A mirage shield was attached to the objective-bell of the scope. Wind conditions on the shooting range were continuously monitored using a Wind Probe. The set-up was very similar to that pictured below.









The Wind Probe.






The test vehicle for this evaluation was one of my semi-automatic precision AR-15s with a 20” stainless-steel Lothar Walther barrel. The barrel has a 223 Wylde chamber with a 1:8” twist. Prior to firing the Nosler Defense ammunition, I fired a 10-shot control group using match-grade hand-loads topped with the Sierra 77 grain MatchKing. That group had an extreme spread of 0.79”.

















Next, three 10-shot groups of the Nosler Defense 64 grain BSB load were fired in a row with the resulting extreme spreads:

1.60”
1.56”
1.58”

for a 10-shot group average extreme spread of 1.58”. The three 10-shot groups were over-layed on each other using RSI Shooting Lab to form a 30-shot composite group. The mean radius for the 30-shot composite group was 0.50”.




The smallest 10-shot group . . .








The 30-shot composite group . . .









….

Your posts over the last week have been well worth the $25 membership fee for the site.

Thank you so much Molon.

Thank you sir.






























May I have another!?

Thanks again Sir!

Have you tested the Win RA556 loading?

I recently bought 500 of those bullets and want to approach the Winchester load.

And you're going to make me put together a rifle with a Lothar barrel eventually.

Thanks again for another great review. Just placed an order for 500 of these bullets because of this review! Does anyone have a good start for some load data using h335 or ram shot tac? I have found some data on this bullet but the listed powders I don't currently have.

Great review! I'm glad I stocked up on these back when Midway had them on clearance for $12 and some change per box. Now they sell it for $25+. Good ammo for sure..

Great report!

As always, great work!

Winchester 5.56mm RA556B:  Velocity, Accuracy and Terminal Ballistics

Now I know why a certain shop just ran out of stock, ever since this thread was created

Damn it.

I report, you decide.  That includes you deciding what you are going to do after I have reported.

Really? 176 20 round boxes? In less than 5 days?

Do you realize the effect you have good sir?     Ugh....great review...that I've read elsewhere a while ago....and not much happened then....here?...now?...

BOOM!............Henceforth duly named..." The Molon Effect"....



Serious Question...have you been following the Faxon thread?

I posted my results with this ammo and a Faxon Flame barrel. Pic on page 36...story about the setup on 37.

Your opinion of my results would be very much appreciated. If, of course, you are so inclined.

That's some good, honest shooting/reporting for the conditions you described in that thread.

Thank you for your time

For "field accuracy", I thought it was a good test. Sort of lying behind a log...without the log.

I was pleased with the results as well. Not sure I could ask for better frankly.

This.

Damn right!

When I first joined the site the first thing I went to when logging in was the ammo forum to see what Molon had posted.

This isn't the reloading forum; let's stick to factory ammo - Eric802

According to Nosler and a few other individual posts on various forums, CFE 223 has produced the tightest groups and highest velocities.

De rien.



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Would you happen to know at what distance this round, from a 16" barrel, would hit 1600fps?
I tried using an online ballistic calculator (Hornady I think) and I was getting 275ish, heavy on the ish. Does that sound right?

Is there another manufacturer that loads this round to 5.56mm pressure besides Winchester?

I haven't chronographed the Nosler load from a 16" barrel.  Winchester RA556B had a muzzle velocity of 2846 FPS from a 16" Noveske RECON barrel.











The SSA load (pre-Nosler buy-out) that I chrongraphed from a 20" Colt barrel had a muzzle velocity of 2990 FPS.



...

Just like Rabidus, I have been loading this bullet for a couple years now myself.  My preferred load is very similar to his.  My velocity numbers are in line with his too. I'm averaging around 2800fps depending on which gun I am firing it through. I don't have any data for the powders that you listed.  One word of caution that I will give, is to be very cautious about chasing velocity above what you are seeing people post here.  I have tried it many times and find that pressure spikes start happening way before you get to velocities more in the realm of other bullets of similar weights.  There is something to the shape and composition of that BSB  bullet that just won't allow you to get very high velocities. Not even at 5.56 pressures.  In fact even the 5.56 FBI load with this bullet flys around 2960fps.  However, it does seem to perform good even at lower velocities.  The Ballistic Coefficient of .231 is what you would expect from a big blunt nose exposed tip bullet like this.  It wasn't made for long range encounters.  However, for close range engagements, it's a dandy.  Would make a good small game and close up deer bullet as well as its primary mission of defense scenarios.  The bonded nature throws it into barrier blind territory and if memory serves me correctly it is one of the few barrier blind bullets recommended by doc.  My amateur testing in different medias has been positive.  


Thanks Molon for the great review!

<Some of these loads are WAY over max.
Please clean up post to remove those which exceed max recommended powder
weight. -Z>

<Some of these loads are WAY over max. Please clean up post to remove those which exceed max recommended powder weight. -Z>

Great data QCB! Thanks for sharing.

This isn't the reloading forum; let's stick to factory ammo - Eric802

This isn't the reloading forum; let's stick to factory ammo - Eric802

...

oh wow

Nice review.  I do, however, have one minor quibble:



It is mathematically impossible to develop any meaningful statistical information from a sample size of 2.  Minimum sample size for any meaningful (and believe me, it's not particularly meaningful) analysis is 3.

Get a clue.  If the proof-reading is 3040 FPS and the primary-reading one foot away from the proof reading is  3005 FPS, that's outside of what the expected statistical variation would be for that velocity spectrum and distance between readings and the Oehler 35P printout flags the readings for that shot as an error.


...

But Lothar Walther doesn't give you an "accuracy guarantee."


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Que


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