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6/18/2012 10:48:03 AM EDT
Savage 12 LRPV 7" twist. Getting great results with 55-60 gr Nosler and Hornaday using Varget, Benchmark, and CFE 223. New Winchester brass, CCI 400 primers. Getting .5" 5 shot groups.

Terrible results with 69-75 gr SMK, Berger and Amax, loaded to COAL at 2.25-2.26.  Getting 3-4" groups with wild fliers.

Having same experience with my ARs.

What am I doing wrong in reloading longer bullets?

Thanks for any advice.
6/18/2012 10:59:28 AM EDT
[#1]
I gave up on the 69gr bullets.  I have several AR15's with good barrels (including a WOA) that shoot 55gr bullets at and just over the 1/2" mark but NONE seem to do well with the 69gr SMK's. While not near as bad as your groups, mine were at the 1.5" to 1.75" range.

There are those on here that have great results... I can't seem to get it though.
6/18/2012 11:08:16 AM EDT
[#2]
I have a 16 inch 1 in 9 twist barrel on my AR, it loves the 69 gr Sierra MK.



Don't know what your problem is.





eta, is this brass you bought prepped? or some you sized and trimmed?



Throwing out ideas.
6/18/2012 11:12:24 AM EDT
[#3]
Interesting, with a 1:7 twist, you should be shooting 64gr and above. Matter of fact, I cant shoot anything under 64gr without issues. 1:9 twist I get with 55gr and below. I am sure some of the experts will chime in with 100 different things.

Quoted:
Savage 12 LRPV 7" twist. Getting great results with 55-60 gr Nosler and Hornaday using Varget, Benchmark, and CFE 223. New Winchester brass, CCI 400 primers. Getting .5" 5 shot groups.

Terrible results with 69-75 gr SMK, Berger and Amax, loaded to COAL at 2.25-2.26.  Getting 3-4" groups with wild fliers.

Having same experience with my ARs.

What am I doing wrong in reloading longer bullets?

Thanks for any advice.


6/18/2012 1:08:32 PM EDT
[#4]
When was the last time you cleaned all the copper out of the barrel?
6/18/2012 1:25:02 PM EDT
[#5]
I'm a cleaning fanatic.  No copper in the barrel.  And the .5 groups were shot yesterday after the 4" groups. So it's not the rifle.  There is something seriously wrong with my reloads.
6/18/2012 1:34:40 PM EDT
[#6]
How was the brass prepped for these rounds?
6/18/2012 2:41:48 PM EDT
[#7]
New winchester, sized and primed on Dillon 650 with Redding dies.
6/18/2012 2:46:49 PM EDT
[#8]
New winchester, sized and primed on Dillon 650 with Redding dies.
6/18/2012 3:30:31 PM EDT
[#9]
Try 23.5 grains of Varget, RE-15 or VihtaVuori N140. Another option is 22.5 grains of H4895. Heavier bullets like extruded powders.
6/18/2012 3:41:40 PM EDT
[#10]
Fit a tight cleaning patch to your cleaning rod and see if you really have a 1-7 twist.
6/18/2012 3:51:35 PM EDT
[#11]
I have used the 69SMK with 25 gr of Varget.  For the 75 BTHP of Hornady, my load is 24 grains of Varget.  Both of these loads shoot well enough to clean targets in HP.
6/18/2012 3:55:02 PM EDT
[#12]
if it is a 1  in 7 you probably will get your best results from the heavier projectiles.  i have an hbar 1 in 9 that theoriecally should shoot a 55gr.  well it does at 1.5" but i switched to a 68gr hornady and i got a group 1/4 the size of a dime.  shoot the heavier stuff.  I would start at the heaviest and work back.  it should pull in tighter for ya.  also check your crown to make sure u havent nicked it.

best of luck
6/18/2012 4:56:04 PM EDT
[#13]
Yeah-check the twist . Try a box of federal gold match with the 69SMK to see if its the gun /barrel or your reloads

I have a rem 700 that I never shot much,somehow had the impresion that it was 1/9
Took it to the range the other day with a new scope on it and I was chaseing myself all over the map with my 69SMK reloads. tried a few factory fed gold match with the same 69smk and couldn't hit crap (like 1 1/2 foot group at 100yards.)
Tried a box of reloads I had with 53gr SMK and the first three shots were touching.
Come to find out the gun is a 1/12!



The savage web site shows two posible barrels for that gun, one is a 7 twist and one is a 9 twist.

9 should be fine with the 69 but who knows. It is possible that last years gun had a different twist or that somebody grabbed the wrong
barrel blank ?

Ok I just re-read your post and picked up that you are also shooting your loads in your AR with similar results
Thing that has generally worked well for me is to start useing Sierra bullets with the data in Sierra's load manual.
They have seperate sections for 223 bolt guns and AR15 but there is a fair amount of overlap so you should be able to find a load that will work decent in both guns but of course for best results you might end up with specific loads for each.
6/18/2012 6:32:55 PM EDT
[#14]
Yup, step 1 should be verify the twist.
If that checks out, try a box of Black Hills with 77 SMK and see what happens.

If the rig won't do well under an inch with those, we are troubleshooting the rig and not the ammo.......
At least we can split the problem in half to start with.
6/19/2012 10:47:22 AM EDT
[#15]
Ok, will do. I will find a box of factory match with 69 gr bullets and see what happens. With Savage 12 LRPV, the twist is on the barrel. It is 1-7"', unless factory mislabeled the barrel.
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