im sure this has been asked before but im new. in my area hornady tap in 75 grain is pretty hard to find. the other day i found some of the regular hornady 75 grain and was wondering if it was basically the same thing. well, is it?

Hornady 75 grain 223 TAP versus 75 grain MATCH





Hornady’s 75 grain BTHP Match ammunition (part #8026) is loaded with the same 75 grain boat-tail hollow point bullet that is available from Hornady as a reloading component (part #2279).  The case mouth of the Match load has a slight taper crimp on it which puts a small crease in the bullet itself.  The Hornady 75 grain 223 TAP load (part #80265) uses the same 75 grain BTHP bullet as the Match load with the addition of a cannelure.  Unfortunately, the cannelured version of this bullet is not available (to the general public) as a reloading component.












Previous lots of both the Match and 223 TAP load have been charged with a short-cut, charcoal colored extruded powder, while the most recent lots that I have purchased (including the ones used in this test session) are charged with a greenish/yellowish colored short cut, extruded powder resembling those powders found in the Hodgdon lineup of powders.  Both loads use traditional brass cases and the caseheads from both loads are head-stamped “Hornady 223-REM” and neither load appears to have sealed nor crimped primers.  The case mouth of the 223 TAP load is crimped into the cannelure of the bullet.














previous powder





recent powder





Chronograph testing was done using an Oehler 35-P chronograph with "proof-screen" technology.  All strings of fire consisted of 10-shots each.  All velocities listed below are muzzle velocities, as calculated from the instrumental velocities using Oehler’s Ballistic Explorer software program.














Accuracy testing was performed using my 24” Krieger barreled AR-15.  Shooting was done from a bench-rest at 100 yards.  All groups were 10-shot groups.  Prior to testing the Hornady ammunition, I fired a 10-shot control group using handloaded 55 grain Sierra BlitzKings. That group had an extreme spread of 0.63”.










Starting with the Hornady 75 grain 223 TAP load, I fired five, 10-shot groups from 100 yards and used the best three groups for analysis.  Those three groups had extreme spreads that measured:

1.17”
0.87”
1.05”

for a 10-shot group grand average of 1.03”.  The three 10-shot groups were over-layed on each other using RSI Shooting Lab to form a 30-shot composite group that had a composite mean radius of 0.32”.


best 10-shot group of 75 grain 223 TAP







In the same manner described above, I obtained three 10-shot groups of the Hornady 75 grain Match load.  The extreme spreads of those groups measured:

0.89”
1.03”
1.16”

for a 10-shot group grand average of 1.03”!  Over-laying those three groups on each other using RSI Shooting Lab yielded a 30-shot composite group with a mean radius of 0.36”.



best 10-shot group of 75 grain MATCH






For additional comparison, I obtained three 10-shot groups from 100 yards using hand-loaded Hornady 75 grain BTHP bullets.  The extreme spreads of those groups measured:

0.78”
0.71”
0.52”

for a 10-shot grand average of 0.67”.  The mean radius formed from over-laying those three groups on each other was 0.23”.


best 10-shot group of hand-loaded 75 grain BTHP






Here’s a pic of the composite groups side by side for comparison.






Lastly, in a tribute to the Internet Commando, I fired two, 3-shot groups in a row from 100 yards using the control load.  Both groups were sub-QUARTER-minute-of-angle.

so basically the same. just a few differences.