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Posted: 5/5/2011 7:09:21 AM EDT
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I'm just getting into reloading for my AR (S&W MP15) and I was wondering if someone might point me in the direction of decent bullets to load for mid-range accuracy. I'm not looking for "super-ultra match negative .5 MOA guaranteed" bullets, but something that I can tweak to hit accurately at 4-500 yards with decent terminal performance at that range. I will be getting a magnifier for my aimpoint soon and I would like to have a round that makes the most of it.
I'm hoping to work up a 1-3 MOA load for my 1:9 twist barrel using LC brass, Ramshot TAC, and CCI #41 primers. I have been shooting XM193 and I have a bunch of pulled 55gr FMJ rounds, but I'm thinking I might want to bump it up into the 60-70gr for this. Any ideas? I see that MidwayUSA has their own "brand" of HP bullets in 55gr. Are they any good? |
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My gun HATES anything heavier than 60 grains.
Sweet spot is more like 50 - 55. SMK's, AMax, VMax, heck even hornady spires work great. My gun spits rounds all over the place when I load 69 SMK's and anything heavier. She's capable of some real screamers when I do my part with good loads (best so far is a .289 inch group at 100) So the gun is capable. I just cant get heavier stuff to shoot repeatably. FTR: it's a RRA Varmint EOP |
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With a 1:9, you will be confined to <69gr. 69gr is used out to 300Y for highpower, but 75/77/80 grs rule the 600Y stage. Also, you are mentioning terminal ballistics- the 223 round will still be fairly accurate out to the 500/600Y range, but I wouldn't be expecting to take down any bigger prey at that range (varmint is fine). |
. Me thinks expansion gets a tad unreliable.
| Pretty simple steps. Get 69gr OTM;s Nosler or Sierra. TAC is great choice. Sort the LC brass by year on the head stamp. Check the Ramshot Powder Web Site for data, and work up a load with your primers....Ramshot used to list CCI 450's but now list Fed 205's. TAC ought give you excellent service with the 69gr OTM. Check out Nosler Pro Shop for seconds to help lower costs. |
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1-3 MOA at 4-500yds with a Aimpoint and a magnifier, that's a bit optimistic with any load. I hand load and shoot a lot, (range in my back yard) 300yds with a Sierra 69gr HPBT over Varget out of a 20" 1/8 off a bench with really good optics will get you in the 1-3 range. Anyone who says that they can do that at 500yds in the real world would have to prove it to me before I would believe it.
Good luck and I will be following this thread for future load reference |
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I've had pretty good luck with a batch of 60gr V-max.
Bangs the gong perfectly at 300yd. On a windy day. Can't remember the charge but it was Varget, in Lake City Brass, with a CCI 400 Primer. Hope This Helps, Bob P.S. If you look in the Hornady manual I'm sure it was either the 2900 or 2800 fps load. Bob |
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Quoted: This. TAC is a great powder for this, as is RE15 and Varget.Pretty simple steps. Get 69gr OTM;s Nosler or Sierra. TAC is great choice. Sort the LC brass by year on the head stamp. Check the Ramshot Powder Web Site for data, and work up a load with your primers....Ramshot used to list CCI 450's but now list Fed 205's. TAC ought give you excellent service with the 69gr OTM. Check out Nosler Pro Shop for seconds to help lower costs. You can try the 75s or 77s, but with your 1/9 barrel, they probably won't stabilize out to 600. The nephew's 1/9 shoots 77s great out to 300, but not past. |
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Try the Sierra 77gr. SMK's. My bolt gun likes them it's a 1:9 Savage. You can load them to mag length for the AR. Sierra's load info is very good. They list 23.9gr Varget as a max load.
I'm loading mine with 22.3gr and 23.6gr of Varget both gave me good groups. I'm still playing around to find the best combination, of components, and will also be trying R-15 to see if I can get any better consistency in my groups. The 77gr SMK's are my go to bullet now. They gave me better results at 300 yards over the Hornady 68grBTHP Match, Hornady 75gr A-Max, and Sierra 69gr SMK. Good luck. |
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