Posted: 3/5/2011 5:34:50 AM EDT
| I have rock river .223 ar and a lar-8 .308. I am trying to develope accurate handloads for both but cannot get under one and a half to two inch groups at 100 yards from either rifle. I have tried numerous powders, always using either 55 gr. fmj in the .223 and 150 gr. fmj in the .308. With the twist in these barrels, 1.9 for the .223 and 1:10 for the .308 am i using bullets that are too light? I like these bullets because of their availability on the surplus market. Any suggestions would be most appreciated. |
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recommened grains for an AR-15
1:7 62-80 1:9 55-68 1:12 50-60 1:14 40-45 these grains work best for these specific twists. but you can use 55gr in a 1:7 just fine. i just wouldnt use a 55gr in a 1:14. any questions jet let me know. as to the loading process i have no ideas because i dont reload...yet. deploying soon and dont wanna drop the $ for equipment before i go. |
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1.5 to 2" groups are nothing to sneeze at!
That said... I had a similar problem. I found that my benchrest style was poor. I found that any amount of pressure put on the rifle with either hand would upset my POI. Benchresting: Use only 1 hand to hold the rifle; the other arm may be used as a rest but don't put your hand on it. Make sure your trigger/grip hand is pulling straight back, and not exerting any torque or sideways pressure on the gun. Do this: Empty chamber, dry firing... After the trigger breaks, hold for 2 seconds, then release the trigger. THEN ease back on your grip. If you you see the sights wander off the bullseye, you are putting sideways or vertical pressure on the grip. A small amount of pressure is enough to change your POI, even if you **think** your sights are on the target at the moment you fire the weapon. |
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Perhaps you are using an economy bullet that is limiting the results?
I am not experienced loading for 223, but I have read on Midway's customer reviews that the Hornady 55 grain FMJBT is supposed to be a pretty accurate bullet for the money. I don't think you should have any trouble shooting groups half the size that you are used to if you switch to a premium bullet. |
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there are several factors involved . bullet weight , bullet design , brass used , powder , neck tension , rifling . are you using a bi-pod? if so do you know how to load the bi-pod , shooting a bi-pod off a concrete bench will make the muzzle jump . as a rule of thumb cheap bullets dont = sub moa accuracy . I purchased a butt load of 150 grain fmj boatails that had been pulled from military surplus . I can get 1.5 inch groups using 3031 powder in winchester brass . in my lar-8 , pretty cheap to load and decent accuracy for shooting zed the zombie targets . using sierra 168 grain matchkings and around 42 grains of varget I can get sub 1 inch groups . but that involves measuring and trimming every case weighing every bullet and weighing every powder charge. one odd thing I have found is sierra 60 grain varminters loaded with 2330 work great in my bushmaster and a parts gun both with 1-9 twist and suprisingly enough my colt 6940 with a 1-7 twist loves them . I keep several hunderd loaded for hunting and have found catching the herters 62 grain hollowpoints on sale at cabelas for 3.99 a box the best alternative to cheap plinking.
for accuracy sierra 68 grain matchkings and around 24 grains of varget which will be a compressed load is pretty popular with match shooters . I would suggest backing off 10% on any load and work up and in no way endorse starting at the numbers stated. |
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+1 to the last poster. Shoot cheap bullets, get big groups.
Save the 150's for a rainy day and get some 168 open tip match projectiles. Sierra, Nosler, whomever. You won't go back to the 150 mil-surp FMJs again. I like Varget, but there's plenty of powders to choose from. |
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Quoted:
Perhaps you are using an economy bullet that is limiting the results? I am not experienced loading for 223, but I have read on Midway's customer reviews that the Hornady 55 grain FMJBT is supposed to be a pretty accurate bullet for the money. I don't think you should have any trouble shooting groups half the size that you are used to if you switch to a premium bullet. The Hornady 55 grain SP is very accurate and cheap. Switch to H322 powder will help, 23 grains. 
Much more accurate than the ball powders and cleaner. Any of the exposed lead base FMJ bullets are not that accurate. |
