Howdy guys,      
    After firing somewhere in the neighborhood of 1000 70gr. TSX bullets along with a few boxes of 62gr. on top of TAC/H4895/H335/Varget/RL15/AA2520/N540/etc loaded to COAL of between 2.200" to 2.260" in 0.005" increments, I know a hell of a lot about what it takes to NOT shoot the 70gr. TSX bullet accurately especially in 10.0"/10.3"/10.5" 1x7 barrels. So I put the short barrels on the sideline for the time being and went with what DOES shoot accurately. This 70gr. TSX over 5.56MM NATO pressure TAC load currently gets the nod for the COLT 14.5" & 16" 1x7 chrome lined barrels I use. Just finished another lot using virgin LC 09 brass with #41 primer seated in Wilson chamber type seater die to 2.245" COAL. With 0.003" neck tension, no crimp is required for my use. If you like crimping your loads, go for it. Being a 5.56MM NATO pressure loading, it is hard on brass. But brass is an expendable with the AR15/M16 platform. The SSA 5.56MM 70gr. TSX factory loading is a damn fine cartridge but is not always available when needed. If you have a .223/5.56MM TSX handload that has worked for you, post up. AR15/M16/bolt rifle/.223 pressure/5.56MM NATO pressure/55gr./62gr./70gr./etc: its all good. And don't be concerned that someone is going to say "Your load don't shoot in my stick"; they will. My own load will NOT shoot accurately in some of my other uppers, especially the 10.0"/10.3"/10.5" 1x7  barrels. Even the 18" full heavy 1x7.7 SS Krieger barrel I had CLE make for me does not shoot this 70gr. TSX/TAC load particularly well. Bottom line: TSX bullets are capable of yielding over 2X expansion while retaining 100% weight (below). If you can solve the TSX bullet accuracy riddle for your particular rig, you will have one hell of a good load for use on about whatever needs shooting with an AR15/M16 IMO.

70gr. TSX over MAX Published 5.56MM charge of TAC in #41 primed virgin LC casing seated to 2.245" COAL fired in 14.5" 1x7 COLT SOCOM fitted with 24X BR Leupold Target Scope & Target Grade Lower@100yds.: MV 2733 FPS



70gr. TSX over MAX Published 5.56MM charge of TAC in #41 primed virgin LC casing seated to 2.245" COAL fired in 16" 1x7 COLT 6940@100yds.: MV 2787 FPS



Factory SSA 5.56MM 70gr. TSX fired in COLT 14.5" SOCOM@100yds.: MV 2748 FPS





Water-shot expansion tests: Barnes expansion-tests their bullets with water shots saying that the TSX bullets will expand at somewhat lower velocity on impact with flesh & bone:

Eric,
    Good deal. The minimum water-shot expansion velocity is 1800 FPS for the 70gr TSX & 1900 FPS on all the rest of the .224" TSX bullets with one exception. The factory Black Hills 5.56MM 50gr. TSX loading uses a proprietary 50gr TSX bullet which Jeff Hoffman (from Black Hills) posted has a minimum expansion threshold of 2300 FPS IIRC. Correct me if I am wrong on that number.