223 heavy or light and why.

Tjkiller

Tjkiller

Active member
Which do you prefer out of the popular 223? Heavy slow and arcing but hard hitting or light , fast and explosive?
 
Im going on my first p-dog hunt and I'm loading up a bunch of different 223 loads and debating how many 60 gr vmax's to load up. Using 24.6 gr of Benchmark. Also plan to load up a bunch of 55 grain Varmint grenades and 40 gr vmax's. Shooting an RRA 24" with 1x8 twist. Debating whether to try some 36 gr vmax too. It shoots super tight groups for all the Varmint bullets I've tried so far. What's going to have the most explosive results?
 
I load mine on the light/fast side with the 40gr V-Max and get excellent results...I've tried the 35gr V-Max and didn't see any better performance than with the 40s...

If you want 'explosive' results... A fast, light bullet will provide more of that than a slower, heavier one...The transfer of kinetic energy can produce either a lot of parts, or pretty good high hanging tens, depending on the point of impact..
 
I go light....because Remington had the poor foresight to put a 1:12 twist barrel on this rifle. As a result of that the best shooting projectiles in my rifle are 40gr and 50gr. The rifle will shoot both of these very well...but I am not a fan of this twist rate! My usual bullet is the 40gr BT. It does the job, nothing has walked off yet and everything is quite humane.
 
personally id go vmax over grenades. i shoot the 40gr vmax outta my 22-250 and have exploded watermelon at 410 yards. outta a 223 id say at least 300
 
Just plug the numbers into a ballistics program. That will tell you at what range you need to go to heavier bullets.
As a general rule the shorter range, the lighter bullet you can use, the longer the range, the heavier bullet with better BC you should use. At longer ranges the higher BC bullet will retain more energy and be blown less by the wind.

You do not have to guess anymore. Just plug the numbers into any ballistics program. You obviously can use a computer since you are online.

Jack
 
I use 55gr nosler ballistic tips over 26gr of varget and that combo has produced good clean kills at 387yds on coyotes...bang flop! I'm shooting a stevens with 1-9 twist with this combo. Easy 1/2 groups and as stated extremely deadly!
 
love the 53 hp from sierra for out to 250, love the 69 smk for out beyond that...like 60 vmax also...used to only use 60 vmax, but went to cali on a yote hunt and had one coyote that I had to shoot 3 times before he went down...probably just the shooter but I use the 69 alot in 223 now.
 
My 1x8 twist rifle loves 69 smk's. Hadn't planned to load any since I assumed effects wouldn't be that explosive. Should I load some up for long range shots at p-dogs.
 
Originally Posted By: markleyheavy slow. accuracy is more important to me than speed. heavier bullet means less wind drift

It takes a lot of BC to make up for speed at less than longer range. And where'd you get the idea that speed and accuracy don't go together?
 
Which do you prefer out of the popular 223? Heavy slow and arcing but hard hitting or light , fast and explosive?

I said heavy slow because i already have a 22-250 that shoots light and fast. also because my 223 is a 1:9 twist and loves 69gr smk. i have tried light bullets in my 223 and it didnt like them as much as the 69gr matchkings. so that is why i said that. also i really dont have a problem shooting my 223. have taken milk jugs out at 500 yards. I also sight my guns in at 200 yards so i really dont have compensate that much for 300 yards.
 
Originally Posted By: markleyWhich do you prefer out of the popular 223? Heavy slow and arcing but hard hitting or light , fast and explosive?

I said heavy slow because i already have a 22-250 that shoots light and fast. also because my 223 is a 1:9 twist and loves 69gr smk. i have tried light bullets in my 223 and it didnt like them as much as the 69gr matchkings. so that is why i said that. also i really dont have a problem shooting my 223. have taken milk jugs out at 500 yards. I also sight my guns in at 200 yards so i really dont have compensate that much for 300 yards.

If your gun isn't accurate with any combination of powder and 50gr bullet, it's because you haven't found it. But you're losing a lot with those 69's. I don't shoot them, my guess is they're doing about 2900? It's pretty easy for 50's to be going 3500...... I shoot them 140fps faster and 3500 seems fair. Did you know that with a 200yd zero, at 400yds a 50 @ 3500 shoots almost 7" flatter with nearly identical wind drift compared to a 69 @ 2900. At 500 the lighter bullet is 15" flatter with only about 1/2" more wind drift even at that distance. Just going from 200 to 300 the 69 has 2-1/2" more drop and about 1/3" more drift.

If your gun won't shoot any combination of 50/powder, that's one thing.As Jack Roberts said, it's about BC and velocity. It takes a lot of BC to compensate for velocity
 
your right about the velocity. but personally i dont want to shoot a light bullet. i have a 22-250 that shoots a 40gr bullet at 4184fps. if i want to shoot something fast and flat i will shoot that. its all personal preference. i dont have to have a 223 that shoots 3500fps. if i wanted that then i would load them. i have loaded some 55gr sp for cheap plinking and they are shooting right around 3300 fps. they just arnt as accurate as my smk. also the reason why i got my 223 with a 1:9 twist was so that i can shoot a heavier bullet. if i didnt want to shoot a heavy bullet i would of gotten a rifle with the twist of 1:12. if the guy who started the thread wants to shoot a fast light bullet in a 223 thats great. but he asked what i prefer. honestly a coyote isnt going to know the difference if he was hit by a bullet going 3500fps vs 2900fps. its going to kill him as long as its a good shot. as long as i know how my rifle shoots and i know where to hold to hit a target at 500 yards im good.
 
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